Craftsman Door Made Trendy – FineWoodworking

Synopsis: Robert Webb wanted to deal with stereo and TV parts, and so he determined to construct a Craftsman-style cupboard. To permit sound and warmth to flee—and remote-control alerts to enter—he designed the doorways with vertical spindles relatively than strong panels. As a substitute of chopping plenty of mortises into the rails, he lower grooves within the rails and inserted notched strips into them-creating mortises with out mortising. On this article, he gives detailed directions on the whole course of, together with including ornamental filler blocks.

I lately constructed a Craftsman-style console to deal with stereo and TV parts, and I needed the cupboard to be each stunning and purposeful. To permit sound and warmth to flee—and remote-control alerts to enter—I traded strong door panels for vertical spindles frequent to the Craftsman type. So as to add visible curiosity, I inserted filler blocks between the spindles in a wavelike sample.

This door design is very useful wherever air flow is sensible—for a stereo cupboard like mine, or for kitchen cupboards, a rest room vainness, a mudroom cupboard, a wine rack, or a closet. However it has a contemporary, minimalist type that can work in plenty of locations.

You may fluctuate the scale and spacing of the spindles, and there are a selection of design prospects for the filler blocks. Whereas Craftsman-style furnishings is historically made with quartersawn white oak, this modern take seems to be good in plenty of woods. I went with cherry.

These doorways are additionally enjoyable to construct, and so they provide various helpful woodworking classes.

Temporary tour of the development

The door frames are bolstered with deep mortise-and-tenon joinery, making certain they’ll keep sq. and swing freely for many years to return.

You may lower the joints nonetheless you want. I lower the mortises utilizing the straightforward router field described in Bob Van Dyke’s article in FWW #303 (“Fast and Correct Mortises”), with the assistance of a plunge router and a spiral upcutting bit. I fashioned the tenons on the desk noticed utilizing a stacked dado set.

The spindles are the place issues get attention-grabbing. I’ve realized up to now that you just don’t wish to mortise their full thickness into the rails. Should you do, you’ll inevitably have small gaps, both instantly or sooner or later, and viewers will be capable to see down into these. The gaps may even entice mud. As a substitute, you wish to lower quick tenons barely smaller than the spindles. The small tenon shoulders will cover the joints.

Chopping dozens of equally spaced mortises within the rails could be tedious to say the least. My method does away with mortising altogether. As a substitute, I lower grooves within the rails and insert notched strips into them—forming mortises with out really mortising. This method is just not solely easy but in addition versatile, and it may be used for vertical or horizontal spindles of any measurement.

As for the ornamental filler blocks, these are glued into place after the door frames and spindles are assembled.

From High quality Woodworking #315 To view the whole article, please click on the View PDF button under.

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