At a glance, it doesn’t look like solid timber doors would be that hard to build in comparison with other cabinet making projects. While it’s true that a door is not as complex as, say, a Chippendale chair, only a master cabinet maker knows what it takes to build solid timber doors that will last a lifetime.
Solid Timber Door Frames
Without going into excessive detail, solid timber door frames are basically made up of just two components: rails and stiles. The rails are the horizontal lengths of timber that attach to the vertical stiles. They can be fixed to the stiles using one of 3 methods:
- Dowels can be inserted into the rails and stiles to form a joint. This is only recommended for smaller cabinet doors and even then is not the best method to use.
- Blind (or stopped) mortise and tenon joints are made by machining rectangular (or rounded rectangular) cavities partially through the stiles and then machining a tenon (or “tongue”) to fit into the cavity. This type of joint is sufficient for smaller solid timber doors.
- The ultimate joint for solid timber entry doors and other large doors is the through mortise & tenon joint. In this case, the mortise extends all the way “through” the stile and the tenon fills the entire gap, giving the largest possible surface area for the strongest possible joint.
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