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Imagine walking up a path to a beautiful home, only to see that the front “door” is actually a moldy shower curtain nailed to the frame. Or compare the sound of a door closing on a 1987 Yugo versus a 2015 S550 Mercedes. A door is a first impression – so make yours a good one.
“Making & Fitting Doors,” a new digital magazine featuring eight articles from the Popular Woodworking Magazine and Woodworking Magazine archives, offers a wealth of advice on selecting, building and fitting doors.
When it comes to a door, where it’s not is as important as where it is. In “Fitting Inset Doors,” Robert W. Lang offers tips on getting your gaps to fall into place every time.
Along with looking good, a door has to function well. In “Butt Hinges,” you’ll learn everything you need to know about this basic hinge, as well as tips on placing hinges based on the size of your project.
Need to make a door to fit an irregular opening? You don’t have to dread spending hours with sandpaper or a handplane – Carl Bilderback shows you how to “Fit Doors with Ticking Sticks.” This simple method requires only a long tapered stick, a pencil and a piece of cardboard to give doors a near-perfect fit in irregular openings.
So which door is right for your project? Solid slab? Raised panel? Divided-light? In “Doors & Drawers,” David Thiel instructs you in the basics of doors, and the joinery used. David’s article also includes bonus material about drawers: basic types, joinery and how to select the right door or drawer for your project.
Want to make raised panels? Robert W. Lang, Christopher Schwarz and Glen Huey show you “3 Ways to make Raised Panels.” Robert raises with a router; Christopher planes his panels, and Glen tackles the task with a table saw.
For making small doors, try your hand at the “Stub-tenon Door.” Steve Shanesy teaches you two great ways to make this quick and useful joint.
The best tools are those that can be used for more than one job. No, I’m not talking about your brother-in-law who grabbed a chisel to open a paint can – in “Building Glazed Doors,” Bill Hylton shows you how to adapt your cope-and-stick bits to produce frames that will hold glass as well as wood panels.
Glass adds class, to put it in a somewhat-unclassy way – but there’s no denying the beauty of a well-made divided-light door. Glen Huey teaches you how to add authentic flat muntins, mullions and glass panels to your cabinet doors using a table saw and a few spring clamps.
It’s all only $3.99 – that’s $95,646.01 less than the MSRP of a Mercedes S550 – and you can buy it here.
And you’ll find many more articles on cabinetmaking, casework and more at Shopwoodworking.com.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
