Door twisting

[Yetty]

For a given door size (eg wardrobe) using frame and panel construction, would the door be more or less stable (in terms of twisting) if the frame widths is increased?

 

[Adrian80]

smaller amounts of twist on a wider door is more noticable than a narrower door.

However if a door wants to twist its very difficult to stop it.

 

[milkman]

Okay am happy to be corrected but I would think the twist in the vertical axis wouldn't change as its still the same stiles but the door would be more liable to twist in the horizontal axis. In increasing the door’s width you're making the rails longer. The rails can twist more unless you make them wider as well. Or something.

I'd think laminating the stiles and rails would help unless you can source really straight stock for it.

Mind you a lot of mass produced stuff seems to work okay and it can be as knotty as hell.

Can you tell us more about why you're concerned with this?

Marko

 

[Yetty]

Sure, a bit more... ... a few years back I made a wardrobe. Access was tricky due to narrow stairs, ceiling etc, so I made the wardrobe in the workshop, dismantled it, painted all the panels and doors, then reassembled it in the bedroom. However, at reassembly the two closing door edges weren't flat, but a horrible 5mm out. The wardrobe had a levelled & fixed base and had been fine in the workshop before breaking down & paint. The memory of the hassle that followed at the install stage still gives me shivers... On reflection, I think the doors twisted at or after the paint stage (water based) or afterwards whilst stored for a few days to harden off before install.

Anyway, since then, the above haunts me whenever designing furniture with larger doors. Often I have choice at the design stage to influence the rail and stile widths. So I wondered if going for larger or smaller width of rails and stiles might help reduce susceptibility to twist.

 

[AndyT]

I'd have thought that the way the grain runs in each piece would make more difference than the actual dimensions. Ideally you would have straight grain with growth rings close together and perpendicular to the surface. In practice you will have pieces which are going to cup or twist.

A wider piece could cup or twist further than a narrow one. You may be able to reduce the distortion by arranging pieces so as to cancel each other out.

But careful selection and rejection of stock will help a lot.

 

[Yetty]

Thanks for the input chaps, good practice in abundance plus a bit of good luck is needed!