Gentleman's Residence - Frame and panel shutters

[Steve Maskery]

A frame and panel door, with a raised and fielded panel and cope-and-stick moulding is a classic design that continues to look good today.

Originally, of course, the work was all done by hand, using moulding planes for the sticking, gouges to cope the ends of the rails, and hand planes to create the field. All those tools are still available for the neanderthal woodworker, and although it might well be peaceful and satisfying work to do, it is also very time-consuming.

For many years we have been able to get router bits which do the hard work for us. The cope and stile are usually a matched pair, one to cut the sticking and the other to cut the mating cope. You do need to have a decent router table to use them and they have to be set up properly, but they do produce good results.

One of the weaknesses of them, however, is that there is quite a bit of trial and error to get the second cutter to exactly the right height. Too high or too low and the groove for the panel will not line up all the way round. And if you have a little accident with a workpiece later on, going back to make a replacement part means going through all that set-up routine all over again.

There are now, however, a range of router cutters that cut both the cope and the stick. Both profiles are on the same cutter and the intention of the manufacturer is that we alter the height to use whichever part of the profile we need to use. But whilst this does mean we don't have to swap cutters, we still have the issue of precise setting of the height.

I have a good idea!

Instead of altering the height of the cutter, why don't we leave the cutter where it is and alter the height of the workpiece? As well as being faster, it's also easy to go back later and make a replacement part (provided that I've not taken the cutter out, of course).

In order to achieve this I use a sled to cut the coped ends of the rails. This is done using the upper part of the profile, so the critical dimension is the thickness of the sled. I measured the pitch of the cutter (the distance from the part that cuts the tongue to the part that cuts the groove) at 22mm. As we shall see in a minute, that was not quite accurate enough, but that was my starting point.

I had an old push-stick that was at the end of its life, so I recycled it to become a handle and fixed it to the base. I actually biscuited it, but I wish I'd simply screwed it, for reasons which will become apparent in a moment.

A fence is screwed across the base and a couple of toggle clamps fitted.

Job done.

Or so I thought.

 

[Steve Maskery]

With the router on its lowest speed setting, I made a test joint. The coping is done first, using my new sled, so that any break-out is supported by the fence of the jig.

Then the sticking is routed with the workpiece flat on the table.

If the jig is accurate, the two will go together nice and flush with a neat mitre in the corner. Only it wasn't. Close but no cigar.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I was out by about 0.5mm. I measured my 22mm MDF base to find that it was about 22.25mm thick. I needed to remove just 0.5mm of thickness, but because I'd glued that handle in place, I couldn't dismantle the jig and put the base through my drum sander, which would have been the best way to do it.

So instead I passed it over my planer/thicknesser. Disaster! I took off too much, but it was a good lesson learned.

So I added some gaffer tape to the jig and played about with it until I got the jig cutting well.

Then I measured the thickness I'd ended up with, cut a new base, thicknessed it on the drum sander to 21.75mm thick and fitted a handle and fence. Perfect! A 25mm hole in the front end allows me to hang it up.

The two pieces should go together so that they are flush, but you may find that there are a few stray whiskers. A scalpel is a good tool to use to clean them off.

If you have not the got the base the right thickness, it will be obvious. There will be a sliver of unwanted material above or below the groove for the panel. The thickness of that sliver is the distance by which you need to alter your base.

Once the rails and stiles have been machined we can measure for our raised panels The width of them needs to be the length of the rails, minus about 2mm clearance. In this project the panels are only 193mm wide, but for wider jobs you may wish to increase that clearance by a mm or two. The clearance is necessary so that the panel can shrink and expand with changes in humidity. The length does not need clearance as wood does not move in length by any significant amount at all. Even so, I gave myself a couple of mm on length, too, just to keep the two bevels meeting nicely in the corner.

So once I was sure that I had all my rails and stiles cut properly, I removed the cutter and replaced it with my raised panel cutter (or rather Eric the Viking's cutter - thanks Eric). It's a big beast, and even at the slowest speed, it is still quite intimidating.

The secret to cutting nice panels is to do the job slowly. Several light passes are much better than one big one. It's safer, less strain on the router, cleaner finish. Always cut the end-grain before the long edges, as that way any break-out is removed by the following cut. And of course, keep your hands well away. I use a push-block for the end-grain. The handle is angled so that I push in as well as forwards.

The panels are sized so that the mid-rail comes 62% of the way down the shutter, which is the Golden Ratio. It definitely improves the proportions, given that each leaf is so tall and narrow.

 

[AJB Temple]

Helpful thread. Thank you.

 

[Steve Maskery]

The field is removed, little by little, until the tongue that is left is an easy fit in the groove. Do not leave it too tight, because there is a good chance that if the panel curves a bit, that tongue will jam and split the sticking.

Also, on this particular job, I'm having a painted finish, so that will also increase the thickness of the tongue (I need a coat of paint on the tongue before assembly, so that bare wood does not appear if the panel shrinks a little).

These particular pieces are not going to be doors as such, but shutters for my window. I made a frame to fit the reveal. The reveal is nowhere near square, of course, so there was quite a bit of fitting to do. I caused some minor damage to my new wallpaper, unfortunately, so I went and bought some felt-tip pens to touch up in a few places. And if you can tell me where I have put those felt-tip pens, I shall be very grateful.

So with the frame flat in my workshop, I laid out the shutters in the frame. Because of the way the rebates work, some of the stiles are 45mm wide and some 58mm wide. This is so that when 13mm of rebate is routed away, they will all appear to be 45mm wide on the inside.

So I set up my router table again, this time to rout rebates.

It's very important to rout the correct side away! The rebate on the fixed panels must overlay the rebate on the flying panels if I want to be able to hold them back when open. Earlier in the year I made a set of these for my office and got it wrong. The result is that I can't easily hold them open, they just hang loose. Lesson learned.

The panels were considerably oversize, but as there are 10 mating surfaces across the width, a little bit off each of them makes a big difference. I continued until all four panels fitted into the frame with a nice even clearance all the way around and between them. A packet of window packers were very useful in this part of the job.

Once I was happy with the fit, they were all painted.

 

[Steve Maskery]

The hinges are cheap and nasty thin tin-plate things, but actually, once they are up, they look OK. The screws that come with them are completely inadequate, so I used my own. I need two different length, because some of the screw holes are directly over the rebate on the back, so long screws would just poke through and spoil my day. Unfortunately I could not get black screws of the right size, so I simply painted my silver ones.

My friend Jim came over for a few hours and helped me to get the frame installed. Again, packers were a boon, given that the reveal was so far out of square.

With the panels painted and the hinges fitted, all that remained was to make and fit some turn-buttons. These keep the shutters closed and the end pair keep them open, too.

The gap between frame and reveal was caulked and a couple of knobs fitted. These are not the knobs I shall eventually have, but they will do for now.

I do have a set of curtains to hang, but they need shortening, so they will have to wait.

I have never designed such a traditional and old-fashioned room as this, but I really like the feel of it. It suits the house (1905). It's been a long time since I've had my own sitting room, and I am really enjoying it. It's very Steve.

It's my Gentleman's Residence.

 

[davem62]

Steve
Nice work and thanks for sharing ,have book marked for future reference
David

 

[ColeyS1]

Smart job Steve, shutters look great !

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[AndyT]

They look the business, will improve heat retention and security. It must be really satisfying to have designed, built and installed them. Well done!

 

[SteveF]

they look great Steve
it is hard to see in the routing pic, but how wide is the raised panel?
I see you are running it freehand across the router bit
with the size of the gap in the fence needed for such a large bit I wondered how safe it was?
I am far from questioning you,from all your post and having met you I know how methodical and safety conscious you are, but as a newbie to router table I thought I would ask just for clarity

Steve

 

[Steve Maskery]

It's a good q, Steve.
The panels are, IIRC, 193mm wide. I have the fence adjusted as tight as I can get, but you are quite right, it's still quite a large aperture.
The cutter has a bearing on it though, so that helps enormously, so there is never more than about 30mm or so of workpiece unsupported in that aperture.
As I said, easy does it, a little at a time, with a good pushblock. There was no sign of anything complaining.

 

[SteveF]

thanks Steve
I should of twigged about the bearing
i am not safety police
I learn so much from forum, but sometimes I think is preferable to me ask dumb questions than just copy others

Steve

 

[Racers]

Nicely done Steve, when do you get the flat cap and whippet?

:wink: :wink: :wink:

Pete

 

[lurker]

Nicely done Steve, when do you get the flat cap and whippet?

:wink: :wink: :wink:

Pete

He can't have a whippet Pete, the butler is allergic to dogs

 

[Steve Maskery]

 

[Racers]

That look reet proper, Steve.

Pete

 

[woodcarver]

That’s a good idea leaving the cutter at same height and packing the workpiece.

A joiner I know does same with stacked tooling on the spindle moulder, when he does comb joints for window sashes.

 

[monkeybiter]

I hope this is not inappropriate or silly but I think you're looking noticeably 'healthier' than, say, in the WS build thread. I think getting back in the saddle must be doing you some good.

I'd love to have a go at shutters [preferably exterior ones] but I don't think I'd get a positive decision from the planning official [SWMBO] and I don't have windows in my WS.

Happy Christmas.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Thank you all for your kind words, it's really nice to know that people are interested. I rather miss writing.

Mike, thank you. Actually, when I took that picture I quite surprised myself. It makes me look as if I've lost weight. I wish! And I'm not sure that my GP shares your optimism, but that's another story. But thank you very much for your support. I shall wear it always, as they say. It's certainly true that I am better in the head than I have felt for years. Maybe not "normal" whatever that is, but certainly better than for too many years.

Bah Humbug Crimbo, everybody, Bah Humbug Crimbo!

 

[Steve Maskery]

The house opposite me has been unoccupied since before I moved in here. The old man who had lived there pretty much all his life had died and now it is owned by his sister and her husband. At one point it was looking very sorry for itself, windows boarded up etc.

This evening, as I was parking the car, they were coming out and I said Hello. They asked me whether I had found an original built-in, about which I had asked them a few months ago. That house had a built in until they took it out, several months ago. I've not found another neighbour who still has the original.

But they still have the doors.

So I went inside and they showed me the doors that were taken off the built-in alcove cupboard that they had demolished. The doors had been covered in hardboard in the 1960s or '70s and painted cinnamon. My dad did the same.

But they took off the hardboard for me and underneath was the original panel, painted sage green, which would be deemed very fashionable today, I guess.

The reason that there is a rectangle of bare wood is that it was a bead, but has been planed flat so that the hardboard would sit over it. But there is enough there to tell me what it originally looked like. It is actually a flat panel will applied moulding on the front.

I shall make my cupboard to match my shutters, because, TBH, I prefer the style of mine, but it is good to know that I was not a million miles off.