loose tenons

[Wildman]

not having made a lot of doors or cabinetry it never occurred to me that "loose tenons" would not be glued in I assumed it was just a way to produce rail and style moulding doors quickly. So my question is are exterior doors strong enough with unglued tenons, should they be doweled, or glued one or both sides or through tenons wedged.

 

[John Brown]

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that loose tenons are generally glued in.

 

[custard]

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that loose tenons are generally glued in.

+1

I don't glue loose tenons when their purpose is to locate two pieces during a glue up (i.e. jointed boards for a table top), apart from that fairly specialised application they always get glued. Indeed I always try to glue both the mortice and the loose tenon, I believe that Festool did some research and found gluing both the tenon and the mortice with Domino loose tenons increased joint strength by 30%.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Always glue.

 

[Wildman]

Ah well it seems my original assumption was correct thanks everyone.

 

[Steve Maskery]

In tis context, loose means separate as opposed to sloppy.