tomf":323wdf04 said:
It really just depends on how you want to do them, planting on the edge strips onto 12mm mdf is the easiest, you can't really go wrong with it as long as you've just your mdf the correct size in the first place.
Lots of people on here do it this way for wardrobes etc so it's perfectly acceptable.
I can see it being a nightmare glue-up, unless you clamp and drive pins in from the back, firstly because of alignment - there's nothing to index against (OK, build a jig...) - and secondly because of glue squeeze-out.
I know you'll still get squeeze-out with the loose-tenon approach, but there's less of it, and it's mostly on flat surfaces (so very easy to remove). It also aligns itself 'automatically': clamping across the door is all you should need.
I'm probably doing some tall Shaker wardrobe doors soon (haven't decided if I want one or two central rails). I do have a Shaker rail+stile cutter set for the RT, which I've not yet used, but the simple, loose tongue, approach looks elegant.
The only aesthetic difference would be that my rail & style set gives a 15 degree bevel on the panel aperture, and I'm told this helps to stop it being a dust trap (good in bedrooms). It may also give it a bit more style.
Using the loose tenon approach, I guess you might just quickly cut a bevel on the arrises of bottom and centre rails, but it wouldn't look as classy (IMHO). Shaker stuff was subtle, as well as simple.
The idea of planting on the 'rails' and 'stiles' for a 6'3" door doesn't thrill me. I can see you might do one stile first, to align the rest against, but the chance of a parsnip, or even a full radish, at least with me trying it, must be around 75%.
Aiming for a vegetable-free job... ;-)
E.
