I'm looking for creative solutions. First, I have to say that remaking the doors would likely be a more cost effective solution than any "fixes" I'd consider. There is, however some sentimentality at play here, and I'm endeavoring to be accommodating. The situation is a pair of double (5 piece) cabinet doors twisted just enough to spring out their mating upper corners: mirror images, rather intriguing. It's too much to fudge it with the hinges, so I'd like to see if they could be made flat. Upon inspection, the doors are in fact twisted. All stiles and rails are straight, and the cope and stick joints are true, however, the stiles display twist within themselves. So it appears as if my job is to untwist 2 or 4 (not sure how many are exerting force) boards, with the added advantage of the use of the rails as lever arms. The only off-the-shelf solutions that I know of are the Hafele truss rod system, and diagonal ties with a turn buckle. The former seems to effect cupping ( or twist as a result of oppositely cupped stiles), and the latter primarily effects racking. Am I wrong about this? My idea at the moment is to make a lever arm spring to counter-act the twist in the stiles: a stainless rod, inserted into the stile with two arms welded at the rail centers. The arms would be set at an angle that creates an opposite twisting force when attached to the door. A lot of work for sure, but besides this, is it a bad idea? I'm thinking of starting on the hinge sides. Is there a better solution?
From contributor sh
Just make new!!!!!!
From contributor ma
Right. Wish I could, but the job is to repair the existing doors... even at a higher cost than replacing them.
From contributor JR
They won't allow small neodymium magnets to be sunk flush into the high door corners and a small block with flush magnets or steel plugs as a door stop (or into the faceframe)?
From contributor ma
JR, nah; I'm just not into fixing it if it's not fixed in the end. There's a good amount of spring to it; maybe 5 lbs push at the center knob, closing 1/2" of protrusion. If it was a matter of what a magnet could do without you noticing it, then I'd just adjust it out with the hinges.
I'm really trying to flatten the door here, a flat door will fix the installation.
From contributor JR
Gotcha. So with the ss tension rod, will you be slotting the back face of the door and epoxying the rod in and/or covering it with matching wood? I think that with the right size rod, there would be enough opposing force, but it just seems pretty invasive and potentially much more obvious looking. I suppose that it could be decorative if you rout it out and fill with contrasting epoxy the whole way around the frame...
From contributor Je
Well since I haven't tried that scenario before this is all just conjecture, but I don't see it working. Assuming these are roughly 3/4" or so doors and you have to get them to twist back against what is now their natural 'set' by 1/2" with a steel rod inserted into the 3/4" material? I just can't imagine that working?
I don't have a solution and to be honest I'm not sure there is one that keeps the doors intact. What I have done is taken twist out of passage doors by removing most of the offending stile, leaving all the joinery intact, and gluing a new straight piece in place. It doesn't sound like your client would go for this, but sometimes contrary to popular belief the customer is not always right;>)
Hopefully some of the others will chime in with ideas as well.
good luck,
JeffD
From contributor Da
I would run a diagonal spline from corner to corner on the back of each door. The twist will make for a 'high' spot in the center of the back of the door, so the spline should run across that from one 'low' corner to the other. If you have to, joint a slight curve in the spline to pull the door flat. You can experiment by just clamping wood to see what it will take. Once you have it, screw it in place. This may not work if there is a weenie 1/4" panel to push against.
Alternately, let your customer know that setting difficult parameters to a job will increase the cost exponentially. Does he/she let their clients set their work parameters? Your costs to experiment and do research will all be a part of the 'job'.
From contributor JR
This is what you mean by the tension rod, right?
From contributor Th
We have "de-warped" doors of various styles & construction, lift lids, panels & such with dry heat & appropriate over-reversing the warp to allow for spring-back. Success rate 75%+ on "easy" panels. Twisted rails or stiles are the most challenging & have a lower success rate, some requiring compromise. Procedure is multiple heat lamps spaced so as to heat the target area till too hot to hold one's fingers on the underside more than a few seconds. 90% of these were finished panels. It's amazing how many finishes can survive that heat without blistering (don't contact the face, finish gets very soft). Obvious risks are are scorching or blistering some finishes, & de-lamination of glued up stock.
From contributor ma
That's the idea, JR. If I can get reasonably sure of the basic concept, I've considered a through-bore type installation: drilling the length of the stile, then intersecting at the rails from the hinge side with the little arms. Obviously, there would be some trickiness involved in the preloading.
There are other ideas here to consider now as well. I'm attracted to the diagonal approach, as when you lay the piece on a table it's hard not to think about diagonals.
Thanks all. No decision yet, so keep it coming if you have other ideas.
From contributor B.
I would love to see photos of the final solution (if there is one -:)......)
BH Davis
From contributor Ch
Planofit from hafele?
From contributor ma
Chris, I mentioned the Hafele hardware in the first post. Never tried it, so let me know if my understanding of what it does is wrong.
And now for the really simple solution!
1. Run the door on edge through the tablesaw, cutting a kerf through the center of the stile to within 1/16" of the panel groove.
2. Cut a kerf-sized bit of material to fill the resulting slot.
3. Spring the door into the opposite twist, and glue the stile back together along with the new center laminate.
Postscript:
I did this on both doors on the hinge stile, springing the door opposite to the same extent of the original twist. One came out perfect, the other no change. I did the second one again, this time with double opposite twist. Perfectly flat.
So, I assume that on the first one I was working on the stile that was exerting force, and on the second I was working on the opposite stile. Anyway, all good, and no finish work on either face. A simple solution that doesn't necessitate purchasing some spendy bit of hardware... Even though I was really hoping to sell you all a bunch of those springy things. Thanks all.
From contributor JR
OP delivers! Thanks for the postscript.
From contributor Mi
Good solution. Well done.
From contributor Jo
Really a wonderful solution after a long discussion and I must say it was worth this discussion and I have learned here some more things for me. I hope mark got the perfect solution. I thought to suggest him for fiber doors, but I did not as I can see he is emotionally attached with this wooden door. Am I correct mark?
From contributor Ja
Variations of that tool are still available, but with the doors today, the framing is more likely to break under the stress rather than straightening the door. That works for solid wood doors, the type without framed panels.
From contributor Ry
You may want to check first the site I have included above, it is in fact the door stores that offers various types and design. One good thing is that you can request a custom made one that suit your needs. Depending on your preference, you can even check their doors that is being on sale from overstock, old and vintages, used, brand new and a liquidated, all are great stuff.
