Both joints gain their strength from a thick solid wood tenon.
Loose tenon panel doors.
Structurally a loose tenon joint resembles a traditional mortise and tenon joint and it s every bit as strong.
I plan on using either loose tenon or dowels machined prior to running the copes.
I have a job to do 15 white pine interior doors with cope and stick pattern.
Moldings were applied after the doors were complete.
So doors and windows were through mortised while table legs were not.
To avoid cleaning up lots of excess glue it s best to apply glue to the grooves rather than to the panel.
Anywhere that a wide member like the sill rail of a door or apron of a table was tenoned into a narrower member like the stile of a door or leg of a table instead of having a single tenon wider than it was long they used two tenons of the proper proportion.
Instead of cutting a tenon on one part and a mortise in the other i rout identical mortises in both parts and connect them with a fitted strip of wood a loose tenon.
Additionally the tenon s offset shoulder adds rigidity to the joint.
In all tests the 3 8 long tenons held onto the surrounding wood.
The tenons alone are too short.
The profiled corner must be mitered for the joint to close.
Loose tenon joinery is perfect for casework tables and doors of all sizes.
Here i ll summarize the best methods for making strong classic solid panel doors and frames for glass panels.
Because these tenons don t extend deeper than the groove be sure to strengthen the joint by thoroughly gluing the tenon shoulders and ends.
The difference is that in a loose tenon joint the tenon fits into mating mortises in the pieces whereas in the traditional version of the joint the tenon is.
Levine s process can be used for doors with a variety of molding and panel layout options.
I already have 5 cutters yielding 1 4 x 1 2 stub tenons so buying new tooling is out.
11 bottom rail with 2x 2 1 2 wide tenons 7 latch rail with 2x 2 wide tenons.
Like the mortise and haunched tenon joints the stile split at the bottom of the groove during the pull apart tests.
Repairing them without compromising their integrity required patience and an understanding of their mortise and tenon joinery.
That s what really holds the door together.
Solid panel full mortise and tenon joints make this the best method for constructing fine furniture.