Flattening panels

[jussi]

A couple of questions about flattening panels for raised panel doors.

1. What is your method of flattening. My initial thought was to take a hand plane take it down so it lays flat and then run in through the planer or Drum sander?

2. Is the drum sander preferred over the planer in this case?

3. Since it will be trapped in a frame, how flat does it have to be? If you have sufficient downward force when doing the raised panels, will say 1/16" hump or raised corner make a noticeable difference?

[jasfrank]

If you have strong enough frames they can straighten up your panels to an extent. Its all relative to how you made them, what species and what thickness would be the main points to consider.
That said I first run panels through a planer if they can fit. I'm limited to 18". Then they go through the sander to finish them. There I can do 37". I start with 15/16 lumber so it would take forever to take a full 1/8 off in the sander.

[jussi]

So you don't bother with any type of jointing first?

[jasfrank]

Not typically. With 1/8" to cleanup I seldom see any problems that way. I do joint the edges of the boards that make up the panels but not the faces.

[Steve N]

I like to use 4 to 6" stock for door panel glue up's over wider stock which is more prone to cupping.

First thing I do is look for color match, and try to sort pieces as to where I think they will be.

I always make all my wood parts 4 square first, then face joint, followed by the thickness planer to make all the cope/stick rails, and styles the same thickness, and the panel parts all the same thickness. Depending on the effect of the panel they may sometimes differ in thickness.

Don't overthink the glue up, if you start with flat, same thickness stock, and always keep the show side down, it really comes together easier than it may seem.

Try a few scrap wood panels first, to see if you identify a problem, but it is fairly straight forward.

[JGrout]

Quote:

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I always make all my wood parts 4 square first, then face joint, followed by the thickness planer to make all the cope/stick rails, and styles the same thickness, and the panel parts all the same thickness. Depending on the effect of the panel they may sometimes differ in thickness.

Don't overthink the glue up, if you start with flat, same thickness stock, and always keep the show side down, it really comes together easier than it may seem.

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^^^^
this is important.

I learned early on that the worst thing one can attempt is to glue up a panel that ends up with a twist in it and attempt to remove it with a rather weak perimeter frame

You can be assured that the end product will not be what you need.......

[Pink Floyd]

The panels need to be flat when you raise them, otherwise you will have an uneven profile and the lip that goes inside the frame groove will not be the same thickness.

Since I have an 8" jointer, I normally rip wide boards to 7 1/2", flatten a face, joint an edge, plane to thickness and joint the remaining edge before glue-up.

I don't have a drum sander.

If I want a one-piece panel that is wider than my jointer, I will use a sled and the planer to flatten one face.

Using hand planes to flatten a face is certainly a viable method and can be quite enjoyable. It all depends on your methods of work.

[Rob Young]

Pink Floyd said:

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The panels need to be flat when you raise them, otherwise you will have an uneven profile and the lip that goes inside the frame groove will not be the same thickness.

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+1

And building any kind of stresses/tensions into a door doesn't seem like a good idea. If it is a cabinet door, overlay, partial-overlay or inset, and it decides to move just a little bit, it will bind or gap later. A twisted door is less than helpful in the long run.

[rwe2156]

Minor bows like 1/16 can be straightened when installing in frames. All depends on how wide the door is.

But you really should get it as flat as you can.
When you get it flat, keeping it flat is a whole nother issue.

[jteneyck]

IMO the panel needs to be flat. It needs to be flat so that you can raise the edge properly, as already mentioned. And it needs to be flat so it won't bow the door. I don't buy it that a frame will straighten a bowed panel. If the panel is held under stress it will either crack over time or the frame will bend. Neither is good.

John