# Entry Door Joinery



## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

I am planning on making doors for the interior of my house out of 6/4 EWP. I see Entry Door Rail and Style bit sets for sale and was wondering if just the rail and styles interlocking with the glue is enough to hold the whole door together, or would some tenons and mortises need to be cut?


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

You need to add an M & T or dowels to strengthen it.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*thickness of entry vs interior*

*Entry Door Joinery*



hedorah99 said:


> I am planning on making doors for the interior of my house out of 6/4 EWP. I see Entry Door Rail and Style bit sets for sale and was wondering if just the rail and styles interlocking with the glue is enough to hold the whole door together, or would some tenons and mortises need to be cut?


Entry doors are commonly 1 3/4" thick. Interior door are usually 1 3/8" thick The bits are different for each size, so beware. Glue alone is not enough. Oh, it may work for a while, even a long while but the joint will eventually fail if subject to stresses or radical humidity changes. If dowels are used, drilling those long holes straight and true without a drill guide could be a challenge... ask me how I know.  bill

Check out this thread:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f5/building-oak-front-door-11451/


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

ACP said:


> You need to add an M & T or dowels to strengthen it.


+1. :yes: I would opt for M&T's over dowels. I would also suggest using TB III.










 







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## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> +1. :yes: I would opt for M&T's over dowels. I would also suggest using TB III.


Would dowels just not work in your opinion at all, or do you just prefer M/T joints? I am able to dowel the joint but don't think I have the skill yet to mortise and tenon with the profiles.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

hedorah99 said:


> Would dowels just not work in your opinion at all, or do you just prefer M/T joints? I am able to dowel the joint but don't think I have the skill yet to mortise and tenon with the profiles.


If you can do dowels and get a good fit that would work. Maybe more set up time when assembling. Do a dry fit first. Have all you need at ready hand when you start your glue up. You don't want to be running around looking for something once you start.










 







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## hedorah99 (Feb 7, 2011)

What about drilling the holes from the outside and doweling like that? the dowels would show but I am not worried about that.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

hedorah99 said:


> What about drilling the holes from the outside and doweling like that? the dowels would show but I am not worried about that.


You can do that. I rehabbed an exterior door and glued and clamped the bottom rail, and drilled from the outside edge for 1/2" dowels. Here's a thread covering what I did.










 







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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Another suggestion is to do the doweling after the door is glued up. You'll likely do the glue up with the door in the horizontal position. It's difficult to get just enough glue in the holes from the edge unless the door is on edge.

If you get too much glue in the hole, you can get a compressible condition where you won't be able to tap in the dowel. Too much glue in the bottom, and it could force out the dowel. Grooving the dowel does help.









 







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