# exterior mahogany doors



## g0ahead1 (Nov 14, 2008)

I am buildng some exterior 1 3/4 in mahogany doors. A couple of my stiles do not lay flat and are already mortised and prepped.Does any one know if their is a way to moisten one side of my stile to flatten the board before i mill it with my stile cutter? If so which side do I wet? I read something years ago in one of my woodworking mags.Thanks for any help/suggestions


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

*Try what you want but...*

I would start all over. If your wood is giving you trouble before you even finish the project, don't expect anything good to come of it. I think you will be wasting time _and _the _good _pieces. If someones remedy for straightening dont work or dont last after it is built, you will have wasted good wood, glue. sandpaper, finish and all.


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## mics_54 (Oct 28, 2008)

Ive never had much luck doing what you are proposing. Some..but not consistantly enough as to make an educated assertion as to the results. I have had some luck wetting and warping 3/4 styles on cab doors prior to finishing but whether they stayed that way or not is not known. I'd have to agree with Tony. The best solution is to change the pieces. But If you still want to try to warp the rails I would wet the cupped side and try to get the member to swell on that side and place it on supports with weight on it forcing it to bend the opposite way. Then let it dry that way thoroughly. It really depends on several variables... grain being a major one. good luck!


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Tony B said:


> I would start all over. If your wood is giving you trouble before you even finish the project, don't expect anything good to come of it. I think you will be wasting time _and _the _good _pieces. If someones remedy for straightening dont work or dont last after it is built, you will have wasted good wood, glue. sandpaper, finish and all.


BELIEVE THIS POST TOTALLY!!!

Your finished project will be no better than the wood you start with.

George


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

I'm with the others on this - it could come back to haunt you. If you want to experiment you can lay the cupped side down (put the bow up) on the lawn just after the dew is off in the morning. The moisture from the ground will expand the bottom and the sun will shrink the top side. I've heard some do this with success but they never reported about the long term outcome.


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## g0ahead1 (Nov 14, 2008)

*Thanks all*

Thanks for the advice. To many times I have tried to save a few bucks only to cost me either the same money and a lot more time fixing in the end.When its a project for myself it just seems harder to toss or burn expensive material. Maybe I should spend more time picking good material.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

*Now you're talkin'*

.........."Maybe I should spend more time picking good material." Many people have gone broke 'saving' money.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

Tony B said:


> .........."Maybe I should spend more time picking good material." Many people have gone broke 'saving' money.


Maybe you can shorten the styles and use them as rails. I would go along with the rest of the herd on not trying to straighten them out.

Gerry


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I also agree that starting off with questionable stock can lead to disaster. Fortunately, you caught the problem before you got deep into fabrication. A heartbreaker with a project like this is to have a problem after assembly.

There are ways you may get lucky in trying to straighten out stock. Wood has no memory, and will do whatever it wants. Even if you did get it straight, whether it would stay that way is unpredictable.

Some precautions for the future would be is to pick stock from the same batch if possible, and acclimate all the stock sufficiently. Store by stickering until you're ready for machining, and keep flat during fabrication as much as possible.

A common problem in making framed doors for cabinets is to have the stiles and rails stay straight. Cutting both party stiles for a two door cabinet where they meet out of the same stock can be a lifesaver. I try to cut stiles, and rails from the same stock as much as possible. To enable the best usage of the stock would be to do a layout of the doors, and plan the pieces with numbers or letters to keep track of them, and marking for which side is which. It's too easy to get them mixed up.

As for straightening a stile on an exterior door, wetting and bending would require an overbend to allow for any springback. Getting this right is a stroke of luck.


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## kestrel (Nov 14, 2008)

How set are you on making them 1.3/4" thick? You could always split the stiles in half lengthwise, flip them over and glue them up. This way the bow in the grain is working against itself. That would go a long way to straightening them up but you would end up with a finished stile, allowing for kerf and cleanup, of around 1.1/2" +.

Of course this may not work since you already have the mortises cut but maybe on some of the other wood you are thinking of using.

Jim


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## Joe Spackle (May 20, 2008)

I build engineered stiles for all my doors using LVL ripped and flipped, re glued and edged with the native wood species on both edges then laminated with 1/4" skins. Those stile are dead straight every time.

You may have to come up with some edging stock and the LVL for the core but you can salvage the skin material by resawing.

Joe


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