Need help flipping a panel


ubinibu

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As it turns out, a moment of inattention can become a whole boatload of stress - and it seems that I’m not quite smart enough to figure out the best way to fix my boo-boo.

 

I've been attempting to build a version of the Gustav Stickley bride's chest and it's been going pretty well; I’ve had the chance to try out a new-to-me joinery technique (long running splined miters that hide the corners), resaw long, wide boards for book-matching and play with Ash (a species I haven’t had a chance to cut into yet). I’ve also been working on my planning skills, finding ways to clearly mark my parts at all stages and layout the steps so they make sense and I’m not wasting time trying to figure out what my next step should be (I’m the slowest woodworker I know).

 

I’m at the stage where it all comes together and starts looking like a box, and it was all going really nicely…up until I noticed that I apparently hadn’t been paying attention to the right thing at the right time and put one of my panels in upside down. It’s a bit of a big deal because the outside panels are book-matched and are from the same (12’) board that the top and back panels came from, so the grain is continuous from front to top to back on each of the three panels.

 

I’ve only got one idea about how to get the panel out: since it’s a ½” groove that the panel is floating around in, I’d route out 1 – 1 ½” around three sides down to the depth of the top of the groove (~.33”), flex the panel a bit to slip it out and back in, and then repair the areas with a dutchman… and hope there’s enough glue surface to maintain the integrity through seasonal changes.

 

If there’s a better way (preferably one that doesn’t involve cutting the frame apart), I’d really appreciate knowing what it is. I can’t leave like this (and ever be able to look at it again) and the only other option that I’m coming up with on my own is to salvage the panels and rebuild the frame.

 

Sorry for the wordiness.

 

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I feel your pain. Maybe you could carefully cut out the lefthand stile closest to the panel. When you have removed enough timber to let the panel slide out just remove it. Leave the areas of the stile still solid around your tenons then remove the wood a little at a time to expose the tenons again (a bit like how a sculptor removes rock from around the statue). You should be able to do that with handtools. Then remake that one stile. That way you are not remaking the entire frame again.

 

You may have to use epoxy to glue it back together again as white glue may have penetrated the fibres comprising the tenons too far to enable regluing.

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Is the box glued together? If not than on the inside of the panel with a dado set on the table saw or a router and straight bit erode the wood off the outside stile to the depth of dado that holds the panel remove panel, turn panel than mill a filler piece and glue that to the stile to bring it flush with the rails.

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Depending on adhesive, heat may be viable…

 

But....

 

I’ll make an assumption on how this is built and you’ve got matching stock – YMMY…

 

Getting the panel out is easy… French-pattern veneer saw w/ straight edge… BTW: these are great saws: https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/dept/TS/item/GT-VSAW.XX. The thick veneer blade is pretty useful around the shop...

 

Now the hard part…I'd excise material from the rail/styles (trim outer + chisel) and make three new strips... Something like this:

 

retainer1_zps750c630c.jpg

 

So you end-up treating the panel like a frame in which you drop-in a mirror/glass/whatever and secure with retaining/ledger strips from the back..

 

Good luck...

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Wow! Thanks all for the responses and the suggestions; I was a bit surprised at how quickly y’all have been willing to lend ideas and suggestions – and even a welcome to boot!

 

The box is not yet glued together, so I still had a chance to get to the back side of the front easily. I used a PVA glue (specifically Titebond III Extend) and I took (and tried) the heat gun suggestion, but wasn’t able to heat evenly to the top and bottom tenons simultaneously in order to break the bond without making a mess (it’s cold here in Iowa). I even took a shot at putting an electric blanket under while heating the front – no joy.

 

I’ve excavated enough of the stile to remove the panel, and have managed to flip it around and now I need to replace the missing piece with a dutchman with a rabbet. I have (not only matching stock, but) four additional stiles that I’ve been using for cauls; my hope is that I’ll be able to create a patch from one of these since they already have the miter and groove for the spline…a little indexing with a (slightly snugger) spline and hopefully I won’t have to do much more than a little bit of sanding to level the surfaces.

 

The nerve-racking part of the cutting is over and (aside from touching the panel with the tray bit) it went pretty smoothly. After a little cleanup, I should have a good gluing surface…if you’re interested, I can keep you posted.

 

 

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At least you still have retained the structural integrity of the stile. Now just to glue another piece in place. Looks like you dodged a bullet there :)

If you wanted to hide those glue lines just plane the surface down enough to allow you to glue a thin veneer over the whole stile. Then flush that to the surrounding rails.

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