Help With Big Glass Doors

[rmac]

It's still a big maybe, but my next project might be a large humidor, more or less like the one shown in the attached picture. It would be roughly six feet high, four feet wide, and 18 inches deep. The doors need to have glass panels so that you can look in and see all the cigars lying in the cute little aromatic cedar trays.

There are a million things to figure out, but the part that has me worried most is the doors. Problem #1 is that with the narrow frame around the glass panels, it seems like the doors might droop over time and go from this: to this: .

If the glass was cut to fit very closely within the frame, then it would help to prevent sagging. And maybe that would be okay, since the frame members shouldn't expand or contract very much along their lengths. Does that idea sound reasonable? What other ways are there to prevent the sagging that I'm worried about?

Problem #2 is how to keep the long door stiles from bowing. It seems like the hinges would keep the two outer stiles pretty well corralled, but the inner ones (with the handles) are free to bow in or out however they want. How can I prevent this bowing, especially considering that the humidity inside the humidor will be held at about 70%, while the air outside may be much, much drier.

Thanks for any and all hints!

-- Russ

[TimV]

Russ,

Great post! My opinions, fwiw:

Prob 1. How narrow are you considering? I wouldn't go any less than 2-3/4" width. You could get the width by using proportioning from the photo. I think with any glued tight fitting joint with even a small mortise and tenon, it will not sag or rack. I've built large kitchen cabinet doors, albeit with a 1/4 ply panel, in that manner and it is extremely strong. I think you'll be amazed at that rigidity of the frame after gluing. And yes, I think the glass will also help. Of course, if someone hangs from the doors, all bets are off.

Prob 2. It appears from the photo that there is a long piece of metal along the inner edge of the left door. I suspect that this is some sort of seal, but I would think that it would also help prevent bowing of that stile. There might be something similar along the right door also. Have you ever put your hands on one of these units in the wild?

Tim

[nabil]

Hey Russ,

here is my take on doors like this.

-choose nice straight grain for your rails and stiles...........rift/quarter sawn. This helps prevent any racking/bowing of the frame.

-Use mortise and tenon joinery to put the frame together. Personally I would use a cope and stick bit set along with M&T.

-Glass should have a 1/16" clearance all around. I normally bed the glass inside the rabbet with some clear silicone.

-If you still feel the frame is not ridgid enough you may want to add a muntin and split the lites into 4.

best regards,

nabs

[rmac]

Thanks, guys, for the hints so far. I agree that the next step should definitely be to take a look at one of these things in person. I suppose that means a trip to a smoke shop. I wonder if they get freaked out when people show up wearing respirators.

-- Russ

[rmac]

Just to close the loop ... this turned out to be a big "never mind". The guy who needed the big humidor found a used one and bought it for a song.