Another Warp/Bow Issue

[PaulyWally]

Hi All,

I am making solid wood French doors out of 2x construction joists. The joints are glued, as are the 2 cross boards. I left one of the doors alone for a couple weeks and it's bowing. Please see pictures below. The only thing I can think of is to spritz the concave side with water, and then force it back (and beyond a little bit) with clamps. Leave it like that for a couple weeks and hope for the best. But I really don't know the best way to tackle this without fear of it bowing again. I am aiming for an old, worn, and weathered look. So these don't have to be perfect. I honestly don't recall how long I let the boards acclimate in my shop. But I know it probably wasn't long enough. Less than a week or two. That's on me.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

 

The other, finished door for your reference:

[curlyoak]

Wrong wood. Probably high moisture content. Good wood for joists.

PS Part of the process of woodworking is specifying the correct materials. Doors get special consideration due to the demand the project creates. We want our doors to fit right and operate smoothly. And be big enough for people to walk through. Demanding of the wood compared to other projects. Like joists.

Wood for doors must be dry, flat and straight. And remains that status for many years. It must stand up to the weather for exterior doors. And proper engineering for wood movement is a must. 

Knowing how to read grain will enhance the outcome. The best milling type for doors is quarter or rift sawn lumber. Typically the most reliable.

[gee-dub]

+1 on wrong wood.  I acclimated construction lumber for many months in my shop prior to making a workbench base from it.  The material still moved after assembly and kept moving for over a year.  To add insult to injury, my waste-to-usable material ratio made me spend almost as much as some decent poplar would have cost.

I know there are a lot of things out there on how to save money and use dimensional lumber for all sorts of things.  Unless you are really looking for a 1970s waterbed frame sort of a look though I would use some carefully selected mahogany, maple, poplar, or fir (depending on the use case) from a reliable lumber yard. 

Hanging doors have different stresses than hinged doors.  If the door is supported by hinges you will want a hard wood and deep mortise and tenon construction to get a decent usable life out of the construction IMHO.

[wtnhighlander]

Growing up in a rural part of the Southern U.S., I was familiar with such door construction in the homes of my grand- and great-grandparents. In my experience, these doors were never glued. Instead, the cross members,usually including a diagonal brace, were nailed through, and the nails clenched. This created a strong attachment, but left the  vertical boards free to move independently, which reduced the warping of the panel, overall. 

It also made for a lot of air gap, so exterior doors were mostly made of 2 layers of 1x stock, overlapped in a board and batten style.

[curlyoak]

On 1/20/2024 at 11:40 AM, wtnhighlander said:

these doors were never glued. Instead, the cross members,usually including a diagonal brace, were nailed through, and the nails clenched. This created a strong attachment, but left the  vertical boards free to move independently, which reduced the warping of the panel, overall. 

That reminds me of time I spent off grid in the 70's in Northwest Arkansa near the Boston mountains. Our power tool was the chainsaw. The lumber was green rough sawn oak. Nailed and clinched. Added an old blanket to the inside to cut down the draft. a 4 sided log cabin. It became storage after the dome was built.