As ornamental as the frame-and – panel door, the veneered-panel door is much simpler to make. First of all, it does not require mortise-and-tenon joints. In fact, the frame adds no strength to the door at all; the four sides are simply mitered at each end. The assembly is held together by biscuit joints that affix it to a plywood panel, which serves as the structural backbone of the door.
The veneered plywood is formed by up to nine plies of thin veneer glued together. The outer skin is typically У28 inch thick for hardwoods and Mo inch thick for softwoods.
Since plywood is not affected by humidity, no allowance has to be made for changes in the size of the panel. Therefore, it does not need to have a bevel cut along its edge to fit into a groove on the frame. The plywood simply rests in a rabbet cut in the frame.
The panel of a veneered-panel door— with its typically dark – hued wood—offers a visual contrast to the lighter-colored frame.
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Cutting a rabbet and sizing the stock
Cut a rabbet just as you would to make a board-and-batten door (page 110).
Set the cutting height at the thickness of the panel; the width should be one-half the stock thickness. Clamp featherboards to the saw table to support the workpiece. Insert a shim between the vertical featherboard and the fence to keep the pressure off the rabbeted part of the stock. Feed the workpiece good-face up into the dado head (above). Then cut the frame pieces to size, making 45° miter cuts at each end. Dry-assemble the frame, then cut the panel to fit. Identify the panel edges and their mating frame pieces to help you correctly assemble the door for glue up.
3 Preparing the frame and panel for glue up
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Mark a line across the panel and the frame pieces about 4 inches from each edge and at 6-inch intervals in between. Disassemble the door and clamp one frame piece to a work surface, protecting the stock with wood pads. Adjust the depth of cut on a plate joiner, then set the tool’s base plate on the bottom of the rabbet in the frame piece. With a support board under the joiner to keep it level, align the guide line on the tool with a slot location mark. Holding the joiner with both hands, cut a groove at each mark (left). Repeat for the other frame pieces, then cut the mating slots in the panel the same way.
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Gluing up the door
Once all the slots have been cut, glue up the door. Set the frame pieces and the panel good-face up on a work surface and squeeze glue into each slot, inserting biscuits as you go. To prevent the wafers from expanding before everything is put together, assemble the door as quickly as possible, fitting the frame pieces to the panel (above, left). Next, set the door on two bar clamps on a work surface. With wood pads protecting the frame, tighten the clamps just enough to close the joints. Install two more clamps across the top of the door, placing them perpendicular to the first two. Finish tightening until glue squeezes out of the joints (above, right). Once the adhesive has dried, remove any excess with a paint scraper.
