Graceful Glass Doors

Delicate muntins require exacting machine work and handwork,

but they create doors of elegant proportions
B Y S T E V E L A T T A

A
pair of properly executed glass
doors adds sophistication to a
bookcase, a breakfront or a case-
on-chest. The doors on this walnut book-
case that I made for my wife are similar to
ones I saw several years ago on an English
antique. Most glass doors today are built
using cope-and-stick knife sets to shape
the muntins—not so with these doors.
Cope-and-stick sets give rise to a heavier,
bulky gridwork that is inappropriate for
the lighter and more formal look I prefer in
my work. My process involves precise ma-
chine work and handwork, but for the end
result, the extra effort is well worth it.

Joinery details make a sturdy frame

The joinery for a glass-door frame is stan-
dard mortise-and-tenon fare, but there are
a few important details to note. Choose
straight-grained stock because of its
strength and stability. Leave it oversize for
several days, and then bring it down to fi-
nal dimension after it has stabilized. The
mortises cut into the stiles and the match-
ing tenons on the ends of the rails are off-
set from the centerline of the stock
thickness. The front cheeks align with the
back edge of the small roundover bead
that is shaped along the inside edges of the
door frame. That bead holds the panes of
glass in place. Also, with this design, one
other detail stands out: Each of the delicate
muntins is made from two separate pieces
of wood—a face piece shaped with a small
bead that fits over a lattice grid.

Mill and mold the door frame

I make doors slightly oversize and then fit
them to their openings. With these doors,
the stiles and rails are 7⁄8 in. thick by slightly
more than 21⁄8 in. wide. On the inside edge
of each piece, cut a 1⁄8-in. radius bead (I use

74 FINE WOODWORKING Photos: William Duckworth

D E TA I L S F O R E L E G A N T G L A S S D O O R S
This design combines the delicate two-part muntins with strong,
traditionally joined frames to make elegant, sturdy doors.
DOOR-FRAME JOINERY
1
⁄2 in.
Align the horizontal muntins with the
bookshelves behind the doors.

2 1⁄8 in.
1 1⁄2 in.

1 1⁄2 in.

Bead is
mitered at
the corners.
1
⁄8 in.
Top of the tenon is
3
flush with the rabbet. ⁄8 in.

7
⁄8 in.

1
⁄4 in. Rabbet for glass

WHERE MUNTINS MEET THE DOOR FRAME

Beaded face
overlaps the Door stile
top edge of
the lattice.

11
⁄16 in.

Lattice
grid 1
⁄2 in.

Mortise

WHERE MUNTINS INTERSECT 3

⁄8 in.

Miter 3
⁄16 in. Face
Door stile
1
Groove, ⁄8 in. wide
Half lap by 1⁄16 in. deep

9
⁄16 in. Lattice

3
Gap here will 1
⁄8 in. ⁄8 in.
1
⁄8 in. be concealed Joint must
The lattice grid, joined with Each beaded face is grooved on by the face. be tight.
half laps, is glued together the underside, custom fitted and
as the door is assembled. glued in place. SECTION VIEW SIDE VIEW

Drawings: Vince Babak JULY/AUGUST 2004 75

 lengths longer than what you’ll need, and
CUT SMALL always make extras. Start with a piece of
stock about 5 in. wide and 3⁄8 in. thick. Joint
MORTISES FOR an edge, then rout the beaded shape along
L AT T I C E G R I D that edge (I use an Amana #51540 bullnose
bit with a 5⁄64-in. radius to shape the fully
half-round bead on the edge faces). Make
sure the bead is centered. After shaping the
edge, rip it to thickness (mine were just shy
of 3⁄16 in.), using a splitter and a good-size
push stick to support the stock as you cut
it. Repeat that process—joint, shape, rip—
until all of the beaded face blanks are
done. Store these muntin faces on a scrap
of plywood and tack them down with a
Small mortises require ma- string or a rubber band to prevent them
chine work and handwork. from twisting and cupping.
The 1⁄8-in. by 3⁄8-in. by 1⁄2-in. One thing I’d like to stress here is the
deep mortises for the lat-
need for accurately machined pieces. Use
tice grids are drilled out
a narrow router table with a short fence to
with a brad-point bit in a
drill press and cleaned out accommodate slight deviations in stock
by hand with chisels. thickness or flatness.

Make the lattice grid

delicate and strong
The stock thickness of the lattice grid is
sized to fit a standard rip-blade kerf—one
an Amana #49496 roundover bit), leaving a After the roundover and rabbet have created by a sawtooth that is square in pro-
heavy 1⁄16-in. step at the front edge. After been machined, finish executing the door file. Rip a shallow groove about 1⁄8 in. deep
routing the roundover, calculate the height joinery—mortise-and-tenon with a mitered in a piece of scrap. This scrap will serve as
of the back rabbet and cut it on a shaper or roundover where the stile and rail join, a test sample for milling the lattice pieces
a router table with a fence. The rabbet which some people call a jack miter—and to thickness.
should be the same depth as the then dry-fit the door. Start with a piece of material about 6 in.
roundover (mine is 1⁄8 in.). In height, it wide that is a couple of inches longer than
should leave enough of a bead and flat so Mold the bead on the muntin faces your longest frame member, and plane it
that the entire muntin face dies into the flat After milling the stiles and rails for the door down to 5⁄8 in. thick. This blank will be
area and does not have to be coped to the frame, mill the muntin face pieces to size milled into strips that fit snugly into the
radiused section. To eliminate tearout and shape. At this stage, however, save the groove on the scrap test sample. These
when cutting the rabbet, make a light pass task of cutting the grooves in the backs of strips can be generated a variety of ways.
first and follow that with a full-depth pass. them until later. Mill the beaded faces in They can be ripped oversize and brought

M I L L T H E L AT T I C E G R I D
Half-lap joints
for the lattice
grid. With 1⁄8-in.-
thick stock,
you can cut
half-lap joints
easily. Use a
miter gauge to
make one pass
Cutting tenons on the ends of the lattice- through each
grid stock. Use the tablesaw fence as a stop piece.
block and support the thin lattice with a scrap
of wood screwed to the miter gauge. Make a
first pass to define the shoulder and then drag
the stock across the sawblade to cut the tenons.

76 FINE WOODWORKING
 ASSEMBLE THE DOOR
I N S TAG E S

1
Glue-ups can be stressful, especially with
so many delicate pieces of wood going to-
gether at the same time. Latta recom-
mends breaking down the process into
manageable stages.
1. Assemble the lattice grid with a spot of
glue at each half-lap joint, and then glue
the vertical lattice piece into the top and
bottom door rails.
2. Fit the rails and the horizontal lattice
pieces into the first stile.
3. Add the second stile and clamp the door
assembly together.

to thickness with a wide-belt sander, a

drum sander or a thickness planer. Or you
can just rip the lattice pieces to thickness
on the tablesaw, using a zero-clearance in-
sert, a splitter, and a push stick. Although
the resulting sawmarks are not desirable,
they won’t be seen because the glazing
compound that holds the glass in place will
cover them. Once you’ve milled the lattice-
grid pieces, bundle them up and set them
aside. I keep mine wrapped in plastic to
2
prevent them from twisting out of shape.
frames and the other end about 1⁄8 in. in
Cut mortises for the lattice grid—To lay from the back of the doors. When you’ve
out the mortises for the lattice grid in the finished cutting all of the mortises for the
dry-fitted door frame, measure the rabbet- lattice grid, you can cut the lattice pieces to
to-rabbet dimension between stiles and length and shape the tenons on the ends.
rails to get the correct locations. I use a
1
⁄8-in. brad-point bit mounted in the drill Notch ends to make tenons—When cal-
press to remove most of the waste, then I culating the exact length of the lattice-grid
clean up the mortises with a chisel. Scoring pieces, figure a 7⁄16-in.-long tenon on each
a line with a knife down the center of the end. This will leave a pocket at the bottom
mortise layout helps the small brad-point of the mortise for excess glue or debris.
bit stay on track better along the center of You need to cut rabbeted shoulders on
the mortise. Cut the mortises about 1⁄2 in. both the top and bottom edges to form
deep with one end flush against the back tenons. The bottom (or back) edge is the
edge of the small roundover bead that is most important because it forms a visible
3
shaped along the inside edges of the door seam where it joins the door frames. The

JULY/AUGUST 2004 77
 M I L L T H E M U N T I N FAC E S

There’s no
room for slop
when shaping
and milling
these small
muntin faces.
It’s an
exacting
process.
Joint, rout and rip. Shape the muntin faces two at a time, working from both Small pieces require extra care. To
edges of a board. Joint each edge flat, rout the beaded shape, and then rip off mill a 1⁄16-in.-deep groove into the deli-
each side on the tablesaw, using a large paddle-style push stick to keep the cate muntin, hold down each piece from
stock flat on the saw table. above and push it tightly to the fence.

upper (or front) rabbet does not have to fit cut the upper rabbet on all of the lattice- transfer the locations of the mortises onto
tightly to the roundover bead because that grid pieces—horizontal and vertical—so those pieces. Cut the notches to fit. The ver-
seam will be covered by the muntin faces. that you end up with a tenon width that tical and horizontal members should fit to-
To cut the shoulders on the lattice-grid matches the width of the mortise. gether at 90°. After all of the notching has
members, use a miter gauge with an auxil- been completed, dry-fit the door with the
iary fence for support. You can use the Half laps stiffen the grid—The lattice- lattice grid in place to see whether it all fits.
main fence of the tablesaw as an indexed grid pieces must be joined with standard
stop for the length of each tenon cut. Set a half-lap joints. This is best done on the Glue the door together
combination blade about 1⁄8 in. high, make tablesaw with a rip blade and an L-shaped before fitting the muntin faces
a shoulder cut, and then drag the stock auxiliary fence mounted to the miter gauge. Glue up the door one section at a time.
across the blade to cut the rest of the tenon The fence eliminates tearout and helps lo- Havoc awaits fools who attempt to do it all
shoulder. Once the proper tenon length has cate each notch. Cut a notch halfway at once. Start with the lattice grids, using
been established, cut all of the horizontal through the horizontal frame members in yellow glue, and then glue the lattice-grid
lattice pieces, and then repeat the process the exact middle of each piece. Hold the verticals into the top and bottom rails. After
with the vertical pieces. Reset the fence to vertical members against the stiles and that, join each stile, one at a time. Make

F I T T H E M U N T I N FAC E S

Mark and cut each muntin face separately. With a 2-in.-long layout Shopmade setup for trimming small miters. A scrap of
scrap as a marker, Latta uses a plane iron to score each muntin face in wood cut with 45° miters on both ends and screwed to a
place on the door. Then he removes each piece to custom-cut it to length. scrap of plywood serves as a guide for mitering the delicate
muntin faces. A sharpened plane iron makes the cut.

78 FINE WOODWORKING
sure the door is flat and not twisted, using dicate where the miters begin. Line up
the same type of clamps throughout on a each mark to the edge of the guide block
flat, level bench. and, with a slicing motion, trim the miters
to length with the iron. Check the fit by
Fit the muntin faces one at a time— pressing the muntin face onto the frame
Using the rip blade again, cut a groove and sliding the mitered face of the layout
down the center of the back of each piece up to it. If the fit is good, cut and join
muntin face piece. Because these pieces each of the two side muntins that intersect
are so small, use a large push block that that joint, and then continue with the next
will hold the whole piece tightly against vertical piece. Work your way down the
the saw table and another scrap of wood full grid of the door. As tedious as this
that will keep it pushed against the fence. process may sound, it actually goes quite
The groove should be a heavy 1⁄16 in. deep. quickly, providing your iron is sharp.
Where muntin faces join, I use a plane Once all of the muntin faces have been
iron or a wide chisel as a sort of guillotine fitted, take them off one at a time. Using a
to chop the mitered ends cleanly. To make small glue syringe, put a light bead on the Match the color
a guillotine, screw a block of wood with a inside edges of each groove and press
45°-angle cut on both ends to a small piece them in place over the lattice grid. Do this
of the putty
of plywood. This block will serve as the to all of the muntins, adding a small drop of to the finished wood
guide for the plane iron as you press it glue where the pieces butt together. Any
against the sides of the block. You’ll need a excess glue must be removed because it Doing the glazing isn’t difficult with a
layout piece to mark for all of the miter will interfere with installing the glass and little patience and practice. A talented
cuts. Cut a 2-in.-long scrap piece of muntin cause blotches in the final finish. glazier named John Rush gave me more
face stock. Leave one end square and make Once all of the muntin faces have been than a few pointers. Start by tacking
opposing 45° cuts on the other end. glued in place, and before installing the each pane in place with a few dabs of
To begin facing the lattice grid, cut a glass, fit the door to its opening and hang it clear silicone along each lip. This keeps
piece of muntin a little bit longer than the on hinges. After that, sand and finish the the glass from rattling as the door is
first point of intersection, with one end doors before glazing them. Glass doors with opened and closed, and it works much
square. Fit it over the lattice grid, being this delicate gridwork are ageless and speak better than traditional glazing points
sure to butt the square end tightly to the to a time when attention to detail meant a
that would tend to split the thin lattice-
top or bottom rail. Coming in from both little more than it often does today.

grid pieces.
sides, slide the square end of the layout
The glazing compound should be col-
piece up to the muntin face and transfer a Steve Latta teaches cabinetmaking at Thaddeus
mark with the plane iron. These points in- Stevens School of Technology in Lancaster, Pa. ored using univer-
sal tinting colors
(UTCs) to match the
finish on the wood.
UTCs are used by
painters and are
Glass Glazing
available at most compound
paint stores. Use a
drill with a mixing paddle to blend the
colors into a can of regular glazing
putty. If the mixture becomes too thin,
add a little whiting—also available at
paint stores—to thicken it. Mix the glaz-
ing a few days ahead of time and set it
aside. This allows it to thicken a bit,
and as it dries you get a better idea of
the final color. You don’t need a dead
match for the color; you just want it to
be close and unobtrusive. To apply the
putty, I use a shortened putty knife with
Eight miters for each intersection. Don’t use too much glue. A syringe is ideal for
Four muntin faces join together over each applying glue to the small muntin face pieces. one corner ground off, which helps me
half-lap joint of the lattice grid. (One source is Lee Valley, 800-871-8158.) Any get neater results when trimming away
excess glue should be removed before it dries. the excess putty.

JULY/AUGUST 2004 79