76 Making doors and doorframes
to produce the sawn, sectional sizes (which usually have
at least 6mm added to the finished sizes for planing),
it will need to be deeped and/or flatted (flat- sawn
along the grain lengthwise, parallel to the face- edges
of the timber) with either a narrow bandsaw machine
(using the widest blade available to avoid snaking), or a
realistically- robust circular saw- bench machine.Machine planing
Figures 5.2(a)(b): The next job is planing – and
although hand planes are still used occasionally by
joiners, the task of planing timber all round (par) by
hand is of a bygone age – and therefore a surface-
planer/thicknessing machine would be used. Although
training should be acquired and health- and- safety
regulations adhered to, the sequence of using this
machine is as follows: Minimise the exposed, cylindri-
cal cutter-block that lies just below the open- surface
of the machine’s top bed, by adjusting the fence to suit
the timber’s width and adjust the bridge guards (one
on each side of the fence) to allow a slight clearance
for the sawn timber’s thickness to pass under. Then
plane the wide face- sides of each piece until all saw-
marks are removed. As illustrated in Figure 5.2(a),
this includes feeding the timber smoothly, with light
pressure and slow speed; the hands should be posi-
tioned as shown, on each side of the bridge guard (the
left hand having been lifted over the guard to hold
down the emerging timber), then – near the end of a
planing operation – the right hand is moved over the
bridge guard.or more wedges – as illustrated in Chapter 3. Note
that wedges cut like this, from the tenon’s waste
area, are the exact required thickness.As illustrated in Figures 5.1(e) and (f ) above, about
60 to 80mm more than the door’s height should be
added to the initial length of the stiles to produce
projecting horns of 30 to 40mm at each end. The main
reason for the horns is to add more length to the short
grain above the outer wedges and thereby increase its
resistance to shear when the wedges are being driven
in. Traditionally, a second reason for having horns
was to protect the vulnerable outer corners of doors
during transit. Also indicated in Figures 5.1(e) and
(f ) are typical looped face marks, usually made in a few
places with a pencil and joined up on the timber’s edge
with an open arrow mark. These symbols are made to
remind the joiner/machinist of the selected best face
and edge. Therefore, they are named face- side and face-
edge marks. They are applied after machining and after
the various pieces of timber have been scrutinized. This
involves studying the characteristics of the grain, the
position of any knots or blemishes and the position
of sapwood in relation to heartwood; the latter being
chosen, if possible, as the outer face on exterior doors.
Selection and preparation of timber
If the timber is in a sawn state, as is usual in joinery
workshops – it must first be selected and cut to initial
lengths with either a crosscut- or hardpoint- saw, a
portable, powered crosscut/mitre saw, a portable circu-
lar saw, or a travelling- head crosscutting machine. Then,
Figure 5.2 (a) Hand- positions
and stance for planing the
‘face side’.