Offset rabbets make double doors stronger

摘要

Q: In "Illustrated Guide to Doors" (fWW #204), Andy Rae shows a pair of doors that meet with a beaded lap. Placing the bead on the right-hand door, as the illustration shows, greatly weakens the lap. Wouldn't it be better to bead the left-hand stile, where the bead would be cut into the full thickness of the stile? A: Thanks for pointing out the danger of weakening the stile by cutting a bead above the rabbet. You can strengthen the bead by cutting unequal rabbets. On the right-hand door, the rabbet should be shallower than on the left. This makes the beaded lap stronger, because there is more material under the bead.