Found a stat about plywood that really got me thinking

Was reading through some old Fine Woodworking issues last night and came across a stat that said something like 70% of cabinet door failures happen at the joint between the rail and stile. Never really thought about it that way before. I always just assumed it was warping or bad finish causing the most headaches. Has anyone else run into that kind of number or seen it play out in their own builds?

3 comments

3 Comments

tylerpark11d ago

Whoa wait, 70%? That can't be right, can it? I mean I've definitely had a few rail and stile joints pop on me over the years, but I just chalked it up to me not getting quite enough glue in there or rushing the clamp time. The grain orientation thing the_anthony mentioned is probably a big part of it too though, I never really thought about which way the grain runs on a stile before I cut it.

the_anthony11d agoMost Upvoted

Is it possible most people just don't bother with good grain orientation on rails and stiles?

patricia55812d ago

Probably depends on how you're cutting your joinery too, I bet a lot of those failures are from just glue and pocket screws instead of proper loose tenons or dowels.