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Blew out a cabinet door stile with a 23 gauge pin at 2am in my Portland shop
Last Tuesday I was finishing a set of maple shaker doors for a kitchen in Beaverton and rushed the last glue up around 2am. I shot a 23 gauge pin too close to the edge of a 2 inch stile and it split the grain right down the face. I stood there for a minute just staring at it, then grabbed my flush cut saw and carefully trimmed the cracked section back with a chisel. I glued a patch from the same board, matched the grain, and clamped it overnight with wax paper so it wouldn't stick to the caul. Next morning the patch sanded out clean and you can't even see it under stain. Lesson for me was to slow down when I'm tired instead of trying to beat the clock. Anyone else had luck hiding a split like that, or do you just scrap the door and start over?
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carr.lee22d ago
A 23 gauge pin barely has any holding power anyway, so the real problem is that maple is just brittle right at the edge of a 2 inch stile. I get why you patched it, and honestly for a paint grade door I'd do the same, but under stain on a kitchen that gets daily use, that split is still a weak spot hiding under there. The pin didn't just crack the face, it broke the grain fibers all around it, so the patch is only as strong as the glue line. For a set of shaker doors going to a customer in Beaverton, I'd scrap that stile and cut a new one. Cheap insurance compared to a callback in six months.
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