Windows and Doors

The doors in dwelling-houses and other buildings of a like char acter are commonly framed and panelled in one of the many ways possible. The framing consists of styles, rails and muntins or mountings, and these members are grooved to receive and hold the panels, which are inserted previously to the door being glued and wedged up. The common forms are doors in four or six rec tangular panels, and although they may he made with any form and number of panels, the principles of construction remain the same. The example shown in fig. 7 is of a five-panel door, with bolection moulded raised panels on one side, and moulded and flat panels on the other (fig. 9).

A

clear idea of the method of jointing the various members may be obtained from fig. 1o. The tongues of raised panels should be of parallel thickness, the bevels being stopped at the moulding.

The projecting ends or horns of the styles are kept on until com mencement of the process of hanging, as they prevent the ends of the styles being damaged.

Where there is a great deal of traffic in both directions swing doors, either single or double, are used.

To open them it is necessary simply to push, the inconvenience of turning a handle and shutting the door after passing through being avoided, as a spring causes the door to return to its original position without noise. They are usually glazed and should be of substantial construction.

The door is hinged at the top on a steel pivot ; the bottom part fits into a metal shoe connected with the spring, which is placed in a box fixed below the floor.

For large entrances, notably for hotels and banks, a form of door working on the turnstile principle is frequently adopted.

It is formed of four leaves fixed in the shape of a cross and working on top and bottom central ball-bearing steel pivots, in a circular framing which forms a kind of vestibule. The leaves of the door are sometimes fitted with slips of india-rubber at their edges which, fitting close to the circular framing, prevent draughts.

When an elegant appearance is desired, and it is at the same time necessary to keep the cost of production as low as possible, doors of pine or other soft wood are sometimes covered with a veneer or thin layer of hard wood, such as oak, mahogany or teak, giving the appearance of a solid door of the better material. Made in the ordinary way, how ever, the shrinkage or warping of the soft wood is very liable to cause the veneer to buckle and peel off. Veneered doors made on an improved method obviating this difficulty have been placed on the market by a Canadian company. The core is made up

of strips of pine with the grain reversed, dried at a temperature of 200° F, and glued up under pressure. Both the core and the hard wood veneer are grooved over their surfaces, and a special damp-resisting glue is applied; the two portions are then forced together under hydraulic pres sure. By reason of their con struction these doors possess the advantages of freedom from shrinking, warping and splitting, defects which are all too common in the ordinary veneered.

Ordinary animal glue should not be used in work exposed to the weather as it absorbs damp and thus hastens decay; in its place a compound termed beaunwn tique, made of white lead, linseed oil and litharge, should be used.

Church Joinery.

Joinery work in connection with the fitting up of church interiors must be regarded as a separate branch of the art. Pitchpine is often used, but the best work is executed in English oak; and when the screens, stalls and seating are well designed and made in this material, a distinction and dignity of effect are added to the interior of the church which cannot be obtained in any other medium. The work is often of the richest character, and frequently enriched with elaborate carving. Many beautiful specimens of early work are to be seen in the English Gothic cathedrals and churches; good work of a later date will be found in many churches and public buildings erected in more re cent years. Fine examples of Old English joinery exist at Hamp ton Court Palace, the Temple Church in London, the Chapel of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey and Haddon Hall. Specimens of modern work are to be seen in Beverley Minster in Yorkshire, the Church of St. Etheldreda in Ely Place, London, and the Wy cliffe Hall Chapel at Oxford. Other examples both ancient and modern abound in the country.

Machine-made Joinery.

The development and general adop tion of wood-working machinery has for many years been tending towards the elimination of the highly skilled joiner, but the tend ency is counteracted and skilled training assured by the increase in the number and efficiency of day and evening trade training schools. The number of voluntary students, comprising appren tices, improvers and journeymen, attending evening classes for joiners in one institute alone in the London area during the eve ning school session 1927-28 was in the neighbourhood of 200.