The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING
Muntins
Vertical divisions between the rails are known as muntins (vertical sash-bars in windows which fulfil the same function are known as mullions). Their object when fitted is to stiffen up the panel area by dividing it into smaller sections. and also to increase the overall rigidity of the framing, but they are often used purely for visual effect. As they are distance-pieces— keeping the rails apart rather than pulling them together—they can be stub tenoned and glued into the grooves of the rails with a fine pin through the back of the rail to keep them in position, or if the frame is moulded and rebated/ rabbeted, cut in and mitred on the face. Muntins in heavy frameworks may require tenoning in as for the rails, but the tenons should be kept as short as possible, for there is little point in weakening the rails with deep mortises. It is customary to make the width of the muntins the same as, or slightly more than, the width of the rails, but if they are shaped the width should allow for the double moulding and should show the same amount of flat (this also applies to intermediate rails). Examples of muntins occur in framed carcass backs, drawer bottoms and panelling, etc.
225 Bow doors: laying out and cramping/clamping
clamping up these doors sash-cramps across the back of the box (225:3A-B) will pull the joints open on the face, therefore the cramping pull must follow the arc, and a sturdy block should be laid across the face for the cramps to pull on (225:3). If there is any tendency for the face cramps to flatten the bow then a cramp across the back will correct the distortion.
Framed bow doors
Framed-up bow doors, either dowelled or tenoned together, in which the panels are grooved into the stiles and rails and assembled within the framework at the time of gluing up, present no difficulty. But where loose panels of either wood or glass enter from the back and are secured with loose beads, the rebates/rabbets in the stiles must not be radial to the curve, but parallel to the outer edge of the stile, or the panel will not enter (225:1, 2). In cramping/
