Quirk Beads For Doors & Face Frames — Joinery Methods For Butt Joints
Quirk beads are a common design element used to create a nice shadow line detail around the inside edges of door rails and stiles, or face frame openings. These beads are often found in “traditional” furniture, but many simple/clean designs like Shaker, Mission, and Arts & Crafts also regularly employ the use of quirk beads to great effect. Joining frame elements that have quirk beads using miter joints is relatively easy (as long as you’re good at miters in the first place!), but miter joints are often inappropriate for certain furniture/cabinet designs, so butt joints are in order. However, complications increase when bringing these frame members together in more commonly used butt joints, requiring some precision cuts to allow the quirk beads to come together nicely.
Through lecture, examples, and demonstration, WPW member Bill James will show several ways to join quirk-beaded frames in butt joints (we’ll leave the cutting of the quirk bead to the reader for independent study), for both door and face frame construction. As time permits, considerations for how to cut mortise & tenon joints to complete the joinery will also be covered.