Question
I'm looking for advice on retrofitting a Tudor arched door with kerf style weatherstripping. The door is already in place. I'm pretty sure I can set up for the straight cuts with a circular saw and a guide on the wall, but cutting the kerf along the radius of the arch is perplexing me.
Forum Responses
(Architectural Woodworking Forum)
From contributor D:
The typical q-lon compressible foam requires the jamb to be rabbeted 5/16" further off the face of the door, then the 1/8 x 3/8" groove goes into the edge of that surface. This is very difficult to do on a curved head door frame unless done while it is being built. The historic solution was/is to use spring bronze, clipped across its width every 2" or so, so the metal forms leaves around the arched part of the door. The straights are done conventionally. This is a very good weatherstrip, but the new folks don't know about it and seem to only trust the spongy plastic stuff.
The q-lon and other types need to be rabbeted and grooved at manufacture. If the spring bronze won't fly, then you can pay $1200 for the special router jig that will put in a kerf at 45 degrees to the rabbet, and use one of several bulb type weather seals. Pemko has spring bronze, the router setup, and the bulbs.
