Doors

[hawkeye54]

That's a sweet thickness sander you've got there, John. That must come in handy. I once had one and there are times I really miss having it.

I really like those doors! Laminating the stiles is a good idea, unfortunately I only had this thick stuff, so I've gotta keep my fingers crossed they don't "cast" as they used to say.

The Domino is a very useful machine, I've used one to make many cabinet doors, some of them quite large. It did away with dowelling completely. The good thing about it is the different size whatsits you can use and the way you can put them in in double rows.

I'd like to ask you about your glass. I would like to put some patterned or frosted glass in mine, behind the thermopane, to increase the privacy.

Thanks for posting this.

Jim

Jim, on the topic of patterned / frosted glass panes for the doors , I asked my lady ('retired' stained glass artist ) and she recommended either speaking to your local glass shop, or, of course - online resources. Things have changed a bit since she last worked stained glass, some 20 years ago . . [ Those doors are going to look great ]

Rick

[David G]

I really enjoy seeing custom made doors on homes. They are important ambassadors. Often overlooked for practical reasons, the front door can give the visitor an important first impression. They can be inviting, imposing, pretentious, or downright fun. Of course these are roles for architecture in general. But with so many of today's houses falling into generic patterns, the exterior door, and especially the main entry door, can stand as the sole identifier in a sea of neighborhood sameness. It's a shame that so few take advantage of the opportunity to stand out, a bit.

Here is our front door. Not built in the craftsman style (or might I say, stile?) as Jim's and others, but 100% reflective of my wife and me. The core is two layers of 3/4" maple ply, covered inside and out with shop sawn VG douglas fir. The inlay is mild steel that has been etched with the text of a poem by Ranier Maria Rilke, that was read at our wedding by our best friend and officiate.

Attachment 109502

That is quite lovely!

[holzbt]

My new garage entry made from rejects from past jobs. Port Orford cedar. This is the third door in 34 years. Maybe it's time for some gutters. At least this door is semi rot resistant. The prior ones were from the building supply, some white wood with a fir veneer.

garage door 001.jpg

garage door 002.jpg

[Hugh MacD]

Gorgeous!

[Mike1902]

What's that, Mike, a glaziers square? It's beautiful. Gotta get one!

It's a tailors square Jim, used for scaling clothing patterns. I claimed it when my father was cleaning out his workshop. Don't ask me how it works, youtube probably has the answers.
They are available on vintage/ antique websites, manufactured in England by J Rabone and Sons between 1913-1923 apparently.
It's dead accurate as a square though, the numbers and scales are irrelevant (to me) but it's a great go to when a right angle is required.

[Trowbrid]

In reply to the weatherstripping
I usually buy from http://www.conservationtechnology.com/

[Canoeyawl]

Good call on the weatherstripping...

Better Link: http://www.conservationtechnology.co...omponents.html
I haven't found better weatherstripping than this. Silicone, it maintains a consistent durometer (soft) regardless of temperature.
What's in the DIY stores is carp.

(I learned about this weatherstrip about 25 years ago working as an on-call millwright for a traditional door and window sash mill.
Which just happened to be across the street (50ft) from the old boat-shop and we were able to use the heavy machinery. Having access to the BIG planer, (24" Orton) and The BIG Jointer (20" Oliver) early 20th century American iron, can spoil a man for life)

[Jim Ledger]

I really enjoy seeing custom made doors on homes. They are important ambassadors. Often overlooked for practical reasons, the front door can give the visitor an important first impression. They can be inviting, imposing, pretentious, or downright fun. Of course these are roles for architecture in general. But with so many of today's houses falling into generic patterns, the exterior door, and especially the main entry door, can stand as the sole identifier in a sea of neighborhood sameness. It's a shame that so few take advantage of the opportunity to stand out, a bit.

Here is our front door. Not built in the craftsman style (or might I say, stile?) as Jim's and others, but 100% reflective of my wife and me. The core is two layers of 3/4" maple ply, covered inside and out with shop sawn VG douglas fir. The inlay is mild steel that has been etched with the text of a poem by Ranier Maria Rilke, that was read at our wedding by our best friend and officiate.

Edited to add...I'm sorry but the picture would not appear in the quote. Jim

Attachment 109502

That is a really striking design! The steel inset sets off the Fir overlay wonderfully. Reading the post I wish I could see the poem etched into the steel, something that only becomes obvious as you get close. That's brilliant!

My new garage entry made from rejects from past jobs. Port Orford cedar. This is the third door in 34 years. Maybe it's time for some gutters. At least this door is semi rot resistant. The prior ones were from the building supply, some white wood with a fir veneer.

garage door 001.jpg

garage door 002.jpg

A job well done, Roger! It's always interesting to see the parts arranged on the table prior to gluing up, so much gets hidden afterwards. The result is a stunning door, more so as it's not your front door. May it outlast all the others combined.




As I mentioned, the five light door I'm making is intended to pick up on the design of the interior doors of the house. There are five of them. They were built long enough ago to be due for their second painting, not that I intend doing that anytime soon. The flat panel and square-edge detail is simple and catches the light well.

Thank you all for the replies.

Jim

[John Husky]

Thanks for the comments Jim and others. That sander is great for millwork, but it’s open sided so it likes to go out of parallel. It’s great in that it fits in under an 8’ ceiling. The glass I used Jim, was frosted, tempered, and 1/4” thick. They really jacked me on the price though. $800+ for the 6 panes. I like using 1/4” because it fit’s the common sticking knives without making additional shims. Funny thing, I waxed the glass prior to glue up to avoid the epoxy grabbing it, and if you wax the frosted side of glass, it becomes transparent. So keep the frosted side away from prying eyes.

[Jim Ledger]

Thanks for the comments Jim and others. That sander is great for millwork, but it’s open sided so it likes to go out of parallel. It’s great in that it fits in under an 8’ ceiling. The glass I used Jim, was frosted, tempered, and 1/4” thick. They really jacked me on the price though. $800+ for the 6 panes. I like using 1/4” because it fit’s the common sticking knives without making additional shims. Funny thing, I waxed the glass prior to glue up to avoid the epoxy grabbing it, and if you wax the frosted side of glass, it becomes transparent. So keep the frosted side away from prying eyes.

A thickness sander is a really useful tool, John, but they do take up a lot of floor space and they're usually tall, as you mention. They are great for sanding laminations, though, as well as tabletops...and doors. Gotta remember the tip about the wax, although these glass panes will be set into rabbets and held in place with moldings.


I've been out in the boat shed all winter working on the wee catboat, which means that the shop, such as it is these days, has become something like a deep closet with one door. Where to begin indeed! So, about three weeks ago I started pushing back, a days sorting gained maybe a few inches. What makes things difficult is the excavating up of hibernating projects, like, oh, the bronze blocks in a box under the bench. Four days gone there. I'm happy to report that the chainsaw has a new Chinese carb, started right up even though it came with the wrong gaskets. Sold a few items on ebay and craigslist, still some things waiting for their new caretakers to step up. My new rule is if I ain't used it in thirty years I can probably do without it. I know I'll be kicking myself. Anybody remember the wee skylight? Well, it's surfaced again. Washed of the machines, rubbed and waxed the tops. Sharpened the pencils. Distracted from distractions to the n'th degree. I knew sooner of later I'd come full circle, and, yeah, there it is, make the doors or do the taxes. What's it gonna be?


It never hurts to loft a thing before you jump in with your two feet. I did it first time on some old oak ply that was laying around but it just pissed me off the way the pencil scratched across it and you couldn't erase anything. So I gave up , kinda discouraged, because of the plywood, that and I just couldn't get accurate. I used to be better at this. So, it was f**k this, and go and weld on a bronze outboard bracket that I found on ebay. Sad story, when it arrived I found out it was for a forward raking transom. I had an idea that I could slice the feet a bit and weld on about a half inch of bronze weld to reverse the rake. It worked too, but being a fixed bracket without any provision to lower the motor it just wouldn't work on the boat after all.

Should have lofted it first.

So, here's a new lofting, nice and tight this time, and drawn on some clean melamine I feel the confidence starting to build. One of the machines I kept when I downsized is a mortice machine. Every so often it comes in handy and I can wheel it out of the way other times. Here's a bit of scrap I used to dial it in. You have to get the mortices centered, it makes everything after go so much better.




Just the other day I sharpened up my big plane. I hadn't used it in quite a while, but wouldn't you know, those inside edges of the stiles were out of square, not much and only here and there. Surprised me after footleing around with the jointer all those days a while back. Squared them up old school, and it didn't take long either.

Start as you mean to continue, they say, and quit on a high note.

Jim

[Jim Ledger]

Just how many ways can a poor boy render a nice piece of wood useless for it's intended task? How many cool things have been created by a meek and tremulous soul? Is the first cut the deepest? So many questions.

Upon the lofting sits the two stiles, carefully aligned, one atop the other and clamped as one. With square and pencil the boundary lines of the mortices are transferred to both..

[Jim Ledger]

One last check before commitment.

The Good Book suggests a tenon thickness of one third of the total thickness of the stile. At an inch and three quarters the choices are nine sixteenths, which is a bit under, and five eighths, a bit over. Not having a nine sixteenths cutter, five eighths it is.

Another interesting suggestion of thumb concerns tenon width. It states..."the total width of a tenon or tenons is half the width of the piece minus any grooves or rabbets along the edge". Folla? As our rails will have a five eighths rabbet along each edge we will have to subtract an inch and a quarter from the rail width and divide the remainder in half. Still with me? However, instead of making one big tenon, we're gonna make two little ones instead.

Rules are rules

[Jim Ledger]

Once everything's set up and checked things go quickly. These mortices are three and a quarter inches deep, which is the maximum depth for this cutter. Through mortices can be cut from both sides if needed.

There will be another session on the mortice machine to cut the spaces for the shallow webs between the deep mortices.

Here's an important point for anyone considering doing something like this. First, lay out your parts as they will be assembled. Mark the upper faces with an "O" and do the something similar with an edge. Whenever you do a machining operation, keep these faces and edges against the machine table or fence. This way the parts won't be thrown off by any slight variation in thickness. It's almost academic with parts that have been run through a thickness planer, but any timber framer is always aware of this. It's a good habit and it helps you to keep track of what goes where and which way's up when things get confusing. It's a good habit to learn and anything that helps you to keep from making a mistake is worth doing.

[Jim Ledger]

This is the finished mortice at the bottom of the stile, where it intersects the wide bottom rail. The shallow part of the mortice keeps the rail aligned with the stile.

Now it's time to make some tenons, and it's a good thing too, as I was starting to get bored with the whole thing. All those bronze blocks are just sitting on the bench around the corner, and they're whispering..."come work on us, Jimmy, we're fun".

[J P]

Jim, what’s your plan for the bottom seal?

If/when I get around to building exterior doors for my place I’m thinking of using automatic door bottom (ADB) seals and flush thresholds. Nice to be able to just sweep out any dirt and debris and winter muck that gets tracked in. ADB’s can retract enough to clear a floor mat or rug.

[Jim Ledger]

Jim, what’s your plan for the bottom seal?

If/when I get around to building exterior doors for my place I’m thinking of using automatic door bottom (ADB) seals and flush thresholds. Nice to be able to just sweep out any dirt and debris and winter muck that gets tracked in. ADB’s can retract enough to clear a floor mat or rug.

Those ADB seals sound interesting, JP, good luck with them. Maybe you could give us a report back here, I'm sure there'd be some interest. For my project I've decided to follow the advice of Canoeyawl and others and try thesweeps and seals available from Conservation Technology. You can find them here...

http://www.conservationtechnology.co...ls_bottom.html

This is the bottom sweep that I'll be using. It's a soft silicon rubber extrusion that slides into an aluminum extrusion. A five-eighths inch groove is routed across the door bottom and the aluminum track screwed in. The rubber is then slid into the track. As you can see from the photo the rubber seals up to the sides of the groove, keeping the air away from the aluminum. One advantage is that I can use a wooden sill without an aluminum threshold, which will allow for a very clean-looking installation with minimum clearance. More on this and the side and top weatherseals later.

[Breakaway]

Good stuff!
Thanks for sharing with us.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Jim Ledger]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing with us.

You're quite welcome, Kevin, I'm glad you're following along.


So, I kinda cheated on the mortices, having a machine at my disposal. That's what you have to do if you want to make any kind of living. I didn't always have that machine and if anyone's interested I could go over one or two tested alternatives that'll do in a pinch.

Failing that, though let's move on to the tenons.

I plopped the cutoff box onto the table saw, which is a Unisaw from the Eighties, which I bought new and thought myself quite hot s**t at the time. You can see here a stop block clamped to the box so just the end of the scrap block gets cut. The object is to take a cut with the blade low on both sides and try the piece in one of the mortices. Each time raise up the blade a little until you get a snug fit.

The reason for the little cut on the bottom of the stop block is so that sawdust on the table won't throw off the cut

[Jim Ledger]

This is what I was looking for, a nice centered beginning of a tenon. What I was actually setting up for here was the two shoulder cuts. The depth is important on those as it looks bad if they're too deep. Not that anyone would know, they're buried, but until you glue up, there they are, looking you in the face.

It was late in the day, and feeling kinda low I went out and threw some stones at the turkeys in the yard. That helped. The next morning the face cuts looked ragged somehow. The cut off box introduces error, no matter how well it's made and this one's getting old. So I started over. Bagged the whole thing. Lotta times that's the best move. Fukkit.

[Jim Ledger]

Yesterday morning found me laying on a hospital table, face down while the doc stuck about a dozen needles in my spine. I'd been looking forward to this for some time, and it's not the first time. They pump in pain killers and then burn off some of the nerves that have been a bit of an irritation lately.

So, today I didn't feel quite one hundred percent, all punctured up and all, but I'm getting used to that.

But enough about me, lets make some tablesaw tenons. So, here I'm doing the same thing as the last picture, except that now I'm working directly on the table. There's my trusty wooden block screwed onto the fence and I'm working on the right side of the blade.

So far, so good.

You can see a couple of practice shoulder cuts on the test block. The actual cuts are three inches out from the fence. I tip the blade about a half degree to make a tight fit on the outside, which is the reason for working on the off side of the fence. The cut is made using a push stick right up against the fence while using gentle pressure with the right hand to keep the piece in good contact with the fence. The way this is set up you can't screw up the shoulder because it's on the outboard side. Should the piece vibrate or judder all the damage in in the waste.

[Breakaway]

Hey, Jim. Good morning. I hope you are feeling better and that you and Mrs. Legend are doing well.

Kevin


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Jim Ledger]

Hey, Jim. Good morning. I hope you are feeling better and that you and Mrs. Legend are doing well.

Kevin

Thanks for asking, Kevin. I'm feeling pretty good this morning, but it's early yet. Mrs. Ledger, well, lets just say I'm gonna need to do something nice for her.


Talking tenons once again, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cheat once again. This is the old-style Delta tenon jig, a much improved version of the new-style jig. You can find them on Ebay if you're patient and feel the need for such an implement.

Should you not have such a jig, there's still hope for you. Once you make the shoulder cuts shown in the previous photo, you can just continue cutting a series of kerfs in the waste material and break out the waste and finish with a chisel and plane. I've done a few like that.

Or, if you're feeling brave you can screw a board to the fence to make it higher and push the pieces through on end, adjusting the fence to get the correct tenon width. Just make sure that the board is square to the table and won't move under pressure. And use a push stick. Safety first!

[willin woodworks]

An invaluable tool. I probably use mine once every couple of years but there's nothing like it...

Following closely Mr. Ledger. Thanks for the tutorial.

[StevenBauer]

Just popped in to say good morning and thank you for threads like these.

[Hugh MacD]

I love seeing how real woodworkers do things...as compared to my cobbling! Thanks, Jim!

[Jim Ledger]

I love seeing how real woodworkers do things...as compared to my cobbling! Thanks, Jim!

Well, then, Hugh, you're gonna like this!

This is Wednesdays repair of Tuesday afternoon's blunder. I spent part of that evening polishing the moaning chair. There was a series of cuts to be made on the saw, cutting the edge shoulder cuts on the tenons. All of the middle rails got a cut top and bottom. The top and bottom rails only got cuts on the inside edge. Guess what happened?

What can I say, I should have quit sooner? I guess, that beats all the times that it would have been better to stay in bed that morning. There's that.

[Jim Ledger]

An invaluable tool. I probably use mine once every couple of years but there's nothing like it...

Following closely Mr. Ledger. Thanks for the tutorial.

I had to dig out mine and briskly apply the Scotchbrite and wax so I wouldn't look like such a sloppy shopkeeper when the photo was taken. Like you say, when you need it it really does the job.

Just popped in to say good morning and thank you for threads like these.

You're welcome, Steven, glad you're enjoying this.


This is the cutting of the tenon shoulders, again on the cut-off box using a piece of plywood for a stop





All the cuts made on the middle rails...





The remaining waste laid out for removal. This will be done on the table saw using the cut-off box. The blade height is adjusted to the top of the cut. The plywood fence is set to cut the outer cut, the piece flipped and the other cut is made. The rest of the waste gets nibbled away with about a half dozen freehand passes.

[hawkeye54]

Well, then, Hugh, you're gonna like this!

This is Wednesdays repair of Tuesday afternoon's blunder. I spent part of that evening polishing the moaning chair. There was a series of cuts to be made on the saw, cutting the edge shoulder cuts on the tenons. All of the middle rails got a cut top and bottom. The top and bottom rails only got cuts on the inside edge. Guess what happened?

What can I say, I should have quit sooner? I guess, that beats all the times that it would have been better to stay in bed that morning. There's that.

All great work, Jim - any issues could be referenced back to the painkillers noted in post # 90, no ? - still following closely


Rick

[Hugh MacD]

Jim, I hate to say it, but your "fixes" are better than my best work Thank you so much for sharing your process!

[Jim Ledger]

Thanks for chiming in, Hugh, i'm glad you're enjoying this.


All the tenons have been cut and fitted. The center rails, which are identical, have been assigned particular places in the frame so that each tenon is fitted to a particular mortice. They would probably work in a random mix but this way I know there will be no problem when gluing up.

As each one is fitted I place the blue tape as you can see. The joints will be all taped off prior to glue-up, to make clean up easier as well as to keep the glue from sealing the wood in patches. We'll see how it works out.

And that's about it, we're ready to glue.

[Hugh MacD]

Can't wait to see this door, Jim! I always tape up my glue joints 'cause I'm a terrible slob

[Jim Ledger]

Can't wait to see this door, Jim! I always tape up my glue joints 'cause I'm a terrible slob

The taping of the joints worked out quite well, Hugh. Epoxy can be messy stuff

Here's the glue-up. After about three hours the epoxy was "green", in that rubbery state between being a sticky liquid and rock hard. I was able to chisel off all the excess without any trouble. Most of the joints came out well, except for one on the inside which I was not too happy with. Probably no one will notice and after a couple of years I might even forget.

Gotta go and take off the clamps...

[Hugh MacD]

Jim, using epoxy how much clearance did you give your joints? I want to make up some doors one of these days and I've mostly used Titebond II for tenons, so I make them fairly (for me) snug. Epoxy seems to need some gaposis (a natural for me but I'm never sure how much?

[Jim Ledger]

Jim, using epoxy how much clearance did you give your joints? I want to make up some doors one of these days and I've mostly used Titebond II for tenons, so I make them fairly (for me) snug. Epoxy seems to need some gaposis (a natural for me but I'm never sure how much?

I undercut the tenon shoulders, which should have left a small gap inside. As for the tenons themselves, they were adjusted with a shoulder plane to fit. I had to tap them home with a rubber mallet the last inch. I assumed that there would be plenty of gaps in there. Even if the epoxy didn't stick at all, once it hardened and filled the spaces it would be just about impossible to get the joint apart. Even dry the joint has to be withdrawn dead square, straight up. If you put in enough thickened epoxy to fill the gaps you could make a sloppy fit.

Here we are, out of the clamps with the squeeze-out removed. Next up, a bit of rabbeting.

[Jim Ledger]

You're looking at the inside of the door here. The rebates that will hold the glass have just been cut with a router fitted with a large rabbeting bit. Next thing is to square the rebate corners with a chisel. The plan calls for mitered stops on this side to hold in the glass, which will allow for replacement of the pane in case of breakage.