homemade exterior door from ash?

[sbishop]

i'm thinking about making some homemade exterior doors for my camp, i've got enough 2" ash that has been air dried for the last 2 years.

Is ash ok for this? if yes, should it be ripped into 6" wide pieces? t&g? or would it be possible to use slab widths? (12")

Thanks
Sbishop

[Rooster]

Ok....I'll bite.

I think the style of door would determine if the Ash would work for you.

Tell us, are you wanting to build a solid 2" thick door? 
Or do you want to build a panel door?

A solid 32"x 80"x1.75" Ash door is going to weigh alot!  Are you trying to "bear proof" the "camp building"?
If so, I recommend edge glueing thinner vertical strips such as 2.5"-3.5" x 1.75" or narrower if you like.  And alternating the "cupping of the end grain", will cut down on the warping of the door.  Build it like a butcher-block counter-top.

A panelled door would be little lighter, but there are more rail/style joints to deal with.

What kind of exterior exposure with the door be getting from the weather?   Is there any protective overhang?  Are you going to paint?  stain?  Poly/ varnish?

I'm not sure how rot resistant Ash is....between White oak and Rock Maple maybe?

Let us know which way you want to go.

Rooster

[sbishop]

Rooster, thanks for the reply.

I guess i should have been more specific!!!

Yes, there is lots of bears around and some with only 2 legs... :D

i was planning a 1.5" thick solid door...i'm ok with vertical strips, i like the look of them. the reason why ash is i've got some dried.

The front door, there is an 8ft coverage porch, so there should be any rain or snow against the door.

Was planning on poly/varnishing it.

Thanks

PS. Is as going to be too heavy? if so, maybe i should switch to spruce?

Sbishop

[Rooster]

Go ahead and build it out of Ash.  If it's too heavy, make it into table top....or small dance floor for you and your two-legged dancing bear.  :D   

But don't let her lead!!!  That's a "Man Rule".

Or build it out of spruce, and save the Ash for some nice cabin funiture.

Good luck!

[scgargoyle]

There's nothing wrong with a good heavy door. My friend built his out of solid oak, dressed a full 2-1/2" thick! He had to buy ($) ball bearing hinges, but it swings as pretty as you please.

[SwampDonkey]

If it's white ash, it will be hefty for sure. I remember the dorm rooms in the University were solid maple and they mounted them on steal door frames.  Since it's air dried, it'll probably be around 45 lbs/ft³, about 120 lbs using Craig Roost's dimensions. ;)

[Mad Professor]

Not very rot resistant but looks real nice with few coats of marine spar varnish on it.  I'd stay away from the poly crap.

[WDH]

Take care to design in normal expansion and contraction from changes in humidity.  A frame-and-panel design will keep the outside dimensions of the door stable and you can fabricate a floating panel to fit within the frame.  The floating panel can be T&G or a solid raised panel or a flat panel. 

[sbishop]

Thanks for the reply's. I think i'm going to go for it.

i will take the ash in a week or 2 and have it planed and t&g in 1.5" stock.

Will post pictures when done (give me a month or 2 maybe 3)  ;D

Sbishop

[SwampDonkey]

Keep seasonal swelling in mind as WDH said or you might need an axe to get in some day. Count on 1/16" shrink/swell per 2" width. ;D

[sbishop]

Since my front door is underneath a covered porch, would there be much movement there?

Backdoor won't be covered....yet  ;)

Sbishop

[SwampDonkey]

Not as much as exposed, but yes there will be movement. However, being intermittently rained on is entirely different that being submerged in water over a long period. Wood takes in water from the atmosphere and looses water in dryer climates/seasons. And when the cell walls loose moisture in drying, it wants to reach equilibrium with the surrounding air moisture content as it changed from day to day, season to season. ;D If you quarter the wood pieces the shrinkage is reduced, BUT wood does not move uniformly either. If your building a 32" wide door and it has partially dried to 20% or a little less the movement will be under an inch.

Lets look at a theoretical scenario.

Wood dried to 22% MC
Specific gravity of green white ash is 0.55
Volume sh% from green to oven dry is 13.3%
Flat sawn lumber Tangential shrinkage is 7.8%

Find Fibre saturation point of White Ash

FSP = Vsh%/Specific Gravity = 13.3%/0.55 = 24.18% when MC in the ash lowers, shrinkage takes place.

In our climate EMC is around 16 %, so how much shrinkage to 16%? We have to calculate partial shrinkage.

Tangential shrinkage to 16% MC = 7.8%/24.18% x (22% -16%) = 1.94%

Door shrinkage = 32" x (1-0.0194) = 31.4 "

32-31.4 = 0.6" shrinkage  allow for 5/8"

In reality, I have a piece of air dried ash biscuit jointed, but it opens at a joint by 1/8" over 20-1/4" width of solid ash when inside the house using force air wood heat in winter. Assuming initially we have 12% MC in the wood as it acclimates to the winter season in the house, what MC % of the wood will result in the 1/8" gap to close in that 20-1/4" wide biscuit jointed board as we go into the summer and air moisture increases?

initially 20.25" - 0.125" lost = 20.125" at 12 % MC

Tsh from 12% to unknown MC = 1 - 20.125"/20.25" 
                                               = 0.00617 = 0.617 %

Unknown MC% = 0.617% / 7.8% x 24.18% + 12%
                        = 1.91 % + 12%
                        = 13.91 % or 14% MC rounded