Cedar entry door

Larry · February 28, 2013, 01:27:16 PM

Kathy asked if I was ever going to build a front door on our new house. As I said "Yes dear" I was thinking the OSB was doing an excellent job as a front door and why build something nobody ever uses. ??? And the fish might be biting too.

On with the job.

I had sized the rough opening for a normal 36" door and two side lights.

We had decided on red cedar but I was a bit concerned with warp so decided to use stave core construction. I found on the internet several have used lvl's so decided to take that route. They are easy to obtain at real lumber yards as they are used for garage door headers. Most common are 1 3/4" X 11 7/8". They seem a bit expensive at $4 per running foot.

From the lumber yard the lvl's have a yellow wax coat which I needed to get rid of. A quick trip through the planer took care of that problem.

Next step was to rip them up for proper grain orientation.

Glue up with cedar edges.

I ran the stave across the jointer to insure a flat surface, than through the planer on the second side. Face veneer waiting to be glued on. The faces aren't really veneer as they are too thick at a 1/4".

I sized the stiles just as one would do with solid lumber. Besides the stiles I am laminating solid stock together for the jams. More on that later.

Today I thought I would work on the side lights. They are simpler than the door and less wood involved if I mess up. I forgot to mention that I really don't know what I'm doing :P so suggestions are encouraged.

clww · February 28, 2013, 01:32:13 PM

Looks to me like you're doing a fine job, Larry. Thanks for posting, as I will eagerly follow future posts.

thecfarm · February 28, 2013, 04:33:45 PM

Sidelights,I would suggest both sides and the full length of the door. I have one like that and I feel it really adds alot to the front of the house. I see most only have them half way or only one side. The ones on both sides and full length makes the house. drive around and see what you both like,we did. ;D

hackberry jake · February 28, 2013, 04:58:33 PM

I stopped by larrys earlier today and got to see the whole set-up. I sure do envy all his awesome tools ;D

Larry · February 28, 2013, 06:34:56 PM

I really enjoyed the visit today Jake. Stop by anytime. Jake brought some kind of funny wood today and we re-sawed some thin slices on the shop bandsaw. The sawdust was a quite pretty golden color.

thecfarm, I'm making two sidelights, one for each side. Glass is nearly full length. I'm still not sure on the design for the door. Hoping for some kind of vision to come up forthright.

Today I cut the rails for the side lights. Cut the tenon's on the tablesaw tenon jig. I was pushing it for that wide of rail. It would have been just as good cutting the tenons with a dado blade I think.

Cut a dado in the rails and stiles to accommodate the glass. I'll machine off one side of the dado after glue up with a router.

Next was the mortises. Made a story stick to locate the mortises. A quick fit up showed a tight fit so I'll need to touch up the tenons a bit.

I also found I need some more cedar for the door rails. As one would guess its on the bottom of the stack and outside where its frigid. Tomorrows project.

SwampDonkey · February 28, 2013, 06:52:36 PM

Wowsers

What are you up to? Looks like the rocket science of door design.

I know a whole lot less about what your doing, so that about makes it even. :D

Looking good, Larry.

Lud · February 28, 2013, 08:19:36 PM

Stable and precise. Very impressive. Going to look great, Larry.

jueston · February 28, 2013, 08:26:50 PM

looks great, can't wait to see it all come together.

WDH · February 28, 2013, 08:33:30 PM

The LVL core was a super good idea. When I saw that yellow sawdust, I figured that you were going to sport one of the very very few Bodark entry doors in North America :D

Larry · March 01, 2013, 06:39:16 PM

I put a little red neck "V" detail on the rails and glued things up.

I turned the dado I cut yesterday into a rabbet for the glazing. Used a router pattern bit with bottom bearing. Lot of sawdust. It gets 1" thick insulated glass.

Need to make the muntins to hold the glass in. Think I'll also peg the joints with square pegs to add more detail.

Un-stacked cedar today to find the rest of the lumber I need for the door. I'll get started on that maybe Sunday.

clww · March 01, 2013, 06:46:13 PM

I like that garage door standing rack. 8)

POSTON WIDEHEAD · March 01, 2013, 07:10:55 PM

Looking good Larry.......but the garage door looks like you might be building this over at Hackberry Jake's.

clww · March 01, 2013, 08:28:41 PM

Busted! :D :D :D

hackberry jake · March 01, 2013, 08:35:32 PM

There is actually a good possibility that the same people installed both doors... 8)

Norm · March 04, 2013, 08:29:32 AM

Looks great so far Larry!

My front door I made turned out so well I had Pella build me the replacement. :D

SwampDonkey · March 04, 2013, 12:27:02 PM

Always thought of making an inside entrance door, but not an outside door for the house. If I had a camp I would make an wooden outside door, but I'd have a big old porch over it. ;D

Magicman · March 04, 2013, 01:45:56 PM

For me this is a jaw dropping project. Awesome for sure.

Peter Drouin · March 04, 2013, 06:57:05 PM

Quote from: Magicman on March 04, 2013, 01:45:56 PM
For me this is a jaw dropping project. Awesome for sure.

and a lot of work, but will look nice when done ,good work Larry

WDH · March 04, 2013, 07:59:32 PM

It is a brave project for sure. About in the same class as Sprucebunny tearing down that washing machine ;D.

SwampDonkey · March 04, 2013, 08:28:38 PM

I think it will look nice. From the photos it looks like your cedar is quite well behaved. Wood doors can be a pain in the ash as far as weathering on the outside of a building, but they sure look nice for awhile.

I was at a camp once on a small river here in NB and the old camp had been torn down. The new camp was 100 % white cedar, even the door and the porch. It was build with large timbers not 2x material. That was some nice fishing camp. And the bonus surprise, was stepping out in the yard and seeing birdseye figure in the yard maples. That is one of two camps I know of with figured maple trees in the yard. I believe both are crown leased lots.

Don_Papenburg · March 04, 2013, 11:50:07 PM

I used shelac on the outsides of my doors . The shelac needs redoing every few years depending on the exposure. The good thing about shelac is it just needs cleaning dirt off and then recoating will melt into the old coat. My front door was made of walnut 3/4 veneer and a 3/4 plycore that I glued up myself. I used a vacuum bag instead of clamps .

tyb525 · March 05, 2013, 12:40:53 AM

Very impressive. Have you noticed any adverse affects on your bits and blades from the LVL?

Larry · March 05, 2013, 06:11:10 PM

Norm, I'll keep my OSB just in case this door doesn't work out. :D

Swamp, I don't think any wood door can last unless it has some kind of protection. This door is going in a little alcove with about a 4' roof overhang. When you think about it if a door warps even as little as 1/8" it's going to let the weather in. Hopefully the LVL's will prevent that.

Don, I'm thinking about using Eplfanes marine varnish. Not real excited about it, as they call for something like seven coats.

Tyb, I used to dread running any kind of glue up or man made materials through my planer. Since getting a spiral head I've run all kinds of stuff through it with no ill effects. I'm sure the LVL's are hard on my mortise chisel.

Good thing for my story stick today or I would have had a real funny shaped door. Nuff said about that.

I got all the parts cut and joinery completed for the door today. Tomorrow I should get it glued up. Spent most of the day working on it. I think I'm slow. ???

hackberry jake · March 05, 2013, 08:55:39 PM

I can't wait to see the final product!

Larry · March 06, 2013, 02:15:57 PM

When dry fitting, before glue up this morning I found one tight joint and the rest fit near perfect. Took a few minutes and got that adjusted. I cut my mortises an extra ¼" long to facilitate fit up. I marked all the joints with masking tape to make it easier and faster to adjust with when I get the glue on.

I worked out my design. Raised panels in the bottom and glass in the top. Pretty simple, but fits my experience level.

Glue up went smoothly except for one problem. The glue made the joints a little stiffer and I couldn't pull them together with the K body clamps. I have a bunch of heavy duty "I" beam Hargrave (really old school) clamps. Put one on each end of the door, than it was just an easy twist to pull everything together. Once together it really doesn't even need the clamps.

The forecast is for great weather next few days

Got logs to skid and fish to catch so I doubt I will work on it much until it rains first of next week.