Hello everyone,
I am presently getting my 20 x 30 cabin in the dry this week (waiting on dry weather to get the metal roof on. Once I get this done I will be framing in the gables and placing my windows and doors. A friend of mine recently remodled his house and gave me his old windows and a nice set of wooden patio doors that I plan to use on the back side of the cabin to access a screened porch. I am set except for the front door. I was wondering if anyone has any experience building their own front door. I have built cabinets and other furniture and have a good selection of tools for woodworking. I just have never considered buildingan exterior front door. My reasoning for considering is not the cost savings, I just thought having a front door built by myself might be cool. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi Tennesee.
Here are a couple from the Forum.
The first is mine.
Made from caps off of Cedar logs - 10 " thick in the center
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/innerfrontentrance.jpg)
I made the hinge hardware from plate steel pounded to look blacksmithed. The mechanism is from oak with a couple pieces of steel to make the cam and shaft -spring loaded slide
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/hingeswoodlatchmechanism.jpg)
The second one - a style I really like was made by Jonni of Australia -their home is in the Owner Builder projects. Cecilia has given us permission to use their pictures and information and is always helpful on the forum.
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garagedoor04.jpg)
(https://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d184/glennkangiser/garagewalls18.jpg)
I always forget which way the braces are supposed to go on those doors.
Not the intuitive way.
If that is that the door braces are hanging out and down from the hinges, and this (probably does most of the time, probably a lot more important with gates) when glued and screwed and nailed holds the door in a workable rectangle just fine.
I think it's supposed to be the other way, with the diagonal pushing towards the hinges.
I think Jonni and Cecilia ended up with one door--that one--with the braces hanging, the other with them pushing.
But one sure does see a lot of doors going either way.
Hi Folks
I think that Jonni learned along the way that he'd done something wrong with the cross pieces on the garage door.
I'm sorry to send you to the website, but I'm just trying to catch the post office before it shuts, and you may like to see the photos of the front door of the house which Jonni made out of spotted gum and hopefully put it together the right way.
You'll find all the relevant photos on this link
http://www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond/emerginghouse34.htm
Feel free to transfer them over to here if you like.
cheers from downunder
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond
I can see where the difference could be whether you are using tension or compression for bracing, but either way once the triangles are securely fastened with screws, nails or glue or better a combination, you get a very strong door. :)
No problem, Cecilia. Once again - thanks for your generosity.
(http://www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond/buildingimages/house193.jpg)
(http://www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond/buildingimages/house195.jpg)
Looking at the path of the load on this one it is obviously a much stronger design though as Amanda inferred.
Two questions , #1 Glenn how thick is the door at the edges? So it doesn't hit when swinging open. The bevel on a 1 3/4" thick door is 3°, allowing it to swing clear / freely.
#2 Cecilia : What wood was used on this door ?
(http://www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond/buildingimages/house195.jpg)
Love that color / grain. 8-)
My door is verrry rustic, PEG. It is about 2 to 4 inches thick at the edges average except the bottom is about 9 or ten inches and the top center about 5", was made from fairly wet wood and continued to shrink for about a year. The clearance problem was taken care of by cutting with a long sawzall at about a 15 degree angle around the entire oval. I expected the shrinkage so built adjustment into the hinges using threaded gate hinges through a post and also an adjustment I made to push the door tighter into the beveled opening. . The door seal is refrigeration rubber left over from a large supermarket freezer. The gap around the door is a fairly consistent 1/2 to 3/4 inch after shrinkage. It weighed about 400 lbs I would guess when we put it in wet. It was hinged then cut out in place due to the weight and problems I figured I would have mounting it. Nothing fancy , but looks kind of cool and is functional.
It swings so freely that a shove with two fingers will cause it to swing closed and operate the wood lock mechanism latching it into place just as a normal door closes. The seals could use a bit of attention now but still not bad. So it seals up kind of like a bung in a wine barrel.
If I hadn't made this into a door it would have likely ended up as firewood. As I remember it seems I taped a wedge to the shoe of my Porter Cable Tigerclaw saw to help keep the angle - it's the one that twists and rotates the head. I couldn't have cut it out in place without those features. he opening has acouple rough spots but still fits well into the rustic description. :)
In answer to your question about our front door at The Duckpond - it is made from spotted gum.
I'm not sure that spotted gum is just one particular eucalypt. I have eucalyptus scoparia growing in the garden and that does have lovely greenish shades through the timber, but I rather think there could be other eucs which also carry the name of spotted gum - perhaps Jonesy would know about this?
I can tell you that the door weighs a ton - and it was a daunting task to hold it steady in an upright position while Jonni screwed it onto the hinges!
Incidentally - I'd bought the wrought iron dragon door knocker about twenty years ago when I first heard Jonni rabbitting on about building a mudbrick house. It's a miracle I could still lay my hands on it!
cheers
cecilia
www.duckpond-design.com.au/theduckpond