Big Doors with Domino XL--upper limit?

[Zach0]

Hello All,

I'm looking for guidelines on designing big doors with Domino XL loose tenons.

I've built standard sized 3 rail exterior doors--but the next project is huge: two pairs of doors about about 5 feet wide X 8 feet tall. Any design or build advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm thinking to build in VG Alaska yellow cedar from my local sawmill, minimum 3" thick, maybe up to 4".

Big ball bearing hinges are available, but I'm also considering very heavy duty pivot hinges that attach directly into the upper and lower rails and allow full swing in or out of the building.

Any advice, even on proportioning such big doors, is much appreciated. I've reviewed all sorts of old books, info online, and largely struck out.

Thank you,
Zach

 

[Michael Kellough]

Not qualified to provide guidance but to get the ball rolling I’d say the more rails and the taller they are the better to resist gravity and reduce the strain on the tenoned joints over the years. Given the squat proportions of 5x8 maybe go full fortress and have five rails, resulting in eight panels. Maybe make the stiles wider to keep the panels square?

I’ve only handled a small sample of Alaskan yellow cedar. It was a beautiful fine grained sample but quite heavy. These will be monster-on-steroid doors!

I’m with you on the pivot hinges.

 

[tjbnwi]

With the thickness you’re mentioning, start at the threshold. What material (I recommend RSWO), what sweep, how are you going to seal, door/threshold gap against weather?

If you use pivot hinges, the door 3” thick will consume about 4-1/2” of the jamb opening/clear space.

Hardware/locksets will need special spindles.

You may need to fabricate your own pivots for the size doors you mention.

The XL will have no problem with the joinery on this door.

You can view various pivot door styles here;

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Tom

 

[luvmytoolz]

That's basically a Cypress!

I don't know if Domino tenons would do for the size you're planning, rough calc is it'll weigh around 135kg each door.

Even the 140 x 14 tenons don't seem beefy enough, or able to be inserted deep enough to give good strength here?

 

[smorgasbord]

Could double-stack the 14x140s.
Thick doors will require more clearance away from the swing.
My front door is 42" wide by 90" tall, 2" thick of Narra, with 4 Soss hinges and has been fine for decades.