I am working on two projects at the moment, one of them involves: wood, stone, glass, laser cut steel and some hand forged iron. This is not that. I was hoping to bang out these doors, and finish up the "cool" project, but the doors are turning out to be much more work than expected. Not necessarily in a bad way, it just reconfirms the fact that I am absolutely horrible at estimating time.
2 pairs of doors
Clear vertical grain western red cedar. This wood is pretty, machines very nicely, and it is light weight. I have to be a bit more careful in order to not dent the wood, but I think the relative lightness of the wood will be nice on a 2"x4'x7' door. It was fairly easy choosing nice boards, as VG cedar tends to be pretty flat and straight. For the rails and stiles, I went with 2 pieces of S4S 5/4x6 (5/4x8 for bottom rail) laminated to give me an overall of 2". 2" S4S solid material would have cost almost twice as much, and it was special order.
Laminating the boards. 4' for the rails, 8' for the stiles
The night before I started gluing up the boards, I realized that a few more Bowclamps would be helpful. I email Craig F. that evening, he got back to me first thing the following morning, and I swung by his place to snag a few more. This is the second time I have been to his shop (first time about 2 years ago). He is a super nice guy with a pretty nifty product.
I had a buddy help me with the glue up. The boards were wiped down with acetone, then glued with TB III. I used a roller to give the boards a generous and even coat. I suspect that he missed wiping down one set of boards with acetone because the glue did not bond at all.
The second I took the clamps off the stack, these two boards popped apart. They are the only ones didn't bond. It was very strange, but now has me second guessing the use of TBIII. I sanded down to bare wood, wiped down with acetone, then reglued. No problems yet... (knock on cedar)
Straight line rip with the guide rail, then sized with parallel guides. This is one instance where I wish I had a table saw. It would have cut my time in half at this point. I picked up a panter blade, which ripped through the cedar like butter, but the TS55 doesn't cut 2". It left a freakin' tiny bit of wood on EVERY. SINGLE. CUT. I cleaned up the edges with another new toy.
Some router fun
The inset panel will be flat 1x material
One area I have been back and forth is the mortise and tenon joint for the rails and stiles. I initially planned on using a wedged through tenon. I completed a sample joint, and it was a lot of work. 6 per door, 4 doors...
How deep would an appropriate tenon need to be if it didn't go all the way through? The stiles are 5" wide, would a 3" deep x 4" high x 5/8" thick tenon be reasonably strong? Do I suck it up and make the through tenon? Will the exposed end grain be a problem?
anyone with good carriage door hardware sources?
Suggestions welcome
-Vinny
2 pairs of doors

Clear vertical grain western red cedar. This wood is pretty, machines very nicely, and it is light weight. I have to be a bit more careful in order to not dent the wood, but I think the relative lightness of the wood will be nice on a 2"x4'x7' door. It was fairly easy choosing nice boards, as VG cedar tends to be pretty flat and straight. For the rails and stiles, I went with 2 pieces of S4S 5/4x6 (5/4x8 for bottom rail) laminated to give me an overall of 2". 2" S4S solid material would have cost almost twice as much, and it was special order.

Laminating the boards. 4' for the rails, 8' for the stiles


The night before I started gluing up the boards, I realized that a few more Bowclamps would be helpful. I email Craig F. that evening, he got back to me first thing the following morning, and I swung by his place to snag a few more. This is the second time I have been to his shop (first time about 2 years ago). He is a super nice guy with a pretty nifty product.
I had a buddy help me with the glue up. The boards were wiped down with acetone, then glued with TB III. I used a roller to give the boards a generous and even coat. I suspect that he missed wiping down one set of boards with acetone because the glue did not bond at all.



Straight line rip with the guide rail, then sized with parallel guides. This is one instance where I wish I had a table saw. It would have cut my time in half at this point. I picked up a panter blade, which ripped through the cedar like butter, but the TS55 doesn't cut 2". It left a freakin' tiny bit of wood on EVERY. SINGLE. CUT. I cleaned up the edges with another new toy.


Some router fun




The inset panel will be flat 1x material


One area I have been back and forth is the mortise and tenon joint for the rails and stiles. I initially planned on using a wedged through tenon. I completed a sample joint, and it was a lot of work. 6 per door, 4 doors...

How deep would an appropriate tenon need to be if it didn't go all the way through? The stiles are 5" wide, would a 3" deep x 4" high x 5/8" thick tenon be reasonably strong? Do I suck it up and make the through tenon? Will the exposed end grain be a problem?
anyone with good carriage door hardware sources?
Suggestions welcome
-Vinny