Getting ready to build a front door for our house. Construction will be qtr sawn white oak. I’ll be gluing up 4/4 stock, plus 1/4″ mdf to get the thickness I need. I originally thought of using Titebond III, but wondering now since this door is an exterior door is that the best glue to use.
Thoughts please.
Replies
As far a glue goes, several years ago I made 3" x 3" posts by gluing up 2x4 cedar boards and cutting them to 3x3 and I used Titebond III and installed them in the ground for a fence posts and now 8 years later there is no separation and you cannot hardly see the glue seam. Titebond III would be more than adequate. I'm sure some will recommend epoxy which I find messy and difficult to clean up compared to Titebond. I've made many boat parts and some clients insist on and epoxy and others let me use Titebond III
Edited 1/18/2009 11:59 am ET by mrbird90
I have built many of doors using TBIII it is the only glue I use becasue it hides so well in most woods and is water proof.
MDF + Water = failer. Take the advice of the others and use solid wood. You are going to spend a lot of hard work making the door you dont want to see it all split apart after a good wet season no matter how well you seal it.
good luck making saw dust.
There is no need for the 1/4" MDF. Avoid introducing something that is not wood into what should be a nice object. Beyond the psuedo-philosophical, the MDF will not move with the W Oak, and will degrade in the wet at a rate about 10,000 times faster than the Oak and compromise the entire thing.
To get to 1/34", you can resaw Oak to get 1/4" for the center of your glueups - not unusual at all. I would suggest getting your faces all the same thickness, then making the center lamination whatever thickness req'd to get to the 1-3/4".
TB3 will work just fine.
Dave S
http://www.acornwoodworks.com
Dave, thanks for the suggestion on the MDF. What about glue type, is the Titebond III going to work okay. I know it's waterproof after drying, any other concerns.
I built a new exterior door out of walnut and did a glue up with three layers of solid wood to get the thickness I needed. I used Titebond 3 and have had no problems. Buy it in the gallon size bottle because you will use all of it. Good luck and post a picture when your done.
Troy
Butch,
Tight bondIII is the only glue to use for exterior woodwork. I have built dozens of ext. doors and it is the only glue I will use. In addition it gives you longer open time and much shorter clamp time (I can unclamp in 1 hour during warm weather). I completly agree with Acorn about losing the MDF, no place for that stuff in a lamanation of hardwoods,not to mention for exterior use, just my 2 cents worth
http://www.newyankee.com/getproduct.php?0702
I made 4 interior doors a couple of years ago for my shack. After learning the hard way about some of the details I purchased this episode. It was quite helpful. Norm has all the cool tools; and professional exterior door making friends. he has some good advise.
I don't know if you have made doors before but they are a little more challenging than it would seem.
pick out the hardware before you do anything. locks, hingles, threshold all that stuff.
good luck
Butch, Forget the MDF core. It does not move the same as wood, and when the wood moves, it would just tear the face off of the MDF like tearing paper, so the whole thing would go to Hell in a heartbeat.
Nothing wrong with TB III, as long as your joints are good and tight. If they are not, use epoxy. It likes fat sloppy joints. You can mix fillers to make it as thick as mayo or peanut butter, which makes it stay in and fill even the worst joints, while taking away some of the brittleness. Some people don't like it because you have to mix two parts. I don't know how they manage coffee in the morning. It is messy, but that is why God gave us disposable gloves. Well maybe somebody else made them, and you do have to buy them.
Butch,
Buy a truss, first of all. A personal truss.
A 1 3/4" door made of white oak is incredibly heavy. I just bought two of them from a door company and had to hang them in existing openings. I think I pulled a groin or something.
Incidently, the doors I purchased, with a half-lite and carsiding-like panels below the knob, were $845 each - and much better made than I could have done myself. The stiles were made of stave core construction, so it should stay nice and straight (warp-free). This is something worth considering. As another poster said, making a door is not as easy as it might seem at first.
Zolton
If you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
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