Replies

1. 
   ASK | May 13, 2004 01:55am | #1

   Abenker,

   I bought a book about doors some years ago. I'll look for it and let you know the name.

   ASK

2. 
   CStanford | May 13, 2004 05:02pm | #2

   Search Amazon for author John Birchard.

1. 
   ABenker | May 14, 2004 12:09am | #3

   thanks!

3. 
   WayneL5 | May 14, 2004 03:48am | #4

   I built only one exterior door, but it came out great.  It was for my craftsman style home and was built of western red cedar.  Since the home was craftsman style, I planned on allowing the door to weather to a natural gray color.  But, I did want to add some moisture resistance in addition to the natural decay resistance of the wood.   So, after construction, I coated the door and frame with Woodlife, then a Danish oil finish.  After three years it's weathering nicely, with no signs of decay.

   The house in on the Canadian border of New York, so is subject to cold winters.  The frame (rails and stiles), and the jambs for that matter, are solid cedar.  The frames were built of three layers, arranged to form mortises and tenons, and glued with polyurethane glue.  The panels were 1/4" thick birch plywood, stained to match the cedar color, with a thin layer if polyisocyanurate foam and a layer of insulating bubble wrap.  This combination was chosen because it was just the right thickness, and the bubble wrap provided just a touch of compression to keep the panels from rattling.  I checked the door in the coldest nights (around 30°F below zero), by touching it with my hand.  The door was no colder than the drywall to the touch, so I was satisfied that the insulation was pleanty adequate, and was pleased that the cedar itself insulated quite well as the frame.

   For gasketing, I bought a replacement gasket kit for a standard door and milled the jambs the same way an off the shelf door would be milled so it would fit the same.  All the dimensions were the same as a standard door, so if someone ever wanted to replace the door someday (after I'm dead, I hope), an off the shelf door would fit.  You also have to keep standard thickness so door knobs and locks would fit.  Basicly I studied and copied a standard door, except with a craftsman design and superior workmanship.

   The glass was double pane insulated glass, secured with wood strips fastened by brass screws on the inside.  The outside was caulked with light brown siliconized acrylic latex caulk, which matches the wood almost perfectly.  Glass for doors and sidelights must be tempered.

   Here's a couple of photos.  http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=35327.1

1. 
   ABenker | May 14, 2004 04:26pm | #5

   Very nice work. Did you have to custom order the double panned insulated glass? Are the window dividers applied over the glass or true divided lights?

   Thanks for sharing

   Aaron

1. 
   WayneL5 | May 15, 2004 02:05am | #6

   Yes, the glass was custom ordered, but it's easy to find.  Any glass house can make them up nowadays.   Usually takes a few days, but usually a week or more for tempered.  They need width and height, of course, but also the thickness, because they can vary the spacer thickness.  Most of their work is for replacing broken panes.  I think I asked for 1/2" thick.  You can also get low-e glass, which I didn't for the door, and now you can get self cleaning glass, which did not exist back in 1999 when I made the door.

   The dividers are a frame assembled together and applied over the window.  It's a fairly standard craftsman pattern.  Because I enjoy such things, I made the proportions of the smaller "panes" on top the same as the larger "panes" on the bottom of the window.  True divided lights are harder to make and I was streaching my skills as it was.  Besides, a single pane is easier to clean, at least on one side, and I like clean but not cleaning.

4. 
   robkelly | May 15, 2004 02:33am | #7

   I have done a lot of 7/4 mahogany exterior doors. I use Varathane Diamond finish PU, full cope and stick, MAS epoxy adhesive, and 1/2"  thick floating tenons. Put the panelstop on the inside after fitting the glass into the door on top of a bead of clear silicone rubber around all 4 sides of the opening.

5. 
   ASK | May 16, 2004 03:49pm | #8

   Abenker,

   Building Doors & Gates

   Alan & Gill Bridgewater

   Stapole Books, 1999

   Try this, it might be what you are looking for.

   ASK