…so I can make some door panels. 🙂 As part of The Walnut Calamity, I was looking around for ideas. I happened to catch this door in The Elements of Style, page 160, in a section about stairs:
I figured the Freud Stile and Rail Door Construction bits would make the frame, but the raised bead in the panels would take a little more work. I had the Amish shop I’m working with prepare the bevelled panels and the rails and stiles — but I would have to cut the M&T joints and raise the bead. Errr… sink that field, that is.
I started with a router table to make a groove next to what would become the raised bead. I didn’t want to excavate the entire field, because the beader needs a flat surface to run on:
The bevel is too shallow for the fence, so I had to add a thin auxilliary fence. That’s the ticket! I liked to knock off the corners before beading. It also helped me to understand the grain direction, and reduced what had to be removed by the beader. Of course, the beader doesn’t run around the corners, so a little chisel work is required there:
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Next, I could excavate most of the field, using a “dishing” router bit:
The router bit leaves a little in the corners, too. After a little chiseling and a lot of scraping, the field has a consistent level and finish:
I did have one problem while doing this… I couldn’t use stops to keep the panel from going too far on the table and routing out the precious bead. I put marks on the fence, but that wouldn’t actually stop the panel. 🙁 Sure enough, it slipped once and I had to scratch out an end-grain bead from some scrap. Cut it off the scrap, chisel some nice straight sides in the panel to receive it, and nobody will ever know 🙂
There! That one’s done. Just a few more:
oof. My son, daughter and her boyfriend helped me put BLO on the panels. After cutting all the M&T joints, I loaded everything up to take it to the shop for glue-up and finishing:
Here’s one of the three doors installed:
Turned out pretty close to the original picture, I think. Now what tool do I need to work on next? 😉
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/dev
Replies
Very nice work, and your process was well thought out. I especially liked the repair job on the milling oops. But I really am looking forward to seeing you tackle that helical staircase ! No matter how good flat work is, there is a part of me that loves curved work the most. Of course, in most places in the U.S. that would be a completely illegal staircase. But again, beautiful work on the door panels !
Of course, in most places in the U.S. that would be a completely illegal staircase.
Just a question on that remark.
When I was a child in Chicago our old house had two stairways like that. As least from the picture and my memory.
Why illegal? No handrail on the right side is all I can think of.
The last building code approved in my area doesn't allow winders at all in new structures, although they're allowed in historic restorations, which we have a lot of. The steepness of the stair is also wildly in excess of current code. However, it's also incredibly beautiful. Sometimes the "needs of society" produce a real loss in aesthetics. You could maybe get it passed as "sculpture".
thumb,
I got a tour several years ago, of an old home here in the Shenandoah Valley, built in the early 1800's. The back stair, from a back bedroom to the kitchen, was all winders, and descended about 10' (high ceilinged room) in 180 degrees- the big ends of the winders described a half-circle. So, one step off the "pointy end" of those steps, and you were already downstairs!
Ray
The worst I've seen is the steeple stairs in Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Famillia in Barcelona. They were open stone helixes, with no handrail, at least for stories tall. The treads were narrow, and yet they had two-way traffic. I don't mind hights, but it gave me the willies.
Great documentation of the process. Just an example of how if there's a will, there's a way!
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
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