wood species designated by density ?

[Will Blick]

I will be building a bunch of interior doors, 3' x 8'. The doors at 1.4" thick can become quite heavy based on the density of the wood. Using a 20 lb per cu ft wood, the weight is a very manageable 57 lbs. However, demonstrating an extreme example, using an 80 lb per cu. ft wood, the doors would weigh 181 lbs.... not manageable for working, hanging, etc.

My thoughts are...... use poplar as the base wood with hardwood veneer to - keep the weight down. However, poplar is listed as 22 - 31 lbs per cu. ft. Buying the low end of this density will reduce weight by 1/3, which is quite significant.

1) I am curious, has anyone has ever seen species of wood that has a wide range of densities designated by such..... I never have,..?

2) I assume poplar is a good choice for the base wood for interior doors?

TYIA

[David DeCristoforo]

"... using an 80 lb per cu. ft wood...?????"

What wood are you thinking of? I have built doors of this size out of bubinga which is a very dense and heavy wood but it's "only" around 60 lbs per cu ft. Doors of this size and weight are typically not a problem as long as they are hung properly. This means using four good quality butt hinges per door and making sure that the screws penetrate the jambs and run into the framing by at least an inch. Shim everything solidly and you should have no problem. Veneering over poplar is doable but a lot of extra work that really is not necessary.

[Will Blick]

Hi Dave, 80 lbs was just an extreme example, using Ebony (not up for consideration), just picked the heaviest on the list..... I agree 60 lbs is more reasonable for most hardwoods....but this is still 3x the weight of 20 lb poplar.

I realize once the door is hung, it's a done deal.... no concerns there. It was all the other issues, such as transporting, bringing up tight stairs, etc. Hence why i wanted to manage the weight.

[David DeCristoforo]

I would think that the work of hanging a heavier door would be more than offset by the extra labour needed to create a door with a poplar core and a veneered face and mouldings. You will need to mill any mouldings and panels out of "face" stock anyway which will account for at least half of the door's weight. So the gain will not be as much as you might think.