Design options for a true plank style door

[Brett Church]

Greetings,

I need to build 3 interior doors for an old cabin. While I realize a cored, rail and stile door is the way to go...I want to make an old plank style door like several I have seen in old farmhouses.

First question, door thickness:
I have a pile of leftover exterior cedar trim that has been sitting stickered in my shop all winter. I have some 3 x 5 1/2's, and a good pile of 1 1/2" nominal in varying widths, all of it rough sawn. Should I work the 1 1/2 material down to a stable dimension and then call that my thickness, or should I mill the 1 1/2's to 7/8" (and 2 pieces from the 3" stock) and glue them up into 1 3/4" planks? I might have enough material to resaw a 1 3/4" plank from the 3" material. I realize I gain stability by gluing two pieces together but I waste a lot of wood and spend a LOT of time gluing (just finished a large laminated maple table top, not really into glue-ups right now:-)) I plan on using rim lock door hardware that can go from 1 1/8 to 1 3/4" thick doors. I remember these old doors being thinner that a modern door but then I worried about stability, is a thinner single plank more stable than a thicker single plank? Obviously if I do glue-ups I'll go 1 3/4".

Next, door construction:
I'm planning on using tongue and groove to join the planks with a v-groove between each plank. Originally I was thinking about using no glue on the planks and holding the door together using clenched nails driven through the planks into battens on the inside of the door. I started worrying about sag and thought about putting a glued loose tenon through all the planks in the middle of the door. At this point I felt like I had many untested assumptions so I tracked down the top door maker here in the area. His advice, after telling me to use a cored composite door, was to glue everything together and then glue two battens on each side using construction glue! I asked him about expansion, he said "the glued battens will hold everything together and when it expands the double batten will keep it from warping".

so...has anyone out there actually built a plank style door?

Any and all input appreciated.

[Sam Murdoch]

"so...has anyone out there actually built a plank style door?"

Yes but they were used as exterior storm doors that were not exposed to beating sunlight or heat from the inside if the house. Yeah, they get sun but not hours of intense sun - AND - this on a coastal river, i.e., steady dampness.

My doors were 5/4 x 7" to 9" wide boards glued together (no joinery) and then glued and screwed to 2 - 1 x 4 battens on the inside. All the lumber was milled flat before glue up. 3 - 12" strap hinges on the outside and a simple latch.

I would not choose this method for interior doors or sunny side of the house doors. Maybe the battens on each side would work but if I were to go this route I would not use more than 3/4" thick planks and I might (just might) consider shaping the battens ever so slightly to pull in opposition to each other - spring loading them.

Curious to read other answers.

[Kevin Jenness]

Many a board and batten door has been made with t&g planks fastened with screws through horizontal and diagonal ledgers. The planks should be spaced apart sufficiently to allow for expansion but not glued together. They can be glued to the battens for additional rigidity, but only in the center of the planks. The bottom of the z-brace should be on the hinge side so it is in compression. There is no need for battens on both sides. The z-brace may be omitted at your discretion on a light door with wide and well-fastened battens. Given your material I would use it for both boards and battens at whatever common thickness results after flattening in a couple of sessions and culling out any pieces that insist on bending or twisting. Cedar, while soft, is generally fairly stable with low movement in service.

Another construction method well suited to entry doors with vertical planks on both faces is to glue the t&g planks to a solidly joined stile and rail core. The voids can be filled with sheet foam. Again, the planks should have a clearance gap between each pair. This makes for a thick (typically 2 1/4") and stable door.

[Gene Davis]

The House of Antique Hardware has all the stuff you need. Nails, hinges, latches and more.

When visiting the Tower of London, I enjoyed seeing the heavy plank doors, all studded up with nails. They were done with battens top and bottom and a single diagonal between, in the classic pattern.

Skip-plane your boards by hand with a big try-plane and see if you can get 1-3/8 stock for both planks and battens. T&G or spline the planks, and simply nail the battens, clinching over on the batten side. Use a lot of nails, not because you need a lot, but for the look.

And no glue. William the Conqueror's builder didn't use any, and neither should you.

[Kevin Jenness]

If William the Conquerer's builder had ready mixed glue, a cordless drill and square drive screws he would have gone to bed a happy man.

Nails are traditional, though. You can clinch them over on the face if you want to. Or use rivets. Or trunnels.

When I was learning to pound nails working for my dad we built a simple cabin for a customer. The old guy on the job, Milton Lambert, put together several z-brace style doors on sawhorses with 1x6 t&g pine and 5/4x6 pine for battens from the lumberyard. I remember him driving the slotted drive flathead screws with a bit brace. We had Yankee screwdrivers in the kit as well. Them were the days.

[Gene Davis]

Here is a nice pic to give you some inspiration. Planks and battens look to be a little over an inch thick.

Too bad that all the clavos sold are strictly decorative. You can buy deco clavos, and you can buy cut nails, but you cannot buy cut nails with deco heads. Or at least I have not found a source.