Joined several years ago to ask a question but haven't been active at all. I'm hoping to change that as the knowledge base here seems to be nothing but awesome. Thought I'd share my latest project and my first attempt at making an entry door for my house.
The short story is I was given quite a bit of maple from a project my company was working on so I figured why not try my luck at an entry door. I realize maple probably isn't the best material for this, but the door is completely out of the elements with a large overhanging entry way. So I went for it and came up with what you see below. I did stave core construction of the rails and stiles and the same method on the sidelight. The panels are two pieces floating to allow movement. I'm in SW Florida so although the inside is relatively steady, the outside temps fluctuate considerably, especially in the hot, humid summer months. The glass is impact glass so we can watch the next storm. Utilized floating mortise and tenons for joinery.
I didn't take many pictures during the build process itself, but I did have a couple. I ended up making clamps (a bunch of them) to compress the R&S's stave cores during glue up. What I'm really hoping to focus on being more active is the finishing process. I really stink at finishing and am hoping to pick up some tricks of the trade here. I'm just a hobbyist working out of my garage shop so I don't really have room for a spray booth/area which is unfortunate.
Overall I'm quite pleased with the results. It was a lot of work and took forever being a weekend warrior, but it sure beats the heck out of the builder-grade unit that was on the house for all these years!
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