solid core door construction?

[Jay Yoder]

I picked up a solid core flat door some time ago to build a workbench, but it now appears that a buddy will be giving me a good deal on a bowling alley work bench, so now I have the door available for another project. Has anyone ever ripped one of these?I was thinking of ripping it down to use it for the top for a midi-lathe stand. I will "wrap" it with oak on all 4 edges. Is this a good idea and application of this door?

[Dale Lesak]

To see what the solid is. I have seen plaster. sawdust. wood strips. and some stuff I don't know what it was, looked like a mix of cardboard and sawdust. The plaster was a fire door and a real mess to cut.
Dale

[Kev Godwin]

Dale is sure right to question the solid core material. Many that look like plaster or gypsum in the core interior often test positive for asbestos. Don't cut that stuff!

Stave lumber core doors make some of the best tops when using solid core doors. Particle-core doors are not as good.
Kev

[Matt Ranum]

I just cut one the other day that I bought at Menards. Lightly glued sawdust. Next time I'll just buy a solid wood door instead of solid core.

[Jay Yoder]

Thanks for the responses. I figured maybe it was MDF or something inside the pine frame. Any ideas on how to check the inside of mine without actually cutting it? I kinda was thinking that maybe I would use a hole saw to pull a "core". that way the whole door wouldn't be compromised. Any thoughts?

[Rob Fisher]

Thanks for the responses. I figured maybe it was MDF or something inside the pine frame. Any ideas on how to check the inside of mine without actually cutting it? I kinda was thinking that maybe I would use a hole saw to pull a "core". that way the whole door wouldn't be compromised. Any thoughts?

Where did you buy the door? Chances are if you bought it at any of the BORG type stores then its the lightly glued sawdust, a typically residential solid core door. Pretty junky if you cut them. The doors with wood strips are called stave core doors and they are typically used for commercial wood doors, not usually found at BORG's.

Rob

[Chris Gombola]

Where did you buy the door? Chances are if you bought it at any of the BORG type stores then its the lightly glued sawdust, a typically residential solid core door. Pretty junky if you cut them. The doors with wood strips are called stave core doors and they are typically used for commercial wood doors, not usually found at BORG's.

Rob

x2

The borg ones can be ripped and do stay flat. If you are going to wrap it in oak, I don't see a problem. I have been using a ripped and crosscut door from HD for 3 years now with no problems. It even holds some 5/16 lag screws which I use for a 3/4 piece of ply under which I attach my vice.

[Kev Godwin]

Jay,
Depending on where you got the door - new, or used from a commercial project, you can check the core easily.

If the door has a thicker laminated veneer, it is possible to take a wide chisel and separate the face veneer and take a look. You can then re-bond the face using urethane glue.

If you can't separate the veneer, drill a 1/4" hole in the edge of the door and keep going a little deeper until you finally reach the core to find out. Repair by gluing in a dowel and cutting flush when dry.

When I used to work for a large university, that is what I did to test doors before renovations. If you find you have an asbestos core, don't use it for a top. It would need a lot of support to keep from warping when laid horizontal for a long time and dog holes just open up the core - not good.

Finding solid core doors from commercial renovations makes for some very true and durable shop benches/tables.
Kev

[Phil Thien]

x2

The borg ones can be ripped and do stay flat. If you are going to wrap it in oak, I don't see a problem. I have been using a ripped and crosscut door from HD for 3 years now with no problems. It even holds some 5/16 lag screws which I use for a 3/4 piece of ply under which I attach my vice.

How do you support these, and are you sure they're flat?

The reason I ask is that I've used solid core doors for work surfaces for 25 years. I currently have two at work, and one at home. I've had as many as six at work at one time.

These are doors w/ a low density particle board interior. Not as dense as regular particle board or MDF. They've been purchased at places like Handy Andy (anyone remember them?), various lumber yards, Menards, etc.

With a five foot span between supports, I would typically get about 1/8" to 3/16" of sag over time. Which just makes sense. If you just look at the stacks of particle board or MDF at places like home depot, every lift is sagging.

All my current door surfaces now have support in the middle. This prevents sag and firms things up quite a bit.

Perhaps you have lumber core doors? I donno. I'm just surprised particle board of any thickness wouldn't sag after some time.

[Gene Howe]

Man, I learn something new every time I log on here at SMC. In my very limited experience, every solid core interior door I've ever cut into was MDF core. I never even considered that other, less dense fillers would be used.
I've made a few benches with them but, it's been long enough ago that they were so inexpensive that I bought them new for the purpose. And, so long ago that the lumber yard was the only place to find one. I still won't buy lumber products anywhere else.
Things change, I guess...for sure.

[Jon Toebbe]

My first workbench top was a particle-board filled solid-core door. I picked it up for about $5 from a place called Bud's Warehouse. They buy up kitchen cabinets, bathtubs, blinds, and that kind of thing from remodelers and resell them cheap. I'm sure there's a similar business somewhere near you. They had a whole stack of solid-core doors from an apartment complex remodel -- five bucks each, and one of their guys helped me sort through the pile to find a decent one.

I ripped it down to width and edge-banded -- biscuits or dowels or a spline would be a good idea. The particle board doesn't have much holding power (DAMHIKT). A tempered hardboard skin held down with double-sided tape and you're good to go. Dogholes in particle board won't last (again, DAMHIKT) and make sure you use wide washers to bolt it to your frame.