Anyone made a custom front door???

[James Miller]

I Have built doors using a book by John Birchard the book is called "Doormaking Patterns & Ideas" This is a very comepleat book on door making. It gives you 50 different patterns with dozens of modifiactions. It has step by step instructions with hundreds of illustrations. A color gallery of spectaculaar doors. This book covers every aspect of door making ,Instalation ,and some wardware The instructions for the door are rated level one level two and level three.The instructions are so good that it's not hard to work your way to level three.

The Book is by Sterling Publishing co of New York.

Did I say I love this book ? Great book

Jim

It turns out the book is out of print "1990" I just checked Barns & noble.com And thay have it used.

[Garry Smith]

Jim,

I made a paneled/glass door for my wife's garden shed not long ago and even though it is not the door you would make for your house the following pages will give you an idea of the construction. I took some pictures of the construction process along the way.

http://www.superwoodworks.com/Projects/Shed.htm and
http://www.superwoodworks.com/Projects/BiFoldDoors.htm
scroll down to the bottom of the pages to see the door constrution.

Garry

[Doug Cowan]

Here is a link to a site by a fellow named C. John Herbert, he has a very good walkthrough on building an entry door. I found it helpful when I built a 6 panel entry door for a storage shed a few years back. Good luck and don't forget to post pictures of the successful project!

http://www.cjohnhebert.com/index.htm

[James Miller]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[John Gregory]

Here is the door that David Marks did. The show will air again on April 16 on DIY network

[Mike Rachocki]

Long time lurker, first time posting.

Using quality material and tight joinery, building an entry door is not as daunting as one might expect. Honduran mahogany and white oak are my preference for exterior doors. Laminate stock for your thickness, don't rely on 8/4 & 12/4 material. I'll use quarter sawn material when I can get it. Quarter sawn mahogany is very cool looking.

A quality spar urathane or varnish is a must. My first choice is Waterlox, Zar exterior urathane is also very good. (Not their water base!)

I've gained a lot from lurking on this forum and now it's my opportunity to give something back. Let me know what specific questions you have and I'll do my best to answer them.

Here is a link to some of the doors we have built, hope that's o.k.
scobiscompany/doors.htm

Regards,

Mike Rachocki

[John A Jones]

My brother is a professional custom door & window maker for homes like John Grisham, Lionel Richie, etc.

Take a look at his website for ideas (pictures)!

http://www.DoorsByDecora.com

[Doug Cowan]

Mike and John J1, thanks for posting those links, I saved both for when I get around to doing a new front door. All I can say is, WOW!

[James Carmichael]

Long time lurker, first time posting.

Using quality material and tight joinery, building an entry door is not as daunting as one might expect. Honduran mahogany and white oak are my preference for exterior doors. Laminate stock for your thickness, don't rely on 8/4 & 12/4 material. I'll use quarter sawn material when I can get it. Quarter sawn mahogany is very cool looking.

A quality spar urathane or varnish is a must. My first choice is Waterlox, Zar exterior urathane is also very good. (Not their water base!)

I've gained a lot from lurking on htis forum and now it's my opportunity to give something back. Let me know what specific questions you have and I'll do my best to answer them.

Here is a link to some of the doors we have built, hope that's o.k.
scobiscompany/doors.htm

Regards,

Mike Rachocki

Mike,

LOML and I have been talking about building a custom entry door. I mentioned White Oak, but she wants it to match the pergola by the front porch, which is Western Red Cedar. Is WRC an acceptable exterior door material? I know it's decay-resistant, but how is it for stability?

Thanks,

James

[Jim VanBramer]

Thanks for all the great advice, information and website referrals. As always on this forum you guys have come through far better than I ever expected. (altho I must say I'm surprised Jim Becker doesn't have any example for us! )

Thanks again and have a great weekend of woodworking!

Jim V

[Bob Worrel Jr.]

This was my first attemt at M&T jointery. It's a 6'x7' door between my shop and garage. I used barn door hardware to slide it. It allows me to open it enough to get in and out of the shop or open it all the way to bring larger projects into the garage for finishing. I included a shot from each side. I made it out of common pine 2x6's and AC plywood.

[Mike Parzych]

Mike.....

Also a Mike here...

I've been doing considerable research over the past year, as I would also like to build doors/entryway units. There are few if any people doing this is my area - the only source people have is the big box stores.

One thing I've noticed is that most suppliers have only 3 or 4 wood species that they offer. I'd like to offer more options, including exotics. I'd be offering them only based on stability of particular species, not across the board.

I haven't been able to find anything that would preclude many of the exotics. What are your thoughts on this?

[Mark Stutz]

Not to hijack this thread...but Welcome Mike Rachocki! What took you so long to jump in? Seriously, guys, I have seen his work and it is fantastic.

Mark