Looking for plans on shop door...

[Dave Rosner]

Hi - I need to replace an old sliding barn door for a part of my barn I am converting into a new 20x20 workshop. It's a 7 foot wide by 6.5 high opening and While I don't need it super weather tight I will at some point like to heat the space. For the garage part of the barn I had an Amish guy build beautiful carriage doors out of solid stock. I'd like to do something similar but as a single door that can reuse the track I've got now. I'll be painting it so I don't need special wood so thinking Douglas fir or if I can get rough pine boards using those. Here is an example of the design I'm after - but as a single sliding door.

http://www.realcarriagedoors.com/ima...rage-doors.jpg

I've searched high and wide on the internet looking for plans or anything to point me in the right direction. Maybe I'm overthinking it but seems like i build the rails and stiles using solid lumber and mortise and tendon joints. Then I put in the T&G board within a dado in those and let them float.

I'm sure there lots of details or learnings that would be good to know. Any advise including what kind of wood to use assuming they will be painted.

Thanks

[David Helm]

Shop exterior and office interior 011.JPGNo major plans. Pretty simple build. 3/4 inch plywood base, Cedar T&G verticals, 1X Cedar crossbucks and wrap. Galvanized angle wrap around the edges to protect plywood.

[Tom M King]

Not plans, but Richards-Wilcox makes any kind of sliding door hardware you could want, that will allow any weight door to operate easily, and reliably for many years.
http://www.rwhardware.com/products-l...door-hardware/

I'm not sure what kind of hardware you are reusing, but look at the RW stuff anyway. I've worn out too many tracks from farm supply stores.

[Eric Schmid]

It sounds like you're on the right track with door design. I wouldn't be too intimidated by it. If you layout your joinery on the rails and stiles you will pretty much have the plan you're looking for.

Give yourself plenty of assembly time by using a slow setting glue or epoxy. It is best if you seal/paint all parts before assembly, especially the dado in the bottom rail. This might get a little tricky with paint, but you can make your dado a little oversized.

I build stuff that lives outside primarily. Bare wood on bare wood is almost always the first failure/rot point. I see lots of assemblies rot from the inside out, especially ones painted after assembly.

[Eric Schmid]

Tom,

I am looking for a lock/latch for a sliding barn door. Something that can be activated from either side. Do you know where I might look?

[Tom M King]

Eric, I'll try to remember to check back to this thread if you can't find something here:

http://rwhardware.com/HardwareCatalog.pdf

[Tom M King]

Here's the cheaper stuff. I like, and use some of their gate latches on our farm. If you buy one of their latches without a backing plate, make a quick plywood template to drill the holes by.

http://s7d1.scene7.com/is/content/St...tanleynational

[Charles Lent]

If you are planning on heating the space inside, sliding doors are not easy to seal well. You would be better off with a different kind of door.

Charley

[Eric Schmid]

I was thinking of something similar to this in terms of functionality, but not necessarily design.

http://www.adamsrite.com/Other/adams...0S_050_web.pdf

It's for a gate. The customer is hoping to be able to lock or unlock her sliding door from either side. Common on swing doors, but I've not seen anything that looks like it would have been made for use on sliding doors. Especially barn doors that overlap the opening.

[liam c murphy]

I built a pair of framed ledged and braced doors a few years back. Originally we planned to use strap hinges, but the owners decided to use sliding door hardware after much of the work on the doors had been completed. If I had known that they were going to be sliding doors, I would have gone with "x" shaped diagonal braces instead of what I used. There doors are Drawbored, Through Mortise and Tennon, and they are also wedged. The diagonal braces are notched into the rails. The boards that run vertically are rabbeted. I cut the tennons by hand, and used a drill press for the mortises. When I was figuring out how I wanted to design the doors I used a number of old books from the early 20th century. Namely " Specialized Joinery" from Algrove Publishing. I belive this book is now out of print. I'd recommend "Modern Practical Joinery" by George Ellis, and also "Doormaking and Window-Making" from Lost Art Press. If you do a google book search for framed ledged and braced door, you'll find lots of old books that are free in Google Books. I didn't hang them. Ignore that one of the doors is slightly out of plumb in the picture at the bottom.


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