Exterior door-- solid mahogany or 3-piece layup?

[Roger Marty]

I'm interested in building an exterior door for a master bedroom (cold climate, rarely used door, protected by a storm door). Found some nice Freud instructions:

http://www.ptreeusa.com/PDF/EDMS-Instructions.pdf

What I have in mind is mostly a glass insert door with mahogany rails and stiles.

Should I use solid 8/4 Honduran Mahogany planed to 1.75" thickness or epoxy three thinner pieces to make 1.75"?

[Robert LaPlaca]

Roger, not to be Mr. buzz kill, but I just bought some 8/4 South American Mahogany, it was $11 bf (5 to 9" width). It isn't easy to find quality SA Mahogany and when you find it, it is expensive.

[Sam Layton]

Hi Roger,

When I built my front door I laminated the stiles and rails. I think it makes the door a lot more stable. I used titebond III for the lamination. In addition, instead of 1.75", I went with 2 1/4". I used three laminations.

Sam

[John A langley]

use African mahogany you could make a core laminate the edge and face, also one piece would work, not a very good picture

[David Kumm]

You you use true Honduran with fairly VG, it won't matter if laminated or solid. The dry Mahogany is so stable it will be more about the joint construction than the rails and stiles that will determine the life of the door. Not the case with the African or Phillipine substitutes. Dave

[Jim Becker]

I like the lamination method because it can actually help overcome the challenge of building a door with sturdy, deep "mortise and tenon" type construction since you can build in the mortises while laying it up, rather than having to cut them out from a solid piece of wood.

[John TenEyck]

At $11/bf I would use laminated construction for sure, plus it's more stable. I use Plastic Resin Glue to glue the skins on the LVL cores and for gluing up the loose tenon joints.

John

[Dennis Yamamoto]

John,

What LVL cores do you use? I've seen some folks make staves out of LVL's or LSL's and them glue them up into a stave core door. Is this overkill, and can I just laminate over a "solid" length of LVL?

Thanks,

Dennis

At $11/bf I would use laminated construction for sure, plus it's more stable. I use Plastic Resin Glue to glue the skins on the LVL cores and for gluing up the loose tenon joints.

John

[John TenEyck]

I use LVL beams, and use it as stave core construction. I sand the LVL to get any coating off, rip it an eighth over the thickness I need, turn the staves 90 degrees, and glue them together with TB 3. I rip the stiles out of that to the width needed, then glue on my solid edges. I joint and plane that assembly and then glue on the skins with PRG. Unless it's an arched door, I don't worry about the exposed core at the top and bottom, but you can glue in a block of solid wood prior to gluing on the skins if you want. For an interior door I use 1/8" veneer and 3/16" for an exterior door.

I can't remember which LVL brand I've used but can let you know if needed. I have one in my shop right now ready to make an exterior door. Fwiw, I let the LVL acclimate to my shop just like I do solid wood before working it.

John

[Dimitrios Fradelakis]

Is their a downside (other than price) to using solid Honduran mahogany? What if loose tenons or even the largest and deepest dominos were used in the construction of a exterior door?

[Jamie Buxton]

Is their a downside (other than price) to using solid Honduran mahogany? What if loose tenons or even the largest and deepest dominos were used in the construction of a exterior door?

A downside to solid Honduran Mahogany is that the quality of the lumber has declined over the years. It used to be that you could buy lumber cut from old-growth trees which grew in a deep forest. The lumber was clear with very straight grain, so it was stable, and the door didn't twist or cup. Nowadays the lumber just isn't as nice. That's one of the reasons that commercial door-building outfits use stave core construction. The idea is that the expansions and contractions in all the various pieces of wood in the core kinda balance each other out, and the resulting stile or rail is stable.

[John TenEyck]

Exactly. Composite construction takes a little longer, too, but the result is a very stable door that isn't going to go wonky as the weather changes.

John

[peter gagliardi]

With proper stock selection, a solid door will far outlast a glued up unit with a junk core. Any wood used in the core that is not as durable as the face wood, is going backwards. Every glue line between layers creates another impermeable layer that moisture will get into quicker than it can leave, leading to premature failure.
Don't kid yourself about what the big factories put out being the highest quality. They supply a product that is value engineered to #1. Make as much profit as possible, and #2. Provide the lowest cost to do so, while providing a very basic warranty. They use cheap cores, because they don't want to spend on a quality on, because they are competing on a cost basis first, vs a quality basis.

[John TenEyck]

The opposite argument is equally valid.

John

[Mike Hollingsworth]

IMG_1882.jpg
I made my front door from 8/4 Mahogany acquired locally at $11/ft. I got my panels from Irion in PA for about $50 ft. His stuff weighed twice as much. Coloration is nearly the same 6 months after I took the photo.