When all else fails...... Fuch it and make it yourself!
 

even if you have absolutely NO IDEA what you are doing. AND i really mean NO IDEA what your doing!

so a quick back-story to set the tone..............................

i have been doing so upgrades to the house. Added a "Living Space" where the patio used to be, crown molding, blah blah blah.

so my beloved wife had mentioned she would like a new front door. i hated our old front door. it was a perfectly fine door but it just rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.

soooooooo i started poking around for some custom doors and the wife wanted some unique features. we had seen some custom doors at a home and garden show. they were pretty awesome! BUT so were the prices!

8,000.00 for a front door? are you kidding? even though they were custom and awesome for SURE. ????

so i kept searching.... alot................... then kept searching, alot..................... then kept at it.

found a few really cool looking doors for 4-6K........ but they were basic and no where near the WOW factor i was interested in.

i was in the search for a RUSTIC (very rustic) looking front door.

the wife wanted one the was a Dutch Door (Split in the middle horizontally) that had a window AND Ironwork that allowed the window To be open BUT still had the security of the iron work as the WHOLE door was closed, all at the same time! (ok good luck with finding THAT!)

Even the 8K doors werent even close to that kind of engineering!

i was bummed and unsuccessful at getting my wife a door she wanted.

then i just said FUCH IT!

i told me buddy of my dilema and he said FUCH IT too........

lets try and design and build the BEOTCH!

we went down to the nitty gritty!

we went to the saw mill place...... got some PLANKS of really rough REDWOOD.
i wanted the saw blade marking on the wood, so i found it and bought it
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488019.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488019.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488019.jpg

then figured out the joints we wanted to use......

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488183.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488294.jpg

the basic design of the door

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488363.jpg

i little glue and hopes the it would work and dry relatively straight......


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488442.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488442.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488442.jpg

a little chalk a cold garage floor and some design ideas for the iron work.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488596.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488596.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488596.jpg

some iron work, making steel bend into curly things, a little botched welding.......

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488712.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488712.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544488712.jpg

got a torch, burned the hell out of some wood and put out a couple of small fires...... laughed alot with my buddy.....

but the door started to take shape....... hummmmmmmm ok... so im not hating this door so much.....

Forged in fire

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544489709.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544489709.jpg

we couldnt really find the hardware i was looking for so we made our own. we used some of the practice pieces we had already made, just bought and modified the latch...... we were just guessing.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544489872.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544489872.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544489872.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544489872.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544489872.jpg


getting close to assembly time......

Hey this isnt looking half bad........

oh oh....now the hardware..... never did this before either! oh crapola!

Will you seal it up with some urethane to protect the wood, or just leave the redwood to get more patina?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544490058.jpg

went OLD STYLE with an auger!

haha.....

VERY impressive! Very medieval looking. You could do sets for Game of Thrones!

had put down a couple of coats of a flat sealer..... picked up the colors nicely INCLUDING those saw blades marking from the get go....... almost done!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544490210.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544490210.jpg

the 3 functions my beloved wife was looking for......

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544490298.jpg

finished product!

Looking good! Been down the same road of not finding the door you want.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1544490467.jpg

the inside of the door......

i think the BEST thing about a rustic build is that it is SUPPOSED to NOT be perfect..... and this door is NOT but i am proud of trying to make it.

my friend did alot of the work but it certainly was a joint effort.....

i think the ZILLION of errors we made just added to the effect and character of a rustic door design.......

i just used the old door handles and locks i had on my old door and it seemed to work perfectly with the new door.......

Wow, spectacular. Easily could be sold as expensive and custom. Very cool and well done!

I'm assuming you and/or your buddy didn't learn to weld and do iron work for the door as well?

Excellent!

Your bride is a lucky woman. (Of course, you're a lucky guy too, but we've covered that on another thread.) Bravo!

Very cool.

Can we get some more detail how you did the metalworking?

Looks really good....


But why is the door on your ceiling?

Nice work.

Mike

Thanks fellas!

I'm very happy with the end result, however misguided we were in getting there! Hahaha

Kevin.... thank you for the kind words.

Believe me guys, you DONT want to get any direction from me/us on any metal work or wood work at all.

You tube is in fact.... your friend.

I can tell you this jokingly.... hot fire, big hammer, long pliers, and wear work boots!

Nice door. It's lovely.

I was going to comment on footwear. I was thinking running shoes and weld spatter = pain.

I see you learned that one, hope you are ok.

Wow! How did you "Dutch" it" Built then cut in half?

I admire your creativity, effort and willingness to dive in and make it happen. I have done stuff like that in the past. Mostly I find the craftsman to make make what I want happen.

My biggest and most expensive project was my house in Alta Loma. Of which I have posted pictures of before. The one thing I wanted to do but never did was to be the General in building my own custom house. I love design work.

Now that's what I'm talking about- you go son!

That is awesome!

very impressive! We are in an amazing time with access to so much documentation on how to do and make things.


I think that you may have sandbagged on your level of expertise on this though!

What a super DIY. Love the look. Any burnt smell in the house? :)

I think you are selling us short. You have some skills there my friend and they didn't just appear out of nowhere. Looks good for rustic. And hanging a Dutch door is four times as hard as a single door. Essentially, you have to be able to drop a fishing line down through all 4 hinges not touching the side of any. That takes time, maybe an hour alone just shimming and tweaking or the door binds or separates as it's opened/closed.

Since I have dealt with entry doors most of my carpenter life, I can tell anyone they are in fact expensive. Sometimes ridiculously expensive and yet there are a class of solid wood doors, mostly raised panel, no glass, that can be had for less than $500. Get out of that groove, get out your wallet.

H20, your blog shows everything all at once but how long did this project take overall? I just re-read the post and my reply (as I always do before hitting enter) and I noticed "we." I don't think that was your wife.

Hell yes. Like a boss.

Very nice! Impressive!!
Nothing like a custom DIY build. 👍👍

Cooper

Friend of mine got some doors off an old church in Mexico that were very similar to what you are doing, was pine though, I think. Redwood will last forever.

Wow.......
 

i wasn't expecting to get this kind of feedback...... i really appreciate all the kind words. im even starting to think maybe i shouldnt have posted anything.

i was FULLY prepared to get flamed and crucified for my un-enlighted efforts!

the reaction is NOT what i had expected...... i am just pretty excited about the way it came out..... so i thought i would post and take the risk of getting flamed.

sometimes our forum can be a tough crowd. (thats right... i said it!) hahahahaha

masraum- no we didnt learn the metal work on the door, i did but my buddy has some experience, that was the fun part about it, we jacked up alot of stuff before getting a nice base.

lwj- exactly...... no running shoes moving forward, that part sucked. im good thanks

flatbutt- no didnt cut in half, wouldnt have worked like that. we built two different sections, top and bottom. competely different pieces and construction.

Tabs- thank you for your kind words. honestly it was just accepting we were going to really JACK everything up and hope for the best. it was done just to have fun and see what happens.

aschen....... no no no no.... i swear to god... NO SANDBAGGING. it was just stupid yahoo luck that we had in having it come out the way it did.

Milt...... oh geez where do i start? i have seen and read your experiences for 13 years, I KNOW WHAT A CRAFTSMAN YOU ARE... i/we are a couple of knuckle-draggers when it comes to this stuff... i swear it. the old saying about tools make everything easy comes to play here, FOR SURE. we had access to some cool stuff and it really wasnt THAT hard... it was the tools that allowed us to tip toe our way through this project... I SWEAR NEITHER ONE OF US HAD EVER EVER done any doors or anything like that before. NADA. your comment on hanging a dutch door cracked me up BECAUSE i literally never ever heard of the finishing line technique. we lifted up the heavy top part and screwed in the hinges with some long arse nails.... same for the botton. then it took us 6 hours to get it lined up to the frame... took the chisel out and slowly made the door fit....... it IS like butter now... but it was a long slow process for sure. patience was key. im kinda embarrassed to know there is an actual process or technique to use compared to what we did and how we did it... hahahahahaha.

and THANK YOU for validating what i said about the pricing on custom doors. I HAD NOOOOOO IDEA UNTIL i started poking around and saw the cost of a NICE door.... and then to see the limited options on door styles was shocking and those were expensive too! i have told several people what custom doors cost and they looked at me like i was nuts!

then you get the light weight veneer doors...... you could sneeze and break those doors down!

this door is a freaking fortress, heavyweight, solid arse redwood.....

anyways, thank for the validation Milt.

hahaha... yes OVERALL this door took us months and months and months of an hour here and an hour there... weekend here weekend there.

just 2 of us.... my buddy and i did it.

Well, the fishing line is extreme but if you started out working for a Swedish carpenter, 2nd generation (Pappa came over from the old country and I heard that great grampa was a carpenter before Pappa) and the son who became a general contractor that knew Pappa's secrets, then you know where I got my initial training. What's more, the senior carpenter for which I was a helper, was a Dane. I thought I knew my shcit when I took that job and soon learned that was not the case. 1982.

But that's the kind of thing these cats could come up with. That and being able to sharpen a handsaw so that a needle would slide down the teeth w/o falling off. Now that's a correctly set and sharpened saw blade. One old coot just about to retire and the last union guy in the company (don't ask me how that worked) had the one company truck and one box full of tools. I swear I only saw one chisel in his kit and yet he produced the best work you ever saw and quick, OMG. He was the door hanger king.

The coot was an old WWII vet and not from the "old country." Probably from Texas. Lean, mean with deep wrinkles from the cigarette constantly glued to his lower lip. It would hang there as he talked. Straight hair long enough to comb from the front over the head and down to the back but not a hair out of place and cut in back like a businessman of the day. Tan as they come from working outside here in SoCal where there is a lot of sunshine.

He didn't talk much and I doubt he liked me much. Just one of those guys you learn from (if you can manage them to teach) that you never forget. I was shown everything right down to how to pull a nail properly (after hearing a boat load about why I made a nail situation needing to be pulled). Oh yeah, the razzing was relentless.

Between the son of ol' Svede , the Dane and Tex, I learned. Somehow I don't think they were too impressed that the trade would be passed on and live. Nowadays no one has any idea of what the old craftsmen were all about, much less being able to accomplish it. And no one comes to me for advice. 48 years in the trades will follow me silently to my grave.

So, I dig what H20 has done as well as the rest of you that jump right in. Yeah, I'm talking about you @Superman. :D

so Milt..... i need your advise on making and hanging a door...... my buddy and i made a DIY door and now my beloved mother in law wants one....... hahahaha

("He didn't talk much and I doubt he liked me much. Just one of those guys you learn from (if you can manage them to teach) that you never forget.")

i wonder if that might be me describing this old timer in the business 48 years.