Building Spanish Colonial Doors
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This is a plywood door I built a while ago and recently finished installing. I show the render first then photos of the finished project. It was going to be a fairly plain door, but then my daughter gave me this brass grill that was simply meant to be a wall hanging. After looking for the right wall space, I started playing with integrating it into my door project.
I had a lot of trouble with the frame as one of the walls was built with warped 2x4s. The other problem was a door handle to complement the design. I looked through catalogs and found offerings from $200 to $600. Then a local store held a special offering the hardware you see for $9.00. Done deal - no more excuses for not finishing the project.
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Beautiful !
Is the .skp available? for us wood manglers to explode and see and learn the parts?
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Nice work Roger. How did you frame the opening behind the brass grille? Is there glass in the opening?
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@pecan said:
Beautiful !
Is the .skp available? for us wood manglers to explode and see and learn the parts?
Let me work on that. The SKP was done as more of a render than a building plan and I have not detailed the back of the door yet.
The door is 1.5 inches thick and made of three layers of 1/2 inch oak furniture grade plywood. The center layer is a single sheet and the posts and stiles of the faces are strips of half inch plywood. The clavos (Spanish decorative nails) are 1.5 inch diameter. The decorative edging in the inside of the posts and stiles is bass wood that was run through a press giving it an egg and dart pattern.
Putting the lock set in was a bit sketchy as the plywood does not offer the solidity of solid wood.
The hinge hardware on the back is fancy scrolled gate hardware that just happens to fit weoo with the overall design. However, that fact that it is cheap was also an important part of the design as I am the client as well as the designer builder.
Bottom line the secret is the non traditional building approach. Just three layers of plywood glued together.
@dave r said:Nice work Roger. How did you frame the opening behind the brass grille? Is there glass in the opening?
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@dave r said:
Nice work Roger. How did you frame the opening behind the brass grille? Is there glass in the opening?
As yet there is no glass in the opening so some of the noxious gases from the bathroom do escape into the house. I also suggest singing while using the facilities to cover unwanted sounds. I will be gluing a sheet of plex behind the grill in the near future. The grill is held in place with a series of jewelry box hinges and this will be covered by a wooden frame (not yet built)to back up the grill.
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Maybe you could incorporate an air freshener and stereo and omit the glass.
I like your construction method for simple. Did you cover the edges of the plywood?
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@dave r said:
Maybe you could incorporate an air freshener and stereo and omit the glass.
I like your construction method for simple. Did you cover the edges of the plywood?
Edge banding is an excellent suggestion and will be used in future productions.
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Roger, you did a great job. I like the design of the door and the economic way you found to get such a result. In addition to that, plywood is also quite stable. How long did it take to complete the project?
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@brandy20 said:
Roger, you did a great job. I like the design of the door and the economic way you found to get such a result. In addition to that, plywood is also quite stable. How long did it take to complete the project?
Luca, this is embarrassing. I don't know because it was a one off and I did a little here and a little there. An organized person in a well equipped shop could do this in four hours - maybe.
I can say it is quick and simple, but my garage is a mess. I can spend an hour looking for a drill bit on the floor or wondering where the square is that I left on the living room table before my wife moved it to some other part of the house. The construction method is very rapid, the worker is not.
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I had breakfast at IKEA this morning and on the way out I noticed they were selling those plastic sheets that make chairs roll over carpet with ease. It had a frosted finish and they were cheap. I am thinking this would be a good glazing material behind the grill. Most important, they were cheap. Can you think of any reasons that this would not be a good idea? I can mount it to the grill's frame with silicone cement.
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I think that would work, Roger. Instead of silicone adhesive, I'd frame the window into the opening more like a proper window. You can get some pine trim at your local borg. It'll be easy to work and stain up easily to match your fir plywood door.
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@roger said:
I had breakfast at IKEA this morning and on the way out I noticed they were selling those plastic sheets that make chairs roll over carpet with ease. It had a frosted finish and they were cheap. I am thinking this would be a good glazing material behind the grill. Most important, they were cheap. Can you think of any reasons that this would not be a good idea? I can mount it to the grill's frame with silicone cement.
Did those swedish guys also invaded the US market?
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@dave r said:
I think that would work, Roger. Instead of silicone adhesive, I'd frame the window into the opening more like a proper window. You can get some pine trim at your local borg. It'll be easy to work and stain up easily to match your fir plywood door.
The adhesive is just to keep thing snug and air tight. Then oak framing will be fitted into place.
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@brandy20 said:
@roger said:
I had breakfast at IKEA this morning and on the way out I noticed they were selling those plastic sheets that make chairs roll over carpet with ease. It had a frosted finish and they were cheap. I am thinking this would be a good glazing material behind the grill. Most important, they were cheap. Can you think of any reasons that this would not be a good idea? I can mount it to the grill's frame with silicone cement.
Did those swedish guys also invaded the US market?
Ja! You bet.
Very clever those Swedes. . . . Most of the time.
I bought a thing that looks like a plan cabinet and rushed home to build it. However one of those clever Swedes installed the draw runners on the left side a half inch forward of those on the right. It really confused this dumb American because I thought Olie in Copenhagen had this down to such a science that mistakes were never made. Now that I know better, life will never be the same. My sense of security and well being are shattered. For me it has put Volvos and Chevys in the same category.
Still, they surve up a large breakfast for $2.15. Bacon, eggs, potatoes, pancakes, lingon berries and coffee.
Best deal west of the Irrawaddy River.
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Dave, I bought one of those polycarbonate carpet protectors and ran it through my table saw. I was not sure that would be a good idea as plex would both shatter and melt on a wood cutting blade. However polycarbonate is so flexible. It cut like a dream. Did table saw for the straight cuts and saber saw for the arch. No problem with the material and did not mess up the blades.
However those floor mats have the bottom side covered with a thin coating like a super dense rubber cement to provide a grip on the carpet. The right toxic chemical (benzine)would probably strip it right off. Rubbing it off with a dish towel is my preferred alternative, but it is taking forever.
I popped the polyC into the grill and it looks good with a proper trade off between privacy and light transmission.
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Thanks for the update Roger. I didn't know there is a non skid surface on the bottom side. If it doesn't affect light transmission, leave and put it toward the grille.
I've cut Plexiglas and hard Polycarbonate on my tablesaw. It works alright but you do have to get the right feed speed. The worst part about them is the "sawdust" clings to everything and it is hard to get rid of.
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