I’ve been working on a log cabin for about 8 yrs. From cutting the trees down to making the cabinets and doors. You guys helped me out before with the porch railing made from douglas fir and copper spindles and it looks great! I’ll be getting a digital camera in March and will try to post pictures. Now for the dutch door question.
The doors that I am making are pine 2 pannel with 5″ stiles and rails. How wide should each of the rails be on the split center rail. The lower half will have a 3/4″ ledge mounted to it’s top. On the other doors the nobs are centered on the middle rail 36″ from the door bottom. I’m concerned about this door matching the other doors.
Replies
Wow. ambiguous at best for a post..I made a few DDoors and had a nightmare of
(A) poorly chosen material
(B) that very half lap
(C) decent hardware
What I did was ( to rectify) use as dry and stable material at hand..in my last foray that was Mahog.
The split rail needs to be proportiante to the the lower and upper ..like go with 16'' kick, a 12'' (split with a rabbet/rabbet) and a 6'' head rail..other wise you will have a racking situ. now this all depends on the amount of glass, and your chosen method of joinery.
Hardware has to be top notch, solid brass is what I decided on, but I am sure that some wrought iron straps would suffice.
You didn't mention weather stripping, and that can be a whole new ball of wax, as is the ability to incorporate that into your application..
I suggest a full through mortise and tenon if the upper is glazed and at least a haunched M/T for the panel frame lower..reason is the lower may catch more water ( splash) and the housed mortices wont be subjected to the exposed ends of the tenon, and the upper wich is often viewed shows off your excellent joinery.
I also think a Dutch door ought to be cross buck on the lower..it seems more .....right.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Forgot to mention that the doors are all interior. No glass or weather stripping. The door will see light use. The only reason I'm making it comes from romantic childhood memories.
I've only done this one time from a stock door. If I recall the rail was 6" wide.The top rail was narrower,5" maybe, the bottom 10" maybe.Since your making the doors, If the door is 6-8 and the knob is 36" to the center,the remainder is 8". If you put the middle rails at 44" to the center of say 6" wide rails, you have room for the shelf and knob. The upper panels will be shorter than the lower, which many doors are anyhow.
mike
TooTall
Your name isn't Ed is it?
Here is a picture of some dutch doors that we built and the rail in the middle is the same as the top rail. If I remember right its about 5 or 5 1/2".
You cant see the upper section but the bottom rail on that door is also 5 or 5 1/2". And the top rail on the upper section is 5-5 1/2", with the bottom rail at 11 1/2". Styles are also 5-5 1/2"
Doug
Wow, bi-lingual doors! (Dutch/French) Very nice! In the cabin the other 2-pannel doors have a 10" kick with 5" rails/stiles. I'm thinking of cutting down the split rail on the dutch door to 4" & 4" with a 7/8" thick shelf mounted to the lower section. That gives me about 9" of center rail when the door is closed. This Dutch door is 8' from one of the other pine 2-pannel doors and I wanted them to match. Seems like the only time they would match is when the Dutch door is opened. 3" & 3" seems skimpy but is closer to the mark.
My name is Tom, Too Tall Tom. 6" 8" tall, my dad really appreciated me when it came to painting ceilings. The Cabin is located outside of Bridewater, Michigan.
Tom
The reason that I asked your name is the "tootall" as in Ed "tootall" Jones, old Cowboys football player.
I dont like the idea of the 3" and 3" rails in the center, I think they'd look a bit skimpy. 4" is the minimum that I'd go, but thats just my opinion.
And as Capn mentioned, these things are a son-of-a-beach to hang properly.
Those doors that I pictured were the second set that we made for that opening, the lady didnt like the position of the split once they were done so we made new ones! I think somewhere in a storage unit I have the old set.
Doug
Well, if we follow the 'formula' of top rail half of bottom rail (6 & 12 or 5.5 & 11), then about any size that is not the stile width probably works. My first inclination is to suggest 3" & 3", and "eat" the shelf thickness o nthe bottom door out of the top rail of the bottom door half.
From some BTDT, put at least three hinges on each leaf (four is not overkill on the bottom in my book). If you use three, lay them out as if it were four, and spot the third in the upper third of each leaf. This "attaches" the door leaves to the wall where the bending moment is larger.
If you use double-acting, or cafe, hinges, do not use less than four per leaf (unless your hobby is fiddling with door hinges <g>). The sanity you save will be your own.
Oh, yeah, plan out where to put a latch (screen door hook, whatever) when the upper leaf is opened all the way (otherwise, it will, "droop" halfway in the way until you do <g>).
I'm going to draw up a side by side comparison tonight, using 3" & 3" on the split rail and build up the dutch door this weekend.
Oh yeah, don't forget to 'spot' the bottom leaf's top around a normal counter top height, rather than just half the door height (that always looks weird).
Put your lockset template on the layout while you are at it. It's easy right now to use a 4" rail to get the lockset (esp. a mortice set)--much harder after gluing up the door . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)