making a door out of plywood?

[mpooley]

Hi
I am just finishing my new workshop and am making a pair of doors total width 2 mtrs.
to keep it simple i was thinking of making a 40mm x 150mm mortice and tenon frame and using an 18mm hardwood ply panel glued in for strength.

I have never made a door like this before but cant see any reason not to.

do you think this is a good method?
is there any reason why i shouldn't?

thanks for any advice

Mike

 

[Pecker]

Mike, we occasionally make a door not disimilar to those.

Each door would be about a meter wide?

We make the side, top and middle rail out of 100mm, 150 would be too heavy and too expensive. Occasionally the bottom rail is 150mm but not often.

The plywood is sometimes rebated into the frame of the 100x50, or sometimes just sat on top. Either way, it is then glued and pinned in place - often using PU glue. It cannot move.

We then generally use hook (strap) and band hinges to hang them. Not had a problem in 3 years of making them.
(just to explain, they are used by a local storage company on various outbuildings).

Kind regards

Woody

 

[JFC]

Yup made a few like that , my workshop gates at the service road where down and dirty biscuit jointed CLS frame ledged and braced with plywood dropped into the rebates . I ran grooves into the ply to make it look like TVG . I need new ones now but they have done the job for about 10 years and both sides where exposed for 9 of those years .

 

[joiner_sim]

we have made a few of these for internal use, using evo stick contact adhesive.

 

[JFC]

Simon , He is talking about letting in the plywood instead of using solid timber not a 6mm or 3mm ply covering over the whole frame . I thought i would get in before big bad Senior came in with his size ten boots :lol:
Stick around here Simon , it's the best woodworking forum on the net .
Taking and reading what these people say will only help you get better but dont be afraid to disagree , especially with Senior
Back to the question , when i redo my gates i will use 125 x 45 PAR as its a stock item so is cheaper . Getting 40mm may cost more unless you are going to thickness yourself .

 

[mpooley]

Thanks all
Yes I will be rebating the plywood into grooves in the frame.
Yes I will be thicknessing myself and i will have a think about 100mm frames ! I want them to look right.
I am also going to pin on mouldings to make it look like there are several vertical panels if you see what i mean.


So thanks!
now i feel confident i'm not doing anything silly!

 

[JFC]

100 mm will look small once rebated , yes its ok to save money but it's your own place so i would go bigger . Pinning on moulding you could regret as it will hold the water / driving rain and start areas to rot . If the moulding is inside the rebate then that maybe better but why not rebate the doors and mould the outside and pin the ply in with mouldings on the inside .
You can mastic the ply into its rebate to stop the water on the outside .

 

[mpooley]

Just to make it clearer the ply will be slotted into grooves when the door is assembled. so no mouldings there

The mouldings will be pinned and glued to the face of the ply in vertical strips to give the impression of vertical panels.

Do you think this is a bad idea then?

mike

 

[JFC]

Nope that is how an external door is made but i assume you are buying in marine ply and the mouldings ?
Would it not be cheaper for you to buy 100mm x 25mm sawn and make your own T&G or TVG ?

 

[Pecker]

JFC, you are correct, sometimes 100mm cant look a tad narrow once rebated, though for what we do it doesn't matter (and our customers want them fairly cheap), 125 might certainly be the better choice for good looks. still better and cheaper than 150mm.

One point, don't forget that the wider then timber the heavier they are going to get... and over that size that can be a heck of a lot!

woody

 

[mpooley]

Nope that is how an external door is made but i assume you are buying in marine ply and the mouldings ?
Would it not be cheaper for you to buy 100mm x 25mm sawn and make your own T&G or TVG ?

actually i'm not sure wether it would be cheaper or not - its just that i like the panel look- i did once make a smaller door out of 89x38mm cls with 150mm vertical (pine) panels, but that was a heavy pipper!
oh and i'll be making the mouldings i expect.

oh and does it HAVE to be marine ply exactly ? my woodyard has some nice Brazilian hardwood ply which they SAY is external but?




mike