Strother Purdy - Doormaking: Materials, Techniques, and Projects for Building Your First Door

Materials, Techniques, and Projects
for Building Your First Door

Strother Purdy

Doormaking
Materials, Techniques, and Projects
for Building Your First Door

by Strother Purdy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

Strother Purdy 2017

Cover design: Troy Thorne

Artwork: Jim Goold

Art direction and layout: Maura J. Zimmer

Photography: Strother Purdy except where noted.

ISBN: 978-1-610352-91-8

135798642

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Printed in China.

Woodworking is inherently dangerous. Your safety is your responsibility. Neither Linden Publishing nor the author assume any responsibility for any injuries or accidents. Photographs in this book may depict the usage of woodworking machinery where the safety guards have been removed. The guards were removed for clarity. We urge you to utilize all available safety equipment and follow all recommended safety procedures when woodworking.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Purdy, Strother, author.

Title: Doormaking : materials, techniques, and projects for building your first door / Strother Purdy.

Description: Fresno : Linden Publishing, [2017] | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017001604 | ISBN 9781610352918 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Wooden doors. | Doors.

Classification: LCC TH2278 .P887 2017 | DDC 694/.6--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001604

The Woodworkers Library

Linden Publishing, Inc.

2006 S. Mary

Fresno, CA 93721

www.lindenpub.com

Door, noun:

1. A movable barrier of wood or other material, usually turning on hinges or sliding in a groove, and serving to close or open a passage into a building or room.
2. That which the dog is always on the wrong side

Oxford English Dictionary, mostly.

Dedicated to my children, Josephine and Isaac, for no particular reason other than that I love them very much, perhaps with the hope that they will eventually stop slamming the front door. That door that I made, you know. Thats really nice. And shouldnt be slammed so hard. Not while Im in earshot anyway.

David Brothers and Rebecca Cheng

Jeff Cook

Barbara Dahl

Bill Duckworth

Andy Engel

Glen Hochstetter

Jon Lindblom

Joseph Manley

Jon Olivieri

Marc Olivieri

Geoffrey Purdy

David and Nancy Sposato

Eric Vikstrom

Laurie Wesley

The Connecticut Office of the State Building Inspector

Conway Hardwoods

Atlantic Plywood

Historic Housefitters

H. H. Taylors Hardware

Rings End

Whitechapel, Ltd.

Safety Tip

Have you read those endless pages of safety warnings that come with every new power tool? You know, the ones up front in the user manual that go on and on and on about everything obvious (do not swing running power tool by its cord above your head, etc.) that youre supposed to read thoroughly before taking the tool out of the box? Theyre written by the underpaid employees of rich lawyers as part of a lucrative settlement when some poor person did swing the tool around and lost an ear thereby winning millions of dollars in court to be given to the lawyer.

Dont be this person, which is to say that keeping your digits attached is much better than spending long hours without them in a courtroom. Whats my advice on how to keep all your digits? The lawyer will tell you its all those safety warnings. Ill add that its important to listen to your intuition. This is that gut feeling that says this isnt right or Im not sure about this or I hope this works ok. If the tablesaw scares you, its for a very good reason. Leave it alone and use other tools. If the tool doesnt act the way it should, theres a reason. Stop and ask advice from someone who knows. Learn about the tool or technique and only use it on your own at the point that it no longer scares you.

I have a copy of Henleys Twentieth Century Book of Recipes, Formulas and Processes: Containing Nearly Ten Thousand Selected Scientific, Chemical, Technical and Household Recipes, Formulas and Processes for Use in the Laboratory, the Office, the Workshop and in the Home, published in New York in 1907. Intended for the general public, Henleys tells you how to make everything, from your own acid-proof wood finishes to food preservatives, foot powders, even zinc contact silver plating. But in close to eight hundred densely packed pages, there is not a single image or illustration, and there are few how-to instructions. To make the acid-proof wood finish, for example, the book simply tells you to boil copper sulfate and potassium chlorate salts until dissolved.

To many modern Americans, the directions in this book are dangerously incomplete, perhaps criminally. Will boiling these crystals give off noxious fumes? Do you add water? How much? Can they be boiled safely in a steel or aluminum pot? Where can you even buy these crystals? Henleys is mute. While Im sure many readers in 1907 did not know the answers to all these questions, many more did. Henleys was a popular book.

In 2015, we no longer have the same foundation of practical knowledge or hand skills (or understanding of risk) that our ancestors did. The efficiencies of mass manufacturing has allowed each of us to focus on specialized professionswe simply dont need to build or repair our own houses or furniture anymore; theres someone else who specializes in that. Many of us lament this loss, looking back on earlier generations, amazed by their ability to do so much on their own.

But they did not have the internet, heated toilet seats or inexpensive Asian manufacturing integrated with global markets and high volume shipping capacities. With these things, we are far more productive, far less burdened by the work necessary to simply survive, and have far greater freedom to pursue other opportunities. We are now far less independent and far more interdependent. We are not worse offwe are just different.

Today, most people would think it slightly insane to make your own doors when you can buy a manufactured, pre-hung steel and plastic door at Lowes for $67. Thats not much less than three times the cost of this book.