Monday, June 29, 2015

Doors part 2

So we have a couple of doors, right?  Well at least a couple of stress skin panels.  I thought that was going to be the hard job, but I was wrong.

After leaving the glue to dry over night, it was time to true them up a bit.  I broke out the Makita belt sander and I put the door on its edge.


I then marked the edge of the sheathing that I was going to true to.  It just happens that I used the plywood on one door as my guide and the OSB as the guide on the other.  Both have the same dimensions, it just worked out easier that way.


The black line that looks like a big void in the plywood is marker.....not a void.  I sanded and sanded and sanded some more until I had both doors matched.  At one point I thought it would be a lot faster if I just used a plane, and right then found a staple in the wood.....keep sanding.

Once I was satisfied (or tired of sanding) that they were close enough, I laid them on the floor to check the pair of them were square.  Top width OK, bottom width the same, diagonals are the same...good to go.


You can see in the background I have a sheet of OSB screwed over the doorway, keeping the rain out.

So now it's time to make the frame.

I like the fence I built for the table saw.  It is a piece of aluminium extrusion with T-slots in it.  I have a piece of ash that I use for a sacrificial fence/tall fence.  It is so easy to change in and out.



I laid out the large rebate (rabbit) on a scrap piece and made a test cut on it.  The old saw protested and groaned, but with some gentle persuading made the first deep cut through 2 8' 2 x 4's (that is hard to read....two, eight foot, two by fours), and one shorter one.


Then it happily chewed through the shallower cut to complete the profile.


After that, I put the parts over the doors to get a true measurement of the top rail.  Once that was done and marked out, it was just a matter of cutting it to length and then nibbling away where the sides meet it.


Check again.  It consumes a lot of my time checking and rechecking things, I still make mistakes, but not this time.


I am happy with the fit.  Glue the joints and a couple of 3 1/2" deck screws secures it and then I add a temporary brace and 2x4 spacer to the bottom to keep the fit right.



Then it's time to flip it all over, the 2x4 spacer keeps the middle of the doors up and the rebates do the edges and the top.  I walked over it many times like this and it is good and rigid.


Time to cut the mortices for the hinges.  I am using 3 on each door.  I picked up these commercial style hinges at a yard sale for $5


They are not all exactly the same, so I had to keep track of which one went where.  I used the hinge itself as a guide.  The top one 8" from the top, the bottom one 9" from the bottom and one in the middle.  



I cut the mortices in the door with my Dremel rotary tool with the router attachment.  Putting the springs on the top so it works as a fixed base.  With the springs below, it is a plunge router.



With it being a cloudy rainy day, I had to figure out a quick way to get some task lighting.


The dremel would not reach on the frame, so I did those the old fashioned way,  with a mallet and chisel.


That pretty much ate up my day.  

I had to go to the hardware store to get screws for the hinges.  Everything I had on hand was too small.  I think the #12 x 3" ought to hold the weight.   I got some shorter ones too....lol.




So, once all the hinges are installed, I check again, and have to so a bit of trimming.  A little bit more on the outside than the inside on the edge to account for the arc in the swing of the door.


I get that all working nice and now I have to take the doors off and install the frame.  I measured the opening and it is 1 1/2" wider than the door frame, so on one side I just put some 1x4 in where the hinges are positioned to act as a spacer.  I checked to make sure, and the rough frame is plumb in both directions.

Then some more 3" #12 screws into 2 of the holes of each hinge, through the spacer, and into the rough framing.


With that side done and secured, I put the doors back on.  On the other side I put a couple of scrap pieces so the frame would line up flush with the inside.


Then it was just a matter of putting some cedar shims in behind each hinge, take out 2 of the shorter screws in each, and replace them with more of the 3" screws.  Through the hinge hole, through the frame, the shim and into the rough framing, and it works!!


I can now take the brace and spacer off of the outside.



Almost fully functional, all they need is a bit more hardware.  On the door that will be closed most of the time that means a couple of big sliding bolts on the inside.  On the top I put in some blocking on screwed into the door frame and also the lintel.


Another one just like it on the bottom of the door.  Remember that big block of wood I put in the floor framing for just this purpose?



I will use the other door the most, it gets a passage set.  34" from the floor, I strike a line on the door and bore into the edge with a 1" forstner bit.


Some folks like to bore the big hole through the door first, but I find this way you avoid all the break out when you punch through.  My hole saw does not cut deep enough even going from each side, so I finished it with the jig saw.  A simple matter of following the insructions (yes, some of us read them) and putting a hole and a strike plate in the other door now.




It works great!

I am going to put a lathe on the "fixed" door for the main door to close against at the seam.  I also have weather stripping, a threshold and door sweeps to put on the bottom of the doors.  I am also thinking a few fake battens on the door would look good too.  I will fill the gaps with the same 7/16 OSB that is on the rest of the exterior, cover it with typar too.

I am also keeping an eye out whenever I go into a store for some mistinted exterior paint for the door.  I will put on all the weather stripping and stuff after I get them painted.  Not sure what colour they will be, but I hope I find something unique.

So, whew, a lot of work to get the doors in, and 3 days at it too.  Mind you I didn't work fast, and took time off to watch some car shows and racing.  Still, a lot of work.

I am now where I started, a shed (now referred to as the shop), but better protected against the elements and larger.  The doors were the final step in that process, and even with the gaps around the doors, it is still more weather resistant than the old shed I started with.  I still have a ton of moving things around and organising, or reorganising I should say.  I am close to being content where things landed, but it still needs some tweaking.  I still have to put my planes and chisel and stuff up, and have to move the tool chest out there (it has been sitting in out entrance way for almost 10 years, Sally will be glad to have it out of the house).  I am going to pick away at a few odd jobs over the next while, so there won't be much exciting happening.  I also have to go on a quest for an electrician, the guy I had in mind no longer does side jobs.  I have almost all I need for the electrical (including the 60A breaker to go in the house to feed it) except the feed wire and conduit, oh, and a ditch, I need a ditch to bury the cable (I wonder if an overhead feed would be better?).  So, until next time!

Thanks for dropping by!

Friday, June 26, 2015

Ummm, OK, Doors part 1

How things change from day to day.  Including your mind.

I got up this morning and was having my coffee and reading through the forums I subscribe to and chatting with Sally.  A normal morning.  I was describing the big storage cabinet I was going to build today, and she was of a mind that it wasn't needed and the shop could be straightened up enough to get going as is.  She even volunteered to help organise it.

So out we went and in a couple of hours had things looking somewhat organised and functional.  There is still a lot of stuff sitting on the floor that needs shelves......shelves......We have a couple of pine storage shelves in our en-suite bathroom that we have had for years.  Sally has wanted them out of there to make it look nicer.  Actually, she wants the whole thing re done as it was a quick fix up job when we moved in, and then a repair when we had the old roof leak, but has never been really done to our satisfaction.  Yeah, I'll get to it someday.

So, she wants the shelves gone.  She goes on the internet and finds a wardrobe that is inexpensive at the gigantic retail outlet that everyone loves to hate (starts with a "W" and ends in "almart").  After some phone tag and messing about (I hate pressing buttons on the phone going through menus) I call up our nearest one and yes, they have 2 of them in stock.  So, I tell them to hold them for me and we jump in the car and take the 40 minute drive to town and got really nice service and help from the kind folks that work there.  These things are big.  They weigh 200 lbs each.  Good thing the HHR has fold down seats, they slide in and fit with no problem.  We have a quick lunch while we are in town and home we go.  I open the box in the car and unload them a few pieces at a time, and while Sally starts playing with them I take a run to Rona and pick up a few things I need to make the doors.

I buy an inexpensive passage set, 6 - 1 x 4's and a sheet of isocyanurite insulation (cut in half lengthwise so it will fit in the car (the front seat is still down).  At home it is time to get started.  So I set up my work area in the shop for the first time.


The roller stand in the background to catch the wood looks more like a music stand.  I put a tilting table top on it years ago because the roller always seem to want to pull the piece one way or the other. It works well now though.  I start by changing in the 60 tooth blade and ripping 2 pieces of 1/2" plywood (the same stuff I used in the lintels over the windows and doorway framing) to 30".


Then the same to 7/16 OSB


and I have the first real project sawdust on my floor.


Then I set up the mitre saw and cut 4 pieces of 1 x 4 to 30".  These are for the top and bottom of the door.


I then took those 4 boards to the table saw and cut out a section on each end for the side pieces to fit in.


Working kind of out of sequence, I went back to the sheet goods and cut them all to 80" length with the skill saw.


Then it was just a matter of clamping the top and bottom rails in place and measure for the side rails.


Once the side rails were cut I fit them together and clamped it to the OSB and pre drilles 2 holes for 3 1/2" deck screws,


With plenty of glue on the joint, I screwed them together.  Probably overkill as the sheet good will act as a gusset on the joint.

I then put plenty of glue on the frame and attached it to the OSB with about a thousand 1" brads in a zig zag pattern.....OK, maybe not a whole thousand....



Once I had that done I added another piece to the inside of one door where the handle mechanism will go through.


It is about 33" from the bottom of the door.  I made sure I marked the edge of the door so I could keep track of which door had the extra piece, and where.


I did the same with the other door, except without the extra piece.  Then I cut the insulation to fit the cavity of the door and fit it in.


The only thing left is to put the plywood on the other side and fasten it with a few thousand more brads, then some galvanised screws just to make sure.


By this time it is getting pretty late, and it's been a long day, so I clean up the shop and call it a day.  Let the glue dry overnight and do some minor trimming on the edges, but for all intents and purposes, those are doors.  They are heavy too!  Tomorrow, weather permitting (after the doors are in I won't have to worry too much about "weather permitting" will I?) I will do a bit of trimming, make the frame and hopefully get them hung and installed.  It was a busy day, and I just did not have time to take any video.

Thanks for dropping in!




Thursday, June 25, 2015

Work ethic gone awry

I distinctly remember saying that I was just going to move in a few things to do the doors.  I opened up the tent, and asked Sally if she would give me a hand for a bit, balancing things and moving some small stuff.  Big mistake.  When Sally and I work together the "ON" button gets flipped and we put our heads down and work until the job is done.  Before you know it the tent was empty, and it was all in the shop.............in no particular order.  I have a much larger space....

but no storage.

It looks like an accident scene.  I also took 5 sheets of OSB from the garden shed and put them in the shop and we rearranged that too.



I puttered around a bit and put up some scraps to get a start on temporarily organising and getting some room.

I put the clamps up. The saws too.



I also started hanging a few things on the wall


Hardly made a dent in it, but the work bench is almost clear.  I am positive things are not staying where they are.  That mitre saw and stand takes up far too much room for starters, but I will be needing it out for a while.


I think before I make the doors (because I need more room), I will be building a great big storage unit from some of the OSB and 2 x 4's to get things stowed away.

In the mean time, the weather guessers are saying there may be a bit of rain tonight.  I closed all the windows and blocked part of the door.


That will do for now, can't be any worse than the tent.  There is some rust issues on some of the tools from the few weeks (when did I start this?) they were in the tent.  I will have to deal with in the future.

So I guess there has been a slight alteration to the order things are getting done.  I didn't want to start installing things on the walls until the insulation and sheathing was done, but with the lack of storage that I didn't take into account, I don't have a lot of choice.  I guess I can no longer claim to have the neatest and tidiest shop around.  It was this morning!


We will keep going!

Thanks for dropping by!