This is one of 11 doors that are original to the house from the mid-30s so far as I know.
First guess is some kind of fir. Anybody have a better idea?
Want to make sure all the scraping and sanding in my future is worth the effort.
‘Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it’ ~ Chinese proverb
Replies
Looks like Fir to me but I'm far from an expert on millwork.
Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
Douglas-fir
Nice. Should be worth the effort.
Thanks. They've all got mortise locks, so I'd definitely like to rescue them.A follow-up for you...they've also got a pair of panels that are not much more than 30s era construction-grade ply. All flat and detail free. My thought was to spread the doors, pull the panels and replace them with something a little more interesting. Would something other than douglas fir look funny? First thought was to have a light stain on the rails & stiles and maybe a contrasting darker one on the panels. But that might be entirely ridiculous.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
I've got the same door going to the basement. I stripped it years ago, and it's still unfinished. I thought I would paint the plywood, and clear coat the fir. Can't stand to paint it, but it would probably match everything else better if I did.
They may have 5 or 6" dowels so it may be problematic spreading them open.
Steve... Why disassemble the doors? Can you veneer in the panels that you want?PaulB
Hey Paul,Never thought about that. But the panels are a bit thin for my taste. Not sure how much adding a veneer would change that.Looked like New Haven was getting pummeled with storms today. You make it through unscathed?Best,
Steve'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
Nah, nothing noteworthy although it's clouding up again so maybe we're in for it yet...
Spent the day cleaning out that pigsty of a shop, sorry you didn't get to see it tidy ;)PaulB
Glad to hear your inner German came out and the shop is clean! Room for waltzing now? ;)By the way, the rotozip fired up nicely after a charge. Thanks again.Your rain must have taken a detour south. I got dumped on 3 times during my run this afternoon.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
Nein...und vee haff no sqvare danzing recorts...
Glad to hear the nicads were in good working order, nice to see it get some use! I didn't notice any overall photos of the door in question?PaulB
LOLThought I attached one of the full door earlier. Here's the one in my office.The first round was the door that bit your planer. I've left it outside as punishment. (It's really turned into my EZSmart table, clamping station, etc.) And it was set up as a swinging door, so it's not terribly useful unless I want to recreate the saloon look.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
OK..now I see what you're doing more betterer. Looks like you oughta throw it in your truck and bring it to CT, that's my suggestion.PaulB
Now that the shop's clean you want paint chips from 11 doors flying around?Or are you just trying to recommend the strippers in CT for this project? ;)'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
Man... you are the one liner king today :PPaulB
Wait'll I tell you jokes in German!Aside from the strippers at Christopher Marlowe's, do you have any recommendations for low toxic ways of removing a few layers of paint? Thinking I should pick up a lead test kit to be on the safe-ish side.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
The citrus based stufff works remarkably well...
heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy... did you go to a strip joint while you were visiting? How'd you ditch me? ;)
PaulB
I went looking for a place that served strip steaks. Does that count?Thanks for the info. I'll give that a whirl.You get your Bosch order straightened out? I have a new Festool-y thing to sand with. Almost makes sanding fun. It made quick work of the planer marks on that door.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
I'm going to petition to have F****** added to the official list of banned wordsPaulB
You have plenty of good advice here. It will be fun to see what you do.
Looks like Douglas fir to me. Around here it was really popular in high end homes in the '40s and '50s. I don't know if it was stained that way or it turns dark with age, but most of it is a dark redish brown. It's a fairlt soft wood, if I recall correctly.
looks like doug fir to me too.. I've come across lots in my area in mid 20th century homes that was just shellacked. Its a deep redish brown color now with glowing orange hues. Its hard to make a new finish match it w/o the 50+ years aging.
My money says that it's vertical grain Douglas Fir. It's the old growth stuff that was as common as dirt back in the day, but is worth a kings ransom now. It was often finished with varnish which yellowed and darkened over the years. I also see quite a bit of it that has several coats of paint.
Stripping and refinishing it can be problematic since fir can be difficult to stain evenly. Most refinishing jobs I've seen look sorta tacky.
If you think that you can handle the sticker shock, check the price for enough 5/4 VG Doug Fir to make a new door. - lol
Take all the doors to a trusted stripper, then do any extra clean up.
You will save a bunch of time and get better results.
And its Dug fir. Very nice worth keeping for sure.
Douglas-Fir.
Sound from your description as if they are a simple 2 panel door.
Don't mess with trying to replace the panels unless you enjoy a lot of work. Those doors will have 1/2 or larger dowels (generally 2-3 ) at each joint between stile and rail.
Commercial stripping if done by using a dip process will leave the doors with a somewhat nondescript brown/tan color instead of the honey/amber tone that fir is famous for.
FR
Instead of spreading the doors to remove the panels why don't you consider taking a trim router and remove the profile that holds the panel in place. Only on one side of course.
Just set up some sort of jig/strait edge and route out the profile. You'd have to make something similar to put back in its place but that would be much easier then spreading the doors - potentially breaking them.
I doubt that you'd be able to veneer the existing panels very easily and you could even go to a raised panel if you so desired.
Doug
Steve,
Vertical grain Douglas Fir.
I would do it like DougU said. You can glue up some doug fir panels out of 4/4 VG Doug Fir. Hand striping is best. You can get a set of cabinet scrapers that are concave and convex.
You can cut some stop molding to match the original profile.
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Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood
Thanks Chuck,I hadn't considered making my own panel like that, but I think that would work well.Best,
Steve'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
How about adding a raised panel to what is there, or detail molding applied to the existing panel to create a different look? Circles, squares, any design you like can be added to the existing flat panel and add your own touch of design.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Well I had considered routing the panel out, but not that I could create a new joint with the stop molding. If I'm not married to the existing molding, what's your thought on replacing it on both sides? Too much trouble to get the new pieces in place?And a raised panel was certainly a consideration. Thought that might lend enough interest and have a thin enough edge to fit in on the sides.Here's a shot of the full door and the rail joint.'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
FR
You could route out one side to get the panel out and then take a flush trim bit and clean up the other side. You'd have to take a chisel to the inside corners but that's easy enough.
I've done exactly what I suggested and on 7 or 8 doors I had all the profile routed out in a few hours, that includes making some sort of jig so that I didn't over cut the profiles out. You shouldn't have much trouble getting your hands on some VG fir to make the trim out of.
You don't have to worry about creating a new joint, an applied piece isn't unattractive. Or use a bolection mouldings - the kind that stands proud of the existing style and rail.
If the doors are worth saving then I'd make every effort to do so.
Doug
Doug,Thank you for all of your ideas. Looking at it again this afternoon, it may be possible to pop off the mouldings with a catspaw. If not I'll use your idea to route it out. May still have to route out the panel anyway.I've got a great lumberyard near by. They should be able to help me with some new VG fir. Best,
Steve'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
Your 2-panel doors match the ones in our house exactly. It cost us as much to strip and repaint them as new doors, which surprised me (a little).
If you need a nice 'close-enough' match WoodHarbor makes a 2-panel door.
Jeff