Thread: The start of a new project - coopered doors

Looking good, D. I too admire your patience in digging the grooves out - I probably would have spent more time than you took trying to figure out an easier way.

That is going to be a hefty little door when done - hope the pillars can cope!

Cheers,

Derek

The curved doors I have made were not such a deep curve as yours & I chose to laminate with several layers of thin Ply with a bandsaw cut veneer and edged all edges in solid. This produced a door that has not moved, and has maintained a very nice fit in the opening.

I would expect a coopered door to move with the seasons a fair amount & would be concerned that this may cause problems in the frame members cut from solid, as the shape of the curve may change rather than just the dimensions. I would not like to see this ruin the good work you have completed. Have you considered testing the panel by perhaps spraying with a water mist, to see how much it will move, or have you done research to verify that it will not be a problem.

Regards

Hi Basil

The coopered sections have been built with what I expect to be very stable timber, but of course anything that is possible is likely!

Movement should occur laterally, which would take it into the vertical sides of the frame (yet to be built). Because the panel curves, it might place stress on the upper and lower rails. That would be interesting becuase, as try as I might, I could not flex the curved rails I have just built. All that interlocked grain ....

The next issue I must deal with is the grain direction of the upper frame rails. The grain runs almost diagonally at the ends and so, rather than saw traditional tenons, I plan to use loose tenon joinery. That will be stronger as I can align the grain correctly.

Regards from Perth

Derek