This is the Albion Door Project
There are 2 Dutch Doors
Each 40" wide x 82" tall
They are constructed of Old Growth Redwood
They are mounted in Redwood jambs with weatherstripping
.... and are hung on oil rubbed bronze hinges.
The glass is insulated and all fasteners are stainless steel.

Here is right swinging dutch door

Here is left swinging dutch door

The panels are ribbon grain curley Old Growth Redwood

I bookmatched each panel

.... and each panel is a bookmatch tio its' mate

such beautiful grains

notice the beautiful "striping" that can occur in the redwood

Here is a close up of the upper half

The Redwood stops are attached with stainless steel fasteners

The half-laps meet with a narrow gap

The gap is sealed with two rows of collapsable weather stripping

This is the drawing of The Albion Door project

Here are the dimensions

Here is how I designed the Dutch Detail


Here is the history of how these doors were constructed
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All the final calculations are double checked ....... and the process begins

Here is one of the boards I pulled for these doors

This tree was Chopped Down by an ax over 85 years ago

Here are all the rough lumber boards that will make the two doors

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Here are some end cuts that I scanned to show the quality of Redwood used in these doors

One piece had over 50 growth ring to 1 inch of growth

Here are all the rough cut planks that will be used

Each board is jointed flat and straight

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......... The plane to the thickness of 1-3/$ of an inch

then the finished boards are ripped to width

......... and then cut to length

Here are all of the pieces ....... finished cut ...... ready for mortising and machining

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I then start to fit the pieces ....... each piece is cut to fit and just not "batched"

Here I shape the ends with a cope cut on the shaper

.... and then the "sticking" is shaped

The pieces are "dry" fit and labeled for glue-up

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The pieces are pre-glued and the coated with glue again

All excess glue is wiped off

and all corners are cleaned with a toothbrush

Here are the two upper halves ....... and they will remain in clamps for 72 hrs.

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Here they rest .... out of clamps

The beveled molded edge is then hand sanded

Here the lower parts .... dry fitted

... and then glued up

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... here the bottom half is clamped in all directions

Here they will cure for the next 3 days

Here are the lower halves ...... out of clamps

since I make the slightly oversize ....... I then cut them to actual size

Here I am trimming the upper half

Here are the parts for the two Dutch doors

The the hand sanding begins on all the molded edges

The hand work .... includes the hand finishing of the Dutch half-lap

They are then finished and prepped for oil

Here we start the 1st of 4 coats of varnish-oil

......... a finished half

here it will cure for at least 3 days before the next coat

the final hand sanding on the upper halves

Here is the curly Redwood for the panels

It is old growth ...... and each piece is a book match ........ and all ..... are bookmatched to each other

Here they are glues up and left to rest for 3 days

Applying one of four coats for my Varnish-Oil to the upper half of the Dutch doors

wiping off the excess oil

they will then cure for 3-4 days before the next oiling !!

............ another view ......... such beautiful wood

here I rabbit the 1-1/2" jambs and then notch the head of the jamb for the top piece

The solid Redwood jambs

here we sand the rabbits ...... and then I'll notch them for weatherstripping

all of the stops are SOAKED ........ 4 times in our oil ......... our doors are sealed from The Inside Out.

Here are some Mahogany and Redwood stops curing between soakings !!

We are using figured Curly bookmatched Redwood for the panels

they are resawn ..... bookmatched ...... and then laminated to solid Redwood panels stock ......... here is my vacuum press where the panels will remain under pressure for 72 hrs

Here are the panel "blanks" fresh out of the press

Here the panels are being machined

... then they are machine and hand sanded

Here the receive their first (of four) coats of varnish oil ...... here you see before and after

a panel with oil ...... electric

Here the doors are mortised for hinges and then "signed"

Here is the placement of the Dutch slide hardware

Here I am boring for the knob set

... and here I'm squaring up the strike plate mortise

Here the jambs are being sanded before oiling

The panels cure for 3 days between coats of varnish oil

Here is the set of Dutch Doors with their 4 coat of varnish oil

After the doors are bored for the lock sets ..... I oil the "cut" three times .... that's the right way !!

The insulated-tempered units are set in place and the material for the stops is cut oversize and then individually mitered

The glass is set on rubber blocks and caulked with a 50 year siliconized caulk which turns clear upon curing

The "squeeze out" is cleaned up and the stops are set with stainless steel fasteners

The bookmatched curly Redwood panels actually "float" in their frame

They are suspended with neoprene spacers which allow them to expand and contract with the weather

The panels are then caulked with a 50 year siliconized caulk which turns clear upon curing

The "squeeze out" is cleaned up and the stops are attached with stainless steel fasteners


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