Here is the Completed Door

Each panel (on both sides) is a book-match

Another view of this beautiful door

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Here is the drawing of the project before I started ..... "how'd I do?"

a close-up of the book matched panels

and closer .....

see the chatoyancy .....

and closer look with the beautiful ribbon grain Mahogany

and closer yet !!

All of the glass is insulated and tempered ...... the out facing glass is beveled

hard to photograph

such lovely wood

a cool reflection on the backdrop

what a marvelous job of fitting miters

here is a view of the bevel

Here is the history and photographic provenance of
the creation of this beautiful Entry Door

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The Styles and mid-rails came from on piece of VG Ribbon grain Mahogany

The top rail and bottom rail came from the same plank of Mahogany

The grain was so figured I could not machine it with conventional tools

....... it had to be dimensionally sanded

The rough "blank"

laying out the top rail

careful

it is easier to follow the line on the tape rather then on wood

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got it !

Then I hand smooth the saw kerf with Euro files

and other tools

here the top rail is machined ....
how'd he do that ?

Laying out the equidistant rails for the splined tennons

Then I calculated the mid-vertical rails

and started machining and fitting

I was so exact that I made equidistant spacers to insure the process

Ta-Da !
The layout is complete

Here we glue 'er up

with 22 clamps !!

Then we clean all of the glue

and this monster stayed in clamps for 72+ hours

fresh out of clamps

and the sanding begins

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Trimming to length

and every molded edge is hand sanded 2-3 time ...... to furniture grade

here is the Redwood Burl we used for the panels in this door

what a beauty

a view with a dab of water ...... electric !!

here are the bookmatched this veneers which are 5/16" thick

Here is the panel sub-core being machined

Here I mortised for the hinges

and ...... signed it !

here are the veneers, waiting to be covered in glue

then wrapped up tight

then they go into a vacuum press and stay under pressure for 3-4 days till the waterproof glue cures

Then they are sanded to dimension

They are about 1-5/8" thick

and I start to machine them

I shape and machine the panels

a closer look

each panel is machined .........

and hand sanded to a furniture finish

then the fun ........ of oiling ... WOW !!

here is the raw door before varnish oil

and then it comes to life

have a look !!

Each coat (of 4) cures at least 3 days between coats

here we finish the jambs

then oil them

The panels are sorted and matched

then put in place

the panels "float" and are suspended with neoprene balls

and EACH stop is cut and hand fitted

they are caulked in place with siliconized latex

I use this ..... because it really adhere to wood

here is the glass units

then each stop is hand cut

and fitted

it is a lot of effort ... to do it right ......
but that's the way we do it !

the glass also floats

caulked in place

....... and this baby is done !!

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