New front door

[gasman]

I have to replace a front door - and probably need to make one as it is very small - only 72 x 30 and I cannot find any like it in reclamation yards
I have made doors before and am happy with the concept.... however, I think I need to replicate the period feauture of the door to fit in with the other house in the terrace.
It will be a Victorian 4 panel door with fielded, chamfered panels. I understand that many Victoria doors also had raised mouldings which I believe are called bolection mouldings. Does anyone know any more about these - ie what they look like in cross section, how far raised, ie generally a bit more detail
Also - do have to use hardwood (it will be painted) or will good quality softwood do?
Thanks everyone
Gasman

 

[thomvic]

I'm no expert in these matters but I feel sure that the original Victorian doors will have been softwood - well seasoned pitch pine probably.

Richard

 

[OPJ]

Do you have a photograph of the old door? I'm not expert on period woodwork but I'd also suggest this could have been made from pitch pine, which has a much tighter grain than the Scandinavian redwood commonly available today.

You'd have a job to find old or reclaimed pitch pine today, particularly in the lengths you would require for the stiles. I do know that John Boddy's (up North) stock pitch pine, which is plantation grown in Honduras.

External doors should generally be made from a durable hardwood for the sake of durability. Pine could survive but would require more regular maintenance, along with the saving on material costs.

 

[Mattty]

Victorian doors just like today where made from a wide variety of timbers but predominatly redwood timbers like scots pine.
The quality of build of joinery and the quality of the timber itself was very good some would say better than today, with many Victorian doors and windows still in use.
If i was making it and it was painted i would probably use Tulipwood or a better quality redwood. There's nothing wrong with pine if properly protected, no matter what timber you use it will need protection.

Dresser mouldings- http://www.dresser.uk.com/index.htm

The Vic's didn't use a standard moulding like we more commonly use today, each moulding would have been more specific to an individual joinery shop or area. Dresser are a good firm and deliver nationally, most timber yards and builders merchants have a mouldings rack normaly a burbridge one- http://www.richardburbidge.com/homeowne ... ecorative/
These usually have a standard Bolection moulding.

HTH

 

[gasman]

OK I think I am starting to understand...
So if I have got it right, then I would not need any fancy spindle moulder tooling to cut the rails and stiles. The stiles would have a groove cut down the middle the width of the raised panel, whilst the rails would have haunched tenons to fit that groove - but otherwise all the detail of the panelling would come from the bolection moulding??
If I made a 44mm door, then how thick would the raised panel be - would 1" be thick enough? and how thick would the edge of the panels be which fit into the groove in the stiles and rails - I was thinking of 1/2"?
Thanks again for your help on this one
Gasman

 

[Mattty]

OK I think I am starting to understand...
So if I have got it right, then I would not need any fancy spindle moulder tooling to cut the rails and stiles. The stiles would have a groove cut down the middle the width of the raised panel, whilst the rails would have haunched tenons to fit that groove - but otherwise all the detail of the panelling would come from the bolection moulding??
If I made a 44mm door, then how thick would the raised panel be - would 1" be thick enough? and how thick would the edge of the panels be which fit into the groove in the stiles and rails - I was thinking of 1/2"?
Thanks again for your help on this one
Gasman

That sounds like i would make it if i wasn't copying an original except i would rebate the frame not groove it. The panels would be held in by the beads which would be pinned (air nailer) I would also normally glue the rebate of the bead .

The panel thickness is dictated by the depth of the rebate x2 on the bolection mould. Thus if the moulding had a 12mm rebate x 2 = 24 mm
44mm thick door - 24mm = 20mm thick panel or 20mm thick at the edges if its fielded.

The door construction should all be standard M&T construction, twin tenons for the wide rails and all haunched.

 

[AndyT]

Our house has the original Victorian door, with the sort of bolection moulded panels you describe. It's definitely redwood as Matty said. I've made a few measurements.

The square framework of the door is 35mm thick, which is plenty. I think 44mm would feel too 'industrial' especially if the door is narrow.
The mouldings protrude about 10mm beyond the framing, and 'sink' 25mm down to the panels, which are flat, not fielded. On the reverse, the panels are 10mm down, so they must be only about 10mm thick.

It's a substantial door, and if it was any thicker and heavier it would look odd.

If your door is only 30 inches wide, have you thought about using two long vertical panels? Quite a few of the smaller houses round here have them. A lot will depend on how wide the timber is that you use for the stiles and rails - modern 'Victorian style' doors are always too narrow.

Andy

 

[ProShop]

Funnily enough I did one of these a month ago. The mouldings are usually very proud of the door and the actual panel is not that pronounced.

The moulding has a slight rebate to facilitate fitting into the edge of the panel.

I made my moulding to the size of the panel, then glued up the moulding to form a frame and then pinned it to the door (I use a nailer).



Hope this helps

 

[Setch]

Setting aside aesthetics, I would make the door minimum 44 thick. It's standard for external doors because it leaves a reasonable thickness of timber to fit a mortice lock without compromising the door too much, and some insurance companies will even specify that final exit doors must be aminimum of 44mm thick.