Making Double Garage Doors

 

I have recently finished making and fitting this set of garage doors.

They are made of African Iroko timber and took the best part of 3 days to convert from the rough sawn planks I purchased for the job.

My planer/thicknesser has certainly been put to the test and will need a good service and some new blades after this job.

The Iroko cleans up well and produces distinctive colours of light and dark wood.

Here I have started to join the planed boards and the colouring can clearly be seen.

It is a quite expensive timber but is stable and works well and I think looks really good when cleaned up.

 

This is some of the timber in it's purchased state, although it has been rip sawn down it's length ready for making into the frame surround for the doors.

For this job and most others for that matter I drew up a cutting list with detailed diagrams of each component and joint to be made, this I find problem solves before any cutting is done and prevents mistakes happening that cannot be rectified after the saw has done it's damage !.

It helps me to think out how each part will join and interact together, with these doors for instance I knew they were going to be heavy from the outset and this could mean that they might drop after hanging due to their weight, so this problem has to be dealt with prior to construction. It is well worth the time spent planning and thinking things through before setting about cutting.

As well as solving potential pitfalls the drawing lists measurements and different views of joints and is used as a constant reference during the work.

I keep melamine board offcuts in my workshop exactly for this purpose, and they can be used again and again as they clean up easily.

 

 

Another time saver that I constantly use is to make up jigs for cutting joints. I don't posses a Mortising machine (although I've got my eye on one at the moment), so to ensure that each join is cut exactly the same I make a simple jig like these in the photo so that I can use a router to produce accurate mortises.

The tenons I usually cut on the table saw, which also can be done accurately and efficiently.

 

This is the result, neat and tidy well fitting joints. Another good tip is to make a trial joint on an offcut piece, this once again gives you a good idea about the strength of the joint and potentially exposes any weaknesses.

I usually put my trial joint under a bit of lateral pressure to ensure the timber won't split at the weakest point.

 

I biscuit jointed the internal panel of each door which makes it one complete piece and ensures stability and strength, the panel when complete fits into the frame thus allowing for movement.

This photo again shows the preparation before biscuit jointing using a trial fit to make sure I get it right.

 

This shows the finished doors being fitted and is a good shot to show the construction.

All that is required now is a couple of coats of teak oil and the job's a goodun as they say.