Ledge and brace door design

[Robbox]

I'd like to try my hand at making a L&B door for the house. Our local timber yard has T&G flooring in 150x25, which I'm thinking will come down to 20x145 once planed. I also have an old style bead plane to give it an "authentic" look.....
But I'm stuck on how best to lay out the boards. The old door is 680mm, so my calcs say that's four boards and a cut one. But not sure if that's the best way, or spend a bit extra and have three full boards and two cut on each side.
Should I glue the boards together or just clamp and fix the ledges for support and strength? I was going to screw and plug.
I guess also best make slightly oversize then trim to fit.
Thanks.

 

[Dave54]

It'll probably work out a bit less than that on the width. The size you have probably includes the tongue. The "cover" size will be less that so probably something under 140mm.
Made several doors of this type for our last cottage. IIRC I put the slightly smaller piece on the latch side. I wouldn't personally split the outside pieces unless they were near full width. Don't glue them. Clamp them together lightly if possible, and fit the ledges and braces. Better doors have the edges of the ledges and braces chamfered, and the braces birdsmouthed (notched) into the ledges. If you run chamfers on the pieces it complicates that joint, but it is stronger that way. Braces should be angled up from the hinge side of the door.
Traditionally they were clench nailed, but I screwed and plugged. The idea of the staff bead is that it hides any shrinkage as well as being decorative.

 

[Robbox]

Thanks Dave, great advice. As you say, probably the 150 will end up as 140 cover. Still that's four full pieces and a cut piece. Don't think I'll go for the birds mouth on the braces, trying to keep it all within my skill set. One of our doors is simple ledge and brace with no birds mouth, it hasn't moved or sagged. I'm thinking to copy as closely as possible.

 

[Burnerman]

You could always go to Howdens and buy one......
If it's lucky enough to make it home in the van in one piece, you'll spend many happy hours making the thing stronger with screws and filler, marvelling at how good staples are.
Naturally enough, a sticker informs me that it's made in China.
Never again!
John

 

[Dave54]

It appears that staples have become traditional in Chinese woodwork. . .
Must say I don't mind staples for some small jobs that don't require much strength. I knocked together a holder for the roll of blue paper in the garage the other day out of some bits of scrap, and I'm afraid it got glued and stapled.

 

[big-all]

3x2 [69x44m]frames 10mm x10mm groove set the groove 21mm from the back edge so 4x1"[95x21mm]can be set in the back flush with the groove
take a 9mm x6mm out the front off your 15mm cladding along the top and out the groove off the first plank so your first plank will cover from 69-200 second to 340 third to 480 fourth to 611 with the 9mm takes it up to 680 you need a thin slither off about 3mm to fill the back bit off the groove to push it back onto the 4x1"

the way i done it was to glue a false tongue in the slot before routering the the face

 

[Harbourwoodwork]

A few thoughts
If you make the ledges thicker than the braces there is no chamfer problem.
If you make them all the same thickness and run round with a chamfer bit in a router that works.
Glue all the plank edges together and you don't need braces.
When I first started out we used nails for all the fixings,driven right through and clench the nails over and finished of with a nail punch but a brace and ledged door was just a cheap deal door for a shed or the like.
Cheers Ian

 

[Robbox]

I was wondering about gluing planks, I'd prefer the simplest route and getting the mitres on the braces nice and neat without a cross-cut saw could be tricky....
Its an old, old house, some of the doors must be over 100 years old they are so distressed with age.
But the bathroom door must have been made by a total newbie, rough saw cuts, no T&G...so gaps between, screws all visible and far too many.....plus it's bowed!
So I'm thinking I can't do worse, I have the tools to plug screw holes, I have a decent rip saw to trim, plus brother has a joinery to do the nice chamfers. I'm guessing the result could be half decent.

 

[AronSearle]

T&G boards on a door shouldn't be tight, as when they are screwed onto the braces it allows the individual boards to expand and shrink within the T&G rather than the whole door expanding and shrinking.

If you glue all the planks together, you turn it into one solid lump of timber, if you have braces this will then cause it to bow as the T&G 'lump' expands or shrinks and the braces restrict this movement.

 

[Robbox]

So no braces and just ledges, but glued boards should be stable? Trying to keep in within my capabilities.

 

[Dave54]

No, glued up boards are less stable and likely to bow. As Aronsearle says the boards should be able to move.
You don't have to use the braces, but it makes the door a lot less likely to sag if the wood shrinks, which it most likely will. I think all the ones I made did a bit, and that was in a small cottage heated by a Rayburn in the main room. No central heating.
Remember the old doors were made with properly seasoned timber for houses that didn't get heated nearly as much as a modern home does. Central heating in particular gives things made out of wood a hard time, as the wood will move.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Even I can make a ledged and braced door - just go for it. It's basic carpentry, not even joinery really.

Cheers
Richard