Stave Door Construction – Custom Door

In this episode, I show how I built a custom door using stave construction. This type of frame construction makes for a strong, stable door that resists warping and is less susceptible to humidity swings. This is part of the Copper Door series that I built for a client in Evergreen, Colorado.

Building the Structure of the Copper Inlay Door

If you’ve been following along, we’ve already cut and shaped the copper panel, added a blue patina to it, and resawed some shop-sawn veneers for the center panel. This week, we’re getting into the actual structure of the door.

This is going to be what’s called a stave door. Instead of using a solid piece of wood for the frame, I’m building it from strips of solid wood that get glued back together. The reason for that is stability.  A Stave construction is much less likely to warp or move with seasonal changes in humidity and temperature.

I cut the board into strips and stood them up on edge so the grain runs more like a quarter-sawn board. The three inner staves are alder, with the grain alternating direction on each piece to add even more strength. The outer two are maple. It takes paint well and is a bit tougher against the occasional bump or ding. I also used some plywood cauls during glue-up to help distribute the clamping pressure evenly across the staves.

Once the staves were glued up, I ran everything across the jointer and through the planer to get the thickness right. Then I veneered the face of each rail and stile.

The face veneers are shop-sawn, cut at the same time as the veneers for the main panel. Even though they’re a full eighth of an inch thick, I didn’t use traditional veneer glue. Since this is an exterior door and it’s going to face the elements, I went with Titebond II exterior grade glue for the extra water resistance.

I did the rails and stiles in separate sessions in the vacuum bag, so I wasn’t pushing the open time of the glue. Once they were all done, I ran one edge of each piece across the jointer to get a clean reference, then ripped the other edge parallel on the table saw and cut everything to the final length.

For the joinery, I’m using a tongue and groove setup between the rails and stiles. But a half-inch groove on its own isn’t going to be strong enough, so I backed it all up with floating tenons,  to give the joints some real holding power. I used the dado stack to cut the tenons and snuck up on the fit until it was just right.

One wrinkle is that the copper panel sits proud of the wood surface, so I had to account for that offset everywhere the pieces come together. A standard-length Domino wouldn’t work here, so I used the long Festool Dominos and cut them down to the right length to make up for that offset.

I left everything about a quarter inch long intentionally during glue-up so I’d have room to square things up if needed. It came out really square, so I just trimmed the ends clean with the track saw.

The curved element that runs down the center of the door also needed some work. I glued up a blank for it, then resawed it in half since the door is two-sided — inside face and outside face each need their own curve. I ran them through the thickness planer, traced the template, and cut them out at the bandsaw, leaving the line by about a sixteenth so I could pattern-rout them smooth.

The fit came out really tight. There’s just a hairline gap that’ll disappear once it’s glued down and sanded flush.

The curve also sits on top of the copper panel, so I needed to rout a shallow channel along the back edge to accept the copper and keep everything sitting flat.

Next week, we’re putting the hinges and handle on and doing the final finishing touches. I’ll see you then.

More Project Build Videos

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Stave Door Construction – Custom Door

In this episode, I show how I built a custom door using stave construction. This type of frame construction makes for a strong, stable door that resists warping and is less susceptible to humidity swings. This is part of the Copper Door series that I built for a client in Evergreen, Colorado.

Veneering a Panel for a Custom Door

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Doors

Trapezoid Custom Door and Built in Bookshelf

Barn Door Made from Barn Wood in Steel Frame

Mountain Contemporary Front Door

Custom Door with Stainless Steel accents

Copper Entry Door with a Swoosh

Greene and Greene Style Entry Door