A couple of weeks ago I posted a thread about a client that asked me to build a folding exterior door.  I refused the job.  He has since decided that the wants me to build the door as a one piece oak door with a vertical 10” x 40” window.  I accepted the job job haven’t decided how to build it.  The door is 36”x80x 1 3/4” thick.  I’m considering making a rail and stile frame and pinning the rails to the stiles.  Y’all have any hints on how to add 4” vertical slats to the door?  Here’s a photo of what he wants.

Maybe an MDO or MDF center core with resawn thick veneer 4” boards applied to the core. Expansion might be a problem 

You can do the slats a couple of ways but making them as a single panel has always worked the best for me. Since this is an exterior door the interior or slatting has to be pretty substantial to hold up and to offer some level of security. The simplest method is to start with a solid panel of oak and router in the grooves to create the slats. Since its an 1 3/4 door you could easily go all the way up to a 3\4" panel which gives you a very solid door even after the grooving. The trick here is that the grooves from the panel cannot extend beyond flush with the edge of the rails or stiles. If they do you will create a dam for water down inside the mortise for the panel which will cause fairly rapid failure on an exterior door. The easiest way to accomplish that is to make the slatted panel and then edgeband the edges of the panel with solid oak using a waterproof glue. The edgebanding will only be as deep as the dado in the door to accept the panel which then gives you a sealed edge where the panel intersects the door.

Paul

Edited October 8, 20214 yr by Masonsailor

2 hours ago, lew said:

Maybe an MDO or MDF center core with resawn thick veneer 4” boards applied to the core. Expansion might be a problem 

I would say expansion/contraction will be a consideration to account for.  Another option is tongue and groove or shiplap vertical.  What you have is essentially a breadboard end with the table vertical and not horizontal.  But if you make each joint so it can move and split all the expansion into multiple places.

The panel will definitely have to be loose in the mortise to allow for movement. 
Paul

I have nothing to offer on the construction, but I do think that is an awesome design!

That is going to be a heavy door and will rely solely on the corner construction to keep it together.  Most doors have a third rail for the added strength.  Maybe think about adding a third style properly disguised as part of the panel for the extra strength. 

i see danger.

 

i recall good old Norm using floating tenons at his joints.  big ones.

It will be heavy. As far as rail and stile you can either mortise and tenon it or use 1” dowels, three at the top and four at the bottom. Either method will work.

Paul

You can also use biscuits believe it or not. Back in the early 90’s my brother and I took part in a project that involved making 52 rail and style doors that were all 96” tall and various widths. The architect we were building for had a penchant for using newer techniques for constructing just about everything. He was quite famous for his houses and his houses were very often published. He came up with the idea of making doors using a lamello tool which we had at the time. We were fairly skeptical so we decided to make four sample joints ( using red oak) and have then ANSI tested at a lab up in San Jose Ca. The rail and stile dimensions were 11” wide piece 36” long glued to a piece 8” wide and 36” long and all were 1 3/4 thickness. We used I think it was 20 wafers in each joint using a spacer stacking technique and 20mm wafers and weld wood water based glue. We watched this lab put each one in a hydraulic press and slowly increasing the pressure until each one exploded. All four fractured on the long grain and all four joints remained intact. It surprised my brother and I as well as everyone in the lab. 
Paul

I can't add anything to the construction, but I have one suggestion on installation.  Use offset hinges to give the door a wider opening. As we age and rely more on EMT's and such first responders, the more opening of the door is helpful to them to get out the patient.  Speaking from experience.