December 28, 2025Dec 28 Author Popular Post The center panel Sapelle is sliced and bookmatched then laminated onto shop made maple butcher block backing. The vertical rails are a layer of Sapelle sandwiched between two layers of maple. As far as wood movement there isn’t any. There are several factors at play here. The density and stability of the two woods are very similar. Butcher blocking the maple backing makes it very stable. There are eight laminations involved in these doors. All combined they are as stable as you can get. These doors were conceived by my wife 35 years ago because she had an interior design that was very euro but also wanted the raised panel look. We were not certain they would be stable and they went through several iterations before we came up with this design. I still own furniture from that era and the doors are as flat as the day we made them. Now days we sand them with a dual head Grizzly drum sander. Back in the day they were all sanded with a single head drum sander that we made for a Shopsmith which worked as well or better than the Grizzly. It’s still in operation today. StaticLV has it in his shop. We sanded 100’s of doors with that sander. I finished up the doors today and first layer of finish is on. Paul
December 29, 2025Dec 29 They look spectacular. That's an interesting construction technique, well done.
December 30, 2025Dec 30 Author Popular Post Here they are installed. I was just informed the lights have to be moved and centered in the room. Bummer. Oh well. Onward. Paul
January 2Jan 2 Author Popular Post Next will be her closet. It will get a similar treatment but I haven’t seen the plans yet. Moving the lights has now taken a more time consumptive move. I thought it would be a little drywall fix and move on. Silly me. There will now be a center wooden panel on the ceiling with an inlayed rosette in the center using maple, sapelle and zebra wood. Today I started gluing up the main panel of maple. Paul Edited January 2Jan 2 by Masonsailor
January 2Jan 2 At our house, after all these improvements would have been done, Mimi would say- "I think we should move"...
January 3Jan 3 Author Popular Post The panel is glued up. I’ll surface sand it tomorrow. Then I will need to figure out the inlay part. That is going to get interesting at best. Paul
January 5Jan 5 Author Popular Post With the help of two friends we managed to get the panel sanded. That was it for shop time today. It was time to take down the Xmas decorations Paul
January 30Jan 30 Author Popular Post Seems like this project is taking forever. Probably because it has 🥺 The last few weeks have flown by. Ended up buying a Corvette and going to Corvette driving school. Another story for another time. I finished up the center medallion and got it all assembled today with the first coat on. The medallion was done with the Shaper Origin. Paul
February 14Feb 14 Amazing transformation, Paul! I love it!!Now what does the Mrs. have planned for you?😉
February 14Feb 14 Nice work @Masonsailor ! Keep at it. It's going to be worth it for sure. Solid wood over ply is a good choice.
February 14Feb 14 Author Popular Post Really no choice but to use solid wood these days. The plywood situation is terrible. Paul
February 14Feb 14 Cost on everything is way beyond worth. Pretty soon I'll be felling trees and getting my own wood. I scrounge the forest nearby and have already started. I get some of my Pine and Maple this way. Edited February 14Feb 14 by MrRick
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