frontdoor2.0
April 30th, 2007I promise this is the last of my software / household improvement metaphors.
Incidentally, the version number frontdoor 2.0 is well chosen because it is actually the second door I have installed. The original door v0.0 was a flimsy thing, all blackened by motor oil (yes, people around here do not care so much about the look of things as they do about the cost of things, so used motor oil often replaces linseed oil for outdoor wood protection), with yellowish fiberglass panes and virtually no lock.
The next one (v1.0) was a reasonably solid door I bought for next to nothing at a local antiques shop, rustic as can be, but with no window. I gradually found it lacked personality (and airtightness).
After I made the door to my room, I realised I could make my own doors. Including the front door. So here it is.
Solid oak + nails. No glue, no screw (well, almost). The design is copied from an old stable door I have, where the upper panel is replaced by a double-glazed pane.
Here I give away my secret for instant patina so that brand new oak (works best with chestnut) can appear venerable and weathered. No chemicals involved.
Take an angle grinder with a flap disk - fine grit. Overheat the disk with friction on a piece of wood or metal so that the sand particles are vitrified, then sand the wood with it. Make sure you do the sanding along the grain of the wood, so that hardly any wood is taken away, but it merely heats up the surface. The wood will be polished and will take on this nice dark blond color that will probably be its natural color in the future, as the tanins are revealed.
I finish it with linseed oil, et voilà .
On the picture above, the door is not finished. The final version will include stained glass, as in the photomontage below.
Next project: my son’s bed.
Read on
stove 1.0
panrack
what I know best
I useful hobby ain’t no hobby
Georgeous oak door!
Here in British Columbia we prefer Douglas Fir for doors. Check out the website to see some examples.
I have had a look at the Douglas Fir doors. They sure look good. But not on my house. The house is probably more than 300 years old. A shiny new door would stick out like a front gold tooth.
What a fabulous door! And the cat is doing what cats do best and posing perfectly in front of it. What style! What pizazz!
She had to be very still because it was nightfall: the exposure time was close to 1 second.
Beautiful door. Perhaps I will take a photo of my front door now, copycat that I am. We didn’t make it though, we had a carpenter friend do it. But it is beautiful.
What a lovely cat, to sit still for a whole second. My cat would be pacing back and forth, wondering why I was so stupid that I hadn’t Opened The DOOR yet. And complaining, lecturing, demanding.
Well, Mandarine is probably the sweetest and most patient cat I have ever had — but by far not the smartest.