Phew!! .......... what a day in the shop.

I sat back, at the end of the day on Friday, and gazed at the organized chaos that was spread out from floor to rafter and covered the benches with pieces of upcoming projects.  The shop looks like a disaster, but it is all methodically thrown together (or apart).

For instance, along side my table saw/bench, as you walk in there is an 8 ft template of a transom we’ll be making soon

This will fit into an arched jamb that is above a grand entry with two sidelights.

We cleared the center bench to lay down a door (for wrapping) that will be picked up on Sunday. by a client who will travel across the state to view his new entry door

When a client takes the trouble to come to our little corner of the world I like to turn on some spotlights and unveil their door ........ it’s very rewarding to watch their reaction to seeing and touching their new door in person.

While I was waiting for some thick veneers to be sanded for a round top door jamb (coming up), I made a template for my wife make her next stained glass window.  It will have an arched top and have a Coastal Cypress scene.

By making an accurate template she is able to take her finished piece and have it set into insulated glass

Yesterday morning I finished laying out and mortising for two garden gates and they were glued up in the afternoon, and put to rest (glue cure) for at least 3 days. 

A gentleman wrote me and asked for an estimate on a similar gate design ........... so I decided to make a “couple” gates to be able to give a “real and factual” estimate.  I’ll keep you posted.

After resawing and gluing 6 pieces, we placed them in a form where they will stay for 3 days.  These pieces will make the top of the door jamb for an upcoming arched top door for a gentleman outside Chicago.

The best method (I believe) to make an arched top door is to make the jamb, in which it will fit, first and then use that as a template for the top of the future door.

Along the same forethought, I have built a round top Redwood door, making the jamb first, so I now have to make an arched stop for the top of the jamb

The 2-3/4” wide stop, mirrors the arched stop.  It even has a built-in-groove that will receive the weather stripping.

Oh yes .......... since we make arched top gates I realized that we needed arched stops for the top stops of the gates

All of my arched stops are multiple thin boards  that are laminated together in a proper thickness to match the other stops to be used in these beautiful gates.

Then there was 3 different projects (to come soon) which will require 2 layers of marine plywood to be laminated together.

These pieces full of clamps help add to the “organized chaos” as I gazed about the room.

But wait, there’s more !! ............... between my two main benches is this monolith of a solid (appearing) Redwood Plank door, on its edge with these funny clamps, pressured to plywood strips, which will have been clamped at this juncture for 5 days.

These clamped plywood strips are applying constant  pressure on two stainless steel 3” wide strips.  The stainless strips will have the 18” pulls (picture above) at handle height.  Please come back to see the finished entry door.

Last but not least, we have a very simple, yet elegant, quarter sawn White Oak door that will grace a restored miners cabin in the hills above Death Valley, California

above are the Quartersawn White Oak panels in the vacuum press. The fact is ........ I have so much in clamps, I thought I’d share the “chaos” with you.

Please visit our Current Projects Page to see some of what we are working on, and all of the craftsmanship that goes into each door.

Also, please visit Our Door Gallery to see a variety of uniquely crafted custom doors.

there is more to ... Design-Your-Door ... much more !

This stained glass door panels, designed
by Zoleta Lee, portrays the Pacific Ocean
which is located about 100 yards from this door.

When my client starts making design decisions for their door, they not only consider the design of the door and the wood to be used, they also get to consider and use whichever style and type of glass that they may wish to use in their project.

They may wish to use stained glass to portray a scene they wish in their door. 

This stained glass by

Zoleta Lee of MendocinoStainedGlass.com

It portrays a clients painting of the Carmel Coast

These are Prairie Style stained glass lites.
They enhance a Prairie Style Door and
let in a nice organic light.

Or they may wish to allow lots of light into their home without sacrificing privacy.  If that’s the case there are many interesting styles of clear obscure art glass that can be tempered and insulates and used in doors, sidelights, and transoms

These doors have double satin-etched
frosted glass, to insure privacy and
let in enhanced light.

This art glass is called
Crocodile Hide and is quite
beautiful and interesting to view.

There is also clear glass, that when beveled, adds a degree of character and distinction to their doors and sidelights.  It is very affordable to have beveled glass these days, because it can be done with machines and not all by hand.

Here is beveled glass on an Old Growth Redwood Craftsman door with sidelights

Glass can also ad texture to a theme that is portrayed on a door.  The glass can look like water in motion and enhance a surrounding carving.

This is our new door called The Essex Entrance Door
It has an overlayed, cross-banded Redwood panel.
This panel was carved by Patrick Doyle of Mendocino, CA

Frequently I will create a “self commissioned” door to add to my
 Doors For Sale  section of my website.  I create these doors because I like their design and it is often the case that some visitors to my Site have discovered it late in their building or remodeling project and cannot wait the short time to make their door(s).  When I make a “self- commissioned” door, I often leave the glass loose or none at all so that the client has the opportunity to choose the glass to be used in the door.  I may show a door with a Frank Lloyd Wright style of Prairie Design Glass and the client may wish a different  hue or color to the glass or even a different design, or just a clear or clear art glass in the door.  Isn’t that the point of allowing the client to Design-Their-Door?