2008-05-13 Front Door Trim

The progress on the new front door continues. In my previous front door update, I'd mocked up a couple of images of what the trim might look like, including a few curves. We put a couple of pieces up there, taped out a few curves just to be sure, and rather than having just a touch of whimsy, the curves made the whole thing look affected; it became a parody of Disneyland, rather than just a subtle homage.

So we backed off and went with straight. We were initially going to do a straight joint across the top, but as I sat down to cut the joint I thought "why not?" and slapped a dovetail shape in there. I believe we've got enough slop in there to deal with grain expansion, but I do regret not insetting that a little bit more so that it doesn't get lost in the joint on the side.

The wood is Brazilian Redwood, also known as Massaranduba, that we got from the surplus bin of a local high end deck lumberyard.

When I was tearing off the old trim I had some reservations because of how far I thought this process could snowball, but my neighbor Joe not only gave me encouragement, but delivered a ladder that fit the front space better, and a Sawzall, just in case I needed it. I didn't, but that gave me the encouragement I needed to really get medieval on the trim.

Attachment was done with a Hitachi brad nailer ("Brad Nailer" sounds like an Owen Wilson character, doesn't it?) that I borrowed from Phil, I have a little technique to learn, because I have to set two of 'em manually, but wow that's a different world.

Category:Dan Lyke life Category:Woodworking Category:10 Mission Category:10 Mission Front Entrance