A frequent reader commented on the amount of moisture in my basement shop over the summer and was asking if and how much the wood swelled up these past few weeks. I had been thinking this same thing during my time out East and was surprised to discover that nothing seemed to really change. My moisture content was still between 9 and 11% which is ideal in my work and the wood looks as straight and flat as when I left in late June. This is a good thing...a really good thing.I use a Wager Extended Range Moisture meter, I purchased it at Lee Valley a couple of years ago and it was one of the smartest investments I ever made. Because I use as much reclaimed and salvaged lumber as I can in my work its a practical tool in the wood shop. Here is a pic I borrowed from the Lee Valley website along with a little blurb about what they say about the unit.
This non-invasive meter uses advanced electromagnetic wave technology to accurately measure wood moisture content without damaging wood surfaces. It instantly scans an area measuring 1-1/2" x 2-1/2" to a depth of 3/4", computes the average moisture content for the area, corrects for the specific gravity of the species being worked and then shows the result (from 5% to 30% in 0.1% increments) on the large digital display. 
I start of with one of my long paring chisels at the lower shoulder line and carefully place the tip into the still visible knife line. I pare achoice the waste leaving a clean and polished shoulder. A small combination square quickly tells me things are as they should be and I can move onto my medium shoulder plane which is presented in the top picture of this post. 
This small shoulder in turn becomes a perfect fence or perhaps guide is a better word for my plane to ride against. With the shoulder plane I remove the waste from each cheek of the tenon careful not to pass my scribe lines and then Ill switch over to a small low-angle block plane to get the end of the tenon to size. ( I think the Rabbet Block plane Lie Nielsen manufactures is somewhere in my not so distant future...a close friend in Cape Breton has used one for a few years now and swears by it) A quick chamfer on the leading edges and Ill test fit the pieces.
This door design has a lower rail, a locking rail, a header above the window and finally a top rail. Four rails in all with slightly different mortise to haunched tenon configurations in each. Why make them all the same right? That would just be so boring! Seriously though, a bit of research into the history of door making through books like The Practical Woodworker by Bernard E. Jones and Modern Practical Joinery from George Ellis were quite indispensable and really helped me when deciphering my options in exterior door examples from the past. My joinery options are all pre-determined by the history laid out before me.
Because Im building a door for a Heritage home I cannot in any choice deviate from the original design. This was kind of a painful aspect for me through this project but is turning out to be a kind of pleasure as well. Its all there in front of me, the information I need. Solid, living examples all through this historic neighbourhood we call Cabbage Town. I strolled through the street like a man with a purpose, knocking on doors asking if I could take a closer look at things. Some faces seemed to fill with fear and others a little skeptical of me on their door steps asking if I could look at their doors (at least I wasnt building a heritage bed or bathroom project) A few of my clients neighbours were welcoming and forthcoming, curious while I studied a few of the doors that are still in use. A few are in rough shape (potential future clients I hope!)but some look as if they were build in the last 20 to 30 years. Were talking about doors that are over 100 years old here! A great testament to the true power of solid wooden joinery. Standing through these Upper Canadian winters and then the sweltering, humid heat of these Southern Ontario summers- theyre perfect in their use and beautiful in purpose through design. 
When I mentioned that this process could be a bit on the painful side for me its mostly due to the fact that my shop has a working footprint area about 12 x 12. The door is in the 3 x 7 ball park and is already gettin as heavy as sin. This is the frustration in my small basement shop. Im thinking ahead to my final assembly, the glue up, the finishing-my back is starting to ache! My dining room is calling me up from this space. Sounds funny I know but sadly Im not kidding. Hey, a drop cloth and some saw benches, a nice thick sheet of some 3/4" plywood and Ill have a make shift work surface to get this project finished. Speaking of finishing, once I had all of the tenons dry fit I dis-assembled the frame and started to lay out the dados for the door panels. The panels are a full 1" in thickness but will have rabbets all around bringing the edges into the 1/2" range. The panels are flat which may also be a surprise to some. I test run and pleaded with the old plough plane Ive been tuning but sadly the results are not up to par. 
I have the small plough plane made by Veritas which I really like using but this plane only offers a 3/8" iron as its widest. I went to visit Dan Barrett before the summer began and he hooked me up with some irons and a wedge for this great old plough plane I had been trying to get back into working order.(Dan makes incredible wooden planes at his shop here in Ontario...DL Barrett and Sons link on the side bar) 
It was really my hope to be able to use this antique plane to carry out this part of the build but the fence is still just a bit too finicky so I decide to go ahead and use the small plough plane. Having to take a few extra passes (almost double the amount of work) I also used my side rabbet planes and my large router plane. 
All in all the dados went really well taking a few extra hours of my morning and Im able to move onto the panels. Another dry fit and I cut and dimension a few scraps to test fit the corners of the dados. This is getting exciting as things progress onwards.
Cross cutting the panels is a real pleasure with my old saw and this Oak. Ive been working with this wood now for awhile and it can still stop me dead in my tracks and reminds me to consider just how lucky I am to be working with it. These 1" by almost 9" quarter sawn planks for my panel stock is truly an amazing specimen; straight and clean with a nice blend of rays throughout the panels I find myself staring at it while I work and drifting achoice down deep into the wood grain. (maybe thats just the funky cream in my coffee talking?)
At any rate Im jointing two thin strips onto the pieces to make up the width needed for the openings. Ill have lots of room for wood movement underneath the heavy mouldings thatll come to wrap the panels. 
Most of the heritage door examples in the area all show me that the builders back then did this very thing; nice wide panels, no visible joint lines all made up from solid timber. 
Im sure they moved and they shrank-they slammed and they welcomed. The quarter sawn Oak is one of the more stable woods and Im confident there will never be an issue with it. So Im onto the hand plane routine again, from surface to shooting board I get four panels all to size, flat, square and true. 
Again the wood shavings quickly pile up and the sweat falling off of my forehead these past few days is giving me a nice raised grain effect! 
So here I sit at my computer tonight, writing instead of working this wood-(!@(*?@%$*&>!!)
I have two of the four panels fitted and the frame structure suddenly went from really heavy and strong to-brother, this thing will be around for another 100 years! Really, the panels add so much integrity to the frame, just a real solid feel and all sitting nicely with an even gap around the edges. Lots of room for movement without any danger of exposed seems due in part to the mouldings thatll cover the jointed edges and the large rabbets. Ill get some shots in the morning and keep going on the other two bottom panels. My double-thermo glass panel is scheduled to be in this Thursday so itll be onto the mouldings early next week. In another two weeks time, depending how the finishing goes, well be driving over to the nice part of town to install.
More to come...
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