Entry Door Lites
#7
I am making a walnut entry door to replace our current front door.  The door is rail/stile construction with top, bottom and middle rails and 2 panels.  The rails and stiles are 7/4 thick finished out.  The panels are 6/4 thick.  If I want to add a lite (my wife is still deciding if she wants one) how adjustable are those for the thickness of the door?  Looking at the half circle one in my current door, it looks like it just slides in and there are screws on the inside trim holding it in place.

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#8
(11-04-2021, 09:13 AM)crokett™ Wrote: I am making a walnut entry door to replace our current front door.  The door is rail/stile construction with top, bottom and middle rails and 2 panels.  The rails and stiles are 7/4 thick finished out.  The panels are 6/4 thick.  If I want to add a lite (my wife is still deciding if she wants one) how adjustable are those for the thickness of the door?  Looking at the half circle one in my current door, it looks like it just slides in and there are screws on the inside trim holding it in place.

You can buy custom made sealed glass units from 1/2" - 1" total thickness:  One Day Glass  I assume your 6/4 panels are raised on one or both sides, correct?  Or are you using bolection moldings to hold them in place?  In any case you would typically put the SGU at the same depth as the panel on the outside and add a spacer on the inside between the unit and molding.  Don't forget that you should use an cushioning foam strip between the glass unit and moldings, at least on one side.  

You didn't ask but I'll offer anyway.  Solid full thickness panels have been used in doors for hundreds of years, but have you noticed how many of them crack?  If your door will get any amount of direct sun on it I would not use full thickness panels.  I'd use two panels at half thickness so each can expand/contract independently.  There's a guy on SMC and WoodWeb, David Sochar, well respected but with a bit of attitude.  Anyway, he has gone away from solid panels and had good success making composite panels.  A piece of 1/4" plywood, a solid wood panel on both sides for the raising, then a layer of veneer at 90 degrees, then a show piece of veneer in the same direction as the solid wood panels.  All glued together with epoxy.  

Which brings up one more topic.  If your panels will be edge glued pieces of solid wood I would not use TB III.  If it gets any sun they are going to fail.  Epoxy, PRG, or Gorilla Glue are the best options.   

Good luck with the door; can't wait to see pictures of it, maybe even the build process?

John
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#9
I would check local codes.  Where I live the glass has to be tempered or safety glass in doors and sidelights. 

This is from One Day Glass (linked in the post above):

According to the IRC, all glass panels in fixed, sliding, swinging, operable, or bifold doors should have tempered glass or laminated glass installed. Any glass that is within 24 inches of a doorway must be made of tempered glass if the bottom edge of the glass is 60 inches or less above the walking surface. The rule does not apply if the glass is decorative of if the glass opening is smaller than 3 inches.
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#10
(11-04-2021, 10:25 AM)Cooler Wrote: I would check local codes.  Where I live the glass has to be tempered or safety glass in doors and sidelights. 

This is from One Day Glass (linked in the post above):

According to the IRC, all glass panels in fixed, sliding, swinging, operable, or bifold doors should have tempered glass or laminated glass installed. Any glass that is within 24 inches of a doorway must be made of tempered glass if the bottom edge of the glass is 60 inches or less above the walking surface. The rule does not apply if the glass is decorative of if the glass opening is smaller than 3 inches.

I agree on this and the post above. Glass companies can make insulated units in various total thicknesses.

I replaced a narrow sidelight that had internal staining.  I wanted higher security so they recommended two panes of 1/4" glass for a total thickness of 1" after the 1/2" gas space.  These were not tempered but were almost like the plate glass of department stores.  It would take a hell of a hammer blow to break them.
WoodNET... the new safespace
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#11
The panels are already glued up. They are made of 2 edge glued 3/4" panels that are then face glued. The individual pieces are different/random widths so there are no edge seams that line up. The door will eventually be finished with a finish that blocks UV. The door will be installed on the north facing side of my house under a 6' deep porch so will see little if any direct sun. The panels are not raised and won't be. I may rout shallow v-grooves in them but haven't decided yet. My wife did not want the raised panel look. I'll get some pictures posted at some point. I'll check out One Day Glass. thanks.

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#12
The panels are already glued up. They are made of 2 edge glued 3/4" panels that are then face glued. The individual pieces are different/random widths so there are no edge seams that line up. The door will be finished with a finish that blocks UV. It will be installed on the north facing side of my house under a 6' deep porch so will see little if any direct sun. The panels are not raised and won't be. I may rout shallow v-grooves in them but haven't decided yet. My wife did not want the raised panel look. I'll get some pictures posted at some point. I'll check out One Day Glass. thanks.

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