I’m interested in making an ornate front entry door, and was wondering if anyone has tackled this type of project.
The disciplines involved would be some combination of Plasmacam for metal work, Woodworking (including CNC wood milling), and perhaps some type of fused glass work (provided I could make it equivalent to some type of safety glass to prevent shattering).
Photo for reference.
If you’ve done anything like this, I’d be curious to hear about your build.
Thanks in advance.
I had a friend do this kind of project on the cheap. They bought a simple glass door from seconds and surplus and added a sheet metal facade to the front. They attached the facade with Nails that looked like rivets and construction adhesive. From the street it looked perfect, up close you could see some of the tell tell signs it was home made, when looking at it edge on. Totally a doable project and simple if you can find a simple and clean glass door to work with. Also, thicker metal looks better than thinner metal, but can add enough weight that you need to consider heavier duty hinges.
Sounds like a good plan as the glass will already be safety glass. I would want to consider a solid core door, and perhaps fused glass inserts, along with some CNC milling of the lower half (or sides) of the door, and a plasma-cut ornate facade. I also like the idea of hammered, blacksmithed nails or tabs.
Agree completely about the sturdy door frame and reinforced hinges.
