one way to shorten an antique 'model t' door

 so, i'm getting a lot of 'where'd you get those doors?' questions as people check out the new metal shop.  like slate on the roofs, wide recycled doors are kind of 'my thing'.  the one above started out as half of a pair of 8' x 8' garage doors that i bought about 5 years ago from a guy up the road in pawlet, as he was tearing down an old garage on his property.  as i recall, i paid a hundred bucks for the pair. click the photos to enlarge them ...

 

on the inside view, you can see how we cut and mitered the stiles and panels to shorten them.

 the first one of that pair i used was on my garage at the house just after i bought them and i shortened that one to 7 feet too before i made the frame and hung it.  in the photo below, i used the 'mason miter' technique on the stile and rail intersections, but on the new metal shop, i decided to keep the cope and stick joints by shortening the stiles themselves and gluing them back together.  in reality, either way is fine.

 mason miter joinery  at the red arrow

 

the first pair i  bought at a tag sale in the 80's for $20. for the pair.  they were already only 7' high and 4' wide.  i used one on the front of the shop above, and one on the side door on the shop porch, below.

 

   i think they came from the same manufacturer as the new pair, as all the joinery techniques and moldings appear to be the same ...

the joinery on the doors originally was 4, 1/2" dowels, about 6 inches long at each horizontal
and vertical intersection.   invariably, the joints loosen and the dowels can be cut with a hand saw or fein tool and the rails removed.

i rejoined the stiles and the bottom rail with 8" timberlock screws as i couldn't spread the stiles enough to insert loose tenons or dowels ... worked fine, and i'm sure it's at least as strong or stronger than the original dowel joinery.

i added a couple of dominos for alignment ...

and made a jig for gluing them up straight

mitering and regluing the panels and stiles was a cinch

and then we glued up the whole door and made some jambs .. love the antique wavy glass.  and, i've also made new doors like this for new construction.  i have some photos somewhere ... nothing like a generous entrance to add elegance to a building ...