How to make a barn door?

[shagster]

I'd like to make a 'barn-style' double door, probably go for a tongue and groove arrangement, with a couple of cross braces and a diagonal for each door. I'd like it to be fairly strong.

I think I know how it should look, mainly from looking at other doors, but I have a few questions:

What grade of wood should I use?
What kind of hinges and where should I get them?
How thick should the wood be (it'll be solid)?
How thick does the frame has to be, and does it depend on the weight of the door?
Should I use bolts, screws or nails to connect the pieces?

Are there any good books on the subject?

thanks,
S.

 

[big-all]

i have made many barn doors
you will need a router
5m off 3x2" par
6m 4x1"par and several txg planks

half lap the 3x2" on the top rail[21mm=21mm]
let the 4x1" into the bottom off the top half styles
if its an internal door the bottom rail on the bottom half will be at the bottom if its exteriour have it 6 inches up
dependant on your choice off txg [thickness] you will have to groove the frame and rebate the txg to fit

the groove in the frame lines up to the set in 4x1" rails on the back

iff you want single section doors then you save 2m off 4x1"par as you dont need 2 middle rails or a ledge to lean on on the bottom half

 

[ladylola]

Here's some drawings I scribbled out for someone else, may give you some help? //www.diynot.com/forums//viewtopic.php?t=274417

 

[big-all]

ok thought it was a stable door doh
brain said stable hand said barn

 

[ladylola]

ok thought it was a stable door doh
brain said stable hand said barn

I had to look twice myself and there's always a chance the op wants a stable door anyway.

 

[shagster]

I had to look twice myself and there's always a chance the op wants a stable door anyway.

Ha! I suppose if I knew what to call it I'd have more luck with trying to make it, sometimes that's half the problem .

I think I should have said garage door instead of barn door. It's about the width of a garage door, hence the 'double' bit, because to span that distance I assumed I'd be better off doing it with two doors instead of one. I don't want an up-and-over arrangement. I called it a 'barn' door because I wanted it to be that simple design, with tongue-and-groove segments and a few bits of wood keeping them together.

ladylola: The drawings look pretty useful, although that's far more fancy than I intend to do it!

big-all: Your post also looks potentially useful as well, even if it does apply to stable doors however I need a glossary to decode it. Unless you can put it in layman's terms, perhaps with a diagram it's not much use to me I'm afraid. txg? par? 21mm=21mm? It's all greek to me

cheers,
S.