July 2022

I Build HUGE Doors and Carve A Tree In them By Hand!

The newest addition to the Dream Shop—Miss Piggy—our CNC we installed in a previous video is just too loud for our liking. To solve the noise problem, the boys and I decided to build a custom set of doors out of some of the red oak I just picked up. Today we’re trying to minimize the noise coming from the CNC and create something visually interesting in the Dream Shop. Yinz wanna see the final product? Check out the full video on my Youtube Channel!

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How to Build and Carve Custom Double Doors

Find out how we took slabs of red oak and turned them into one-of-a-kind design

Not everything went as planned, so as usual we had to get a little squirrelly.

To get our giant double doors started, I started by taking measurements to get the door jamb installed. After all, you can’t install a set of doors without the jamb. I got the project started by doing some basic woodworking, drilling, and milling to get the parts of the door ready to go.

I had to take a break because we were FINALLY able to get our giant rescued log off of the trailer, so that was super exciting.

Getting back to the double doors, we had a bit of an issue with the measurements, so we had to adjust the size of the door jamb to make sure that the panels would fit properly. Thankfully, the spirit of Ron Swanson was on our side as we altered our plans for the double doors.

We started by using dominoes to construct the door. After that I routed the panel groove to get the basic structure of the door ready to go. I rounded the edges and did a bit of chamfering to make sure the panels fit properly.

Next up, I got started drawing a rough sketch of the tree design for the double doors. I envisioned the doors closing together to create one large tree design. After sketching the tree design, I got to carving around the sketch just to set the depth.

Then, I let Sam take the lead on getting the door jamb and hinges ready to go. For the final steps, we got to pre-hanging the doors to make sure everything is ready to go before we start with finishing touches. If you wanna take a look at the finished product, check out the full video on my Youtube channel.

Tools & Materials Used

Check out the materials and tools we used to make this awesome set of custom double doors

John Malecki video screenshot wooden door — Sam and I getting one of the finished doors ready to attach to the hinge.

These double doors were a big project that required a lot of special tools and materials to bring to life. We used large slabs of red oak and got the project started by using a jigsaw to cut parts for the door jamb. When it was time to carve out space for the door panel, I used a bullnose bit to carve out space to slide the panel into the doorframe.

Since the doors are so large, Sam opted for ball bearing hinges to support the weight of the doors—even though they were difficult to find. Then, Sam used a router to mortise the hinges and finish off the first step of the project.

Once the door jamb and hinges were ready to go, it was time to start carving the tree design into the panels using a die grinder with a Kutzall burr and wheel. In fact, that’s how I do mostly all of my carving designs. Once I was happy with the design, we got started on the finishing touches like staining and finishing. I use Early American stain and Toal Boat Halcyon to finish the design. For the final steps, we used ball bearing door stops for convenient opening and closing for the brand new doors to Miss Piggy’s room. And then, to keep the sound to a minimum, we used B-Quiet sound deadening to keep the rest of the Dream Shop at a reasonable volume.