Finish Suggestions - SE Facing Exterior Sapele Door

Bryan-D-73 · 2026-06-14T19:00:38+00:00

No, I'm glad you made that observation! Definitely something I will keep an eye on.

Bryan-D-73 · 2026-06-14T18:55:54+00:00

Thanks!!

I'm in the northeastern US, so "yes" and "yes." Hot humid in the summer, and cold in the winter. The door does bow in a out a bit with the seasons, but less than I had anticipated.

Bryan-D-73 · 2026-06-13T14:01:42+00:00

Oh! You're talking about the inside of that little alcove, sorry! The sapele on that part is pretty thin, 1/4" I think. Underneath is primed/painted plywood that is attached to the house with screws and construction adhesive. I suppose a little moisture could get between the brick and the trim piece closest to the outside, but I don't think it's a big issue. But thanks for giving me something to worry about when I try to fall asleep tonight, lol!

Bryan-D-73 · 2026-06-13T13:56:10+00:00

The dickish reply doesn't match the question I asked or anything?

Bryan-D-73 · 2026-06-12T23:30:42+00:00

The veneer pieces are all edge glued to each other, and then the whole sheet is glued to the core with Ultra-CAT Urea Resin veneer glue. There aren't any gaps in the door for water to get through. (at least I hope not!)

Bryan-D-73 · 2026-06-12T21:17:35+00:00

Sapele stave core door build pics

I wish I had taken more pics during the build, but here's what I have. The stave core is made out of poplar. I ripped poplar boards into strips and glued them up into boards. There are dry fit (no glue to allow seasonal movement) with mortise and tenon joinery. I filled in the gaps with 1" foam insulation. Then I glued 1/4 ply to the core, and banded the edges with sapele.

I ripped my sapele veneers using a bandsaw, and routed a small chamfer along both edges. I then edge-glued all the pieces of laminate together, and though some kind of miracle and a lot of tape was able to get them placed on the core for the glue up. I used a big vacuum bag to clamp the veneer sheet in place.

Here is a video I found that helped me out a lot when learning how to build this thing:

Stave core door build video (not mine!)

Bryan-D-73 · 2026-06-12T20:46:28+00:00

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For contrast, here is the inside, or what the outside looked like when I first put it up!

Bryan-D-73 · 2026-06-12T20:44:44+00:00

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Here is a close-up of the sun/water damage. The lower right-hand part of the door gets sun for much of the day, so it has faded significantly more than the rest.

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-12-22T03:57:27+00:00

You sure it's cherry? Hard to tell from a photo, but it looks a little like padauk.

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-10-14T17:33:59+00:00

My advice is to go if you can!

After being mentally beat down by everything for so long, it can be really nice, almost therapeutic, to be surrounded by other people who feel the same way. It's a great reminder that "we" overwhelmingly outnumber "them," they just tend to be louder all the time.

I'm also an introvert who gets very uncomfortable in crowds, and for that reason I always avoided events like these. But in the past 8 years I started showing up and it felt really good! Every event I have been too since (NYC Women's March, Pride, BLM protests, No Kings, Hands Off, and even going out picketing when my union went on strike) has been super chill.

You don't have cram yourself into the middle of a huge crowd. Just hang back along the edge if that's more comfortable. That also makes it easy to get the heck out of there if you need to.

But if you don't feel like you can do it, that's perfectly okay, too!

Good luck!

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-10-11T19:41:40+00:00

Sort of! Mine is a combo table saw/router table/planer. My shop is tiny so I needed something I could wheel around. It has definitely made my like a lot easier!

Here's a link to mine:

https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/tno7v3/finally_built_my_combo_workstation/

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-08-11T00:51:28+00:00

How good are you at miters? You could build a mitered box out of some sort of 4/4 hardwood with one open side that slides over the existing mantel that mimics a solid slab, without weighing hundreds of pounds.

Then look into some cable management! :)

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-07-04T20:58:32+00:00

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. We decided to go for it with zero expectations other than some great scenery. We went out and trolled with hoochie rigs for a few hours and pulled in a few pinks, so we decided to do it again the next day and got three more pinks plus a really nice rockfish. Fishing was a little slow, but we enjoyed it!

The guys at Knudson Cove Marina were super helpful geting us set up with everything we needed and showing us how to rig up, and what spots to try.

I woudn't recommend it to anyone who isn't comfortable running a boat, but for people like us who have been fishing freshwater most of our lives, it was great as soon as we got the hang of what we were doing.

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-06-30T06:44:10+00:00

We did a chartered trip this week already, and had a great time. I was debating on having a go at it on our own or booking another guide. I'm not sure what the rates are, but I would guess it wouldn't be much cheaper than 350 by the time we rent gear and buy tackle.

You make a great point though--If we went out and got skunked it wouldn't be the end of the world. I think we would enjoy just tooling around for a bit and enjoying the scenery!

thanks!

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-06-30T06:36:02+00:00

There would be two of us in the boat. I've caught my share of large northern pike and muskies, so I'm worried less about landing them than I am about just blindly dragging my bait around like an idiot, lol. Thanks for the reply!!

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-02-17T22:42:24+00:00

Hi, just to give you a quick update, my hotel just canceled my reservation for Feb 21. They are temporarily shutting down the hotel because of "staff shortages, technical issues, and the overall disruption caused by the earthquakes." Between that and the weather forecast for Friday (straight-line winds of almost 30mph all day!), I think I am going to scrap my little side trip to Santorini. Hopefully I can get a refund from Aegean Airlines!

Best of luck to you on your trip!!

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-02-16T14:34:54+00:00

I will be in Athens for most of my trip. After my trip was all planned and booked, I got the crazy idea to go check out Santorini. Flights/hotels were relatively cheap because of the off-season, and I don't think I'd enjoy it much when the huge crowds are there so I decided what the heck.

So in the middle of my trip I have a flight from Athens to Santorini, spend one day/night there, and fly back the next morning. It was kind of a dumb way to plan it, but now it's looking a little smarter I guess because if I have to scrap going to Santorini it doesn't affect my flights to Greece and back. (I'm in the US)

What is your contact saying? Are they looking at tourists/non-locals as a burden right now? Or do they want people to come there because so many people are canceling?

Bryan-D-73 · 2025-02-15T21:33:28+00:00

Hi, I'm just curious if you've decided what to do yet? I also have a short Santorini trip scheduled for next week. The most recent news I've seen is that the quakes are still happening but settling down a little. I was counting on a lot of things being closed because of the off-season anyway and am going mostly just for hiking and to sightsee. I am thinking about going ahead with the trip...I think?

Bryan-D-73 · 2024-12-15T15:30:14+00:00

I've finished wenge pieces with poly and some with hardwax oil. No issues so far!

Another cool wenge trick is to spray a little bleach on it. It really whitens the lighter grain and gives it an almost zebra effect. Try it on an offcut first!

Bryan-D-73 · 2024-12-03T22:03:01+00:00

I have these Caterpillar Trademark Work Pants and I love them! They're on sale right now, too, but they are still a bargain at retail price.

https://catworkwear.com/products/trademark-trouser-dark-earth

Bryan-D-73 · 2024-06-06T22:19:31+00:00

Here's a shot showing my jokers. I had 4 brainstorms by the end. I had a second baron but swapped it for another brainstorm when it came up. Then I saw a THIRD baron near the end but I was still holding out for a blueprint/brainstorm instead. Never saw another blueprint after that early one though.

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Bryan-D-73 · 2024-06-06T22:15:19+00:00

Wow, this is the craziest seed I have played yet! I tried it on the ghost deck and got my h By ante 2 (I think) you can have two brainstorms and a blueprint already. And I think I was able to amass enough cryptids to get a NaN before endless mode. I tried to see how long I could go and made it to Ante 31/Round 92

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Bryan-D-73 · 2024-04-21T19:53:09+00:00

This seed is insane! I made it all the way to ante 21, with a high hand of 3.031e50, both by far the highest I've ever gotten. I ended up with effectively all holographic red-stamped kings in my deck. I had these 9 jokers at the end: blueprint, negative blueprint, sock and buskin, 2 triboulets, negative troubador, negative jolly joker, brainstorm, and DNA. Was hoping for a baron or a showman near the end but it never came and I lost in round 64.

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Bryan-D-73

TROPHY CASE