Door Resto

[Mike K]

My neighbour is into Medieval stuff .. he made a suit of armour , hand made it from flat sheets . took him 6 months of beating , dressing, shaping , edging .. it's amazing what you can do , takes patience and lots of time . He does talks at schools and military historical groups .

After all that, he ended up buying a ready to use one .. they are made in India .. 11 year old kids spend all day shaping metal sheets into armour suits . they cost 4 to 5 K $ here . The medieval re-enacting thing is growing here ... they have festivals and tournaments and jousting too . They hold banquets .. all the food is genuine medieval style .

Mike

[Barry Churcher]

As Mike said the skin comes off fairly easily if you are careful. It's the door frame you don't want to damage. We used the skin off a good door for a pattern . The rust you see on the inside is just from the filler crap that fits between the skin and the frame. Using a whole skin for a pattern helps to make the overlap spots the same on the corners etc. Careful use of the hammer and dolly flattens the skin right out. We used 20 gauge as it is so close to the original and is heavy enough not to oil can or warp. 18 gauge is harder to work and you have quite a curve to form. We use satin coat because it is more resistant to rust especially on the inside. Scratches in normal sheet metal start to rust very easily, even when sitting around the shop. Satin coat is now $48.00 a sheet.
Barry

[Barry Churcher]

The second door looked a lot better on the outside but under the skin was crap. Bob had to do more work to get it back in shape.
Barry

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by Barry Churcher

Satin coat is now $48.00 a sheet.

As I was reviewing this older thread I was struck by the pricing of sheet metal. A quote received last week for 18ga was $118 per sheet. Way back when, Barry thought $48 was bad...

[rob love]

And it now costs you nearly twice (and still climbing) as much to drive to the metal shop to pick up that sheet of satin 20 ga.