It's been a bit cold this week and we had another snow storm in NC. Which pretty much means it's the end of the world..

..Being the DW and I both grew up in the snowbelt, the reaction to a little snow down here is comical. Half the state shut down yesterday and the day before. I guess I can't really complain, they do not have the same amount of resources to prepare for large storms in the south. And honestly, the folks down here can't drive on slick roads, no offense to them, they didn't learn to drive in it like us New Yorkers do.
So anyway, I had a few short days at work and got to spend some time getting the main doors built for the barn. No complaints.
I used a lap joint on the 4 main members of the door rather than a mortis and tenon. The lap joint is plenty strong enough for a hanging barn door, imo.
I used a dado stack in my table saw to cut out the joint. If you don't have one or the other, you could easily use a circular saw with a regular blade, or go old school with a hammer and chisel. The table saw and the stack is the easiest, and for me, the cleanest.
With the joint cut, I assembled the main members of the door with glue and a few countersunk screws while making sure everything was square. easy peasy.
After the main members were together I added a rail in the middle and a diagonal on the top and bottom to fancy things up a bit. for these, I used the trusty kreg jig. again, my little one cannot resist helping daddy-o drill the holes.
The next day, I used my router to cut in a lip to accept insets. Messy, but I thought it would be easier to cut later rather than cut early with the table saw. I glad I did it this way, it was pretty simple and quick. I'll have to come up with a method of dust collection for the router in the future though, it tosses lots of dust and makes a darn mess. ( my shop is temporarily in our basement)
I used the remainder of the siding I bought for the nesting box doors and some hardware cloth to make inserts for the main doors. After i cut the material down to size, I stapled in.
and then after everything is assembled and im ready for a photo op, i realized i stapled one of the panels and one of the hardware cloth insets flip flopped....
So I pulled them apart, and re stapled. thankfully, I didn't glue in the wood...
I have to make the hardware to hang them next, my first priority this weekend. stay tuned!