Dear All
I am interested in setting up a solid door manufacturing facility. I want to produce 100 doors per month. This should include sealing and lacquering as well.
I would like some help on what machinery to use, and how much square footage I would require to set up something like this.
Tools Required
Machines Required
Finishing Machinery Required
No. Carpenters
No. of helpers
Factory layout

Sure, we can put together a Powerpoint for you with everything you need to know to equip and operate a door factory. We'll include a list of vendors and provide training manuals for all of the stations. We'll even send some customers your way. Me and some of the others here can come out on a Sunday and help you set it all up if you'd like. After all, what's the point of spending twenty or thirty years learning a trade and how to run a business if you can't turn around and do it all for someone else who doesn't have the time or patience?

Is there anything else we can do for you? Sandwich, coffee? Is your pillow comfy?

hey snugthejoiner
thanks for the response ! lol
I'm actually situation across the world in Pakistan ! I'm 29 years old !
I really wish you could do that.come down across the world and help me set it up. I have some machines which I bought a couple of. years ago.tomorrow I will take pictures and make a list of what I have and don't have
as for. the coffee and pillows I think I got that covered

moose - try the knowledge based (archives section) of this site, and/or use the search function. this topic has been covered in the past and i'm sure you would find those previous post enlightening.

good luck.

Small shop would be a better term for a capacity of 100 doors per month. It could be done with a set of basic shop tools. 12" table saw, jointer, planer, mortising machine or Festool large domino machine, heavy shaper or two, clamping fixture, spray finishing equipment. 2 or 3 people. All of those tools except the Festool can be found, in most places, used. Up grading to better equipment could double your output with the same 3 people. Molder, SL rip saw, door clamp.

Good luck

We've been making our own doors (in our smallish custom shop - 3 to 4 person, 6000 sq ft) since the early 70's.

Always have used a good 5 or 7.5HP shaper to machine the frames (with a tenoning attachment or Weaver set up) and raised panels.

If you are processing your own rough lumber, then all you really need for your quantity of doors is a decent chop saw (we use a 5 HP, 14" radial arm saw set up for just cross cutting), a jointer, planer and table saw.

Wide belt sander is pretty much mandatory IMO to get a decent flat door in good time.

With a decent selection of cutters for the cope& stick (frame) and raised panels (I dont buy anything now except carbide insert tooling) you can do several door styles all using the same heads.

Realistically, one man in my shop can easily produce 50 doors in a regular 40 hr week, from rough lumber to a finished, sanded door ready for the finishing room. Easily 100/month.

Going up in volume, I think you would have to investigate specialized machinery - for frame and panel processing, as well as more automated machinery to prepare your stock (moulder, coping or mitre machine, profile sanders, etc) but you will be looking at a much larger outlay of $$.

For door frame stock, I always rough cut my material, let it sit for a day, then joint and plane before cutting to length and shaping.

Door panels are laminated, sized and thicknessed, backs pre sanded, shaped, sanded and clearance taken before assembly. The the assembled door is edge sanded and run though the widebelt before hand sanding.

Pretty straight forward process.

For mitred doors, you can set yourself up for assembly with loose tenons. Slot mortiser and machine your own tenon stock.

"Doors" is not a meaningful word. "Solid doors" is also weak on meaning. What, exactly, are you proposing to make?

Frame and panel interior passage doors, cabinet doors, solid core doors, frame and panel with composite stiles, exterior doors, residential, commercial, and so on. Each variance will determine/influence machinery.

I think Andrew C's response is for cabinet doors. If one guy can make 50 passage doors in a 40 hr week, "I'll have what he is having" to paraphrase.

I've lived in middlefield OH for 1.5 years, and 6 years in Toronto, Canada before that - its okay I've seen my fair share of racism.. I just wish it wasn't so - I've studied at the University of Toronto for a BA and then an MSc in Politics - so I usually know what I'm talking about in the realm of politics - this is mindless banter - so please don't apologise for anyone, can you help me further with my project though sir ?

Greetings Moose...as a long long time poster here on Wood web I would like to apologize for some of the silly remarks.

I'm a wood finisher so cant help you much in the way of what you will need for producing your doors but there are many wise and upstanding posters who are more than willing to help you.

Please ignore the replies that don't pertain to your initial question.
Best of success to you.

Moose --
I would like to have a used straight line saw or tablesaw for the minimum, a good joiner, a good planer, a solid heavy duty shaper for sticking, and a solid heavy duty shaper for tenoning. You could do it all with one, but two is very nice. A wide belt sander for sanding assembled doors, and a cut-off saw - radial arm saw or a panel saw. A mortiser of either vertical hollow chisel type - heavy duty, or a swing chisel type.

If this is more than a one time deal, then you may want to step up to a dedicated single end tenoner and a 4 head planer/S4S machine to make parts so much faster.

Some basics are 8 m/hrs per door (this is wildly variable depending upon the complexity of the doors) to assemble the doors only, sand and clean up. Also 1,000 s/f per person is a good rule of thumb.

This site does allow posting of pictures. I bet you can figure it out faster than I can explain it to you. Instructions are below the text box you type into.

And don't forget - "Illegitimi non carborundum"

I,ve made My last few doors on my Thermwood cnc. I did not do it the way the video shows, but you get the idea
http://www.youtube.com/v/EW4jTI6e-Hk?autoplay=1&rel=0
In addition to this,You still need to, joint plane, rip, cross cut, dedicated S4S

Yes my post was pertaining to 5 pc raised or flat panel cabinet doors.

However we also do interior and exterior doors but not as frequently. The procedures are identical in our case just larger PCs. I am confident to say we would be in the range of 10 frame and panel man doors in the same 40 hr period, on the same basic (but industrial type) woodworking machinery.

If you can afford straight line rip, moulded, clamp carrier and door clamps etc go for it! It is always going to be very different in terms of shop, if your are setting up a true production shop vs a general woodworking facility.

Everyone seems intent on frame & panel while his post is about "solid." By which I think he means looking like a slab door. A tricky wicket at this size!