Wool Core Door

This is a joint project converging the Textiles track and the Natural Building track.  Samantha is supply b-grade wool fleece for the core, and I am fabricating the door conjunctively with the Mycelium Core Door, using the same basic design principals.

The wool core door project for the 2022 Permaculture Technology Jamboree.

The current plan is to mill up some wheaton labs trees into 3/8 inch boards, ship-lap the edges, and make a hollow-core door - then stuff it with raw wool.  I typically employ a simple suint fermentation, but in the interest of time and research, we'll probably just use the fleece just as it came off the sheep.  There is significant precedent for employing raw sheep's wool as insulation, including Ianto Evans' The Hand Sculpted House, as well as elsewhere here on Permies.  I may employ a dusting of DE as an easy safeguard.

The door structure method might look a little like this, except I plan to use dowels rather than nails, and the door will be thicker.


Dowel reference:

(source: https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/project/the-littleton-trials/)

We'll assemble the pre-cut pieces and stuff it with wool up at Cooper Cabin.

Here's a cross section of a similar concept, designed about built by a Vermont company called Gryphon. (Pie for whoever comments with the meaning of their punny company name).


(source: https://gryphon.newframeworks.com)

It's looking like this door may be employed at either Dogstar or the rear entry of Cooper Cabin.  It will probably be a thick-ish door, suitable for exterior use, and use a magnetic closure mechanism, as has become customary at Wheaton Labs.  Then it'll just need a beefy handle on each side for yankin'.

Questions:
Door dimensions?  
Will the mill be working?
Hinge hardware?

More questions:

-Are there any smallish panes of glass that I could use in the two doors to show the insulation material used inside?  Could be pretty much any dimension.
-What is the feeling about hardware at the lab?  Can we use prefab hinges, or do I need to plan to construct wooden hinges?
-Do we have magnets on hand for the closure mechanisms?
-Can somebody, by chance get me dimensions for the door at Dogstar?
-Similarly, could someone take some measurements and a few pictures of the rear door placement at Cooper Cabin?

I think this door will be sized up for dogstar.

Face dimensions are 74.5" x 36".

Not sure about thickness.

Somehow I had forgotten that this is more or less the method used in building the wofati greenhouse door.  


source: https://permies.com/t/135/157417/permaculture-projects/Kyle-Permie-Bootcamp-BRK#1266929

Make sure we add DE to the wool - otherwise it gets overrun with wool moths.

Are you going to aim for the same level of wood workmanship as the pictures of the Gryphon doors shows? Some of their wood joinery is really sleek! Certainly beyond my skill level.

Paul Wheaton said:

Make sure we add DE to the wool - otherwise it gets overrun with wool moths.

How have you done that in the past? The plan mentions "raw" wool above. Does that mean unwashed?  I was always wondering if using warm water with DE stirred in +/- a little borax, and dipping the wool in that so it would be well covered and then putting it on screens to dry. That wouldn't exactly be "washing" the wool. Alternatively, would just putting DE in a big box and tossing the wool in then shaking and turning the box, do just as good a job? Does the DE naturally want to "stick" to the wool, or just fall off?

Jay Angler wrote:Are you going to aim for the same level of wood workmanship as the pictures of the Gryphon doors shows? Some of their wood joinery is really sleek! Certainly beyond my skill level.

Their doors pretty much look like showroom pieces, don't they?  
I will probably shoot for somewhere in between.

Jay Angler wrote:Paul Wheaton said:

Make sure we add DE to the wool - otherwise it gets overrun with wool moths.

How have you done that in the past? The plan mentions "raw" wool above. Does that mean unwashed?  I was always wondering if using warm water with DE stirred in +/- a little borax, and dipping the wool in that so it would be well covered and then putting it on screens to dry. That wouldn't exactly be "washing" the wool. Alternatively, would just putting DE in a big box and tossing the wool in then shaking and turning the box, do just as good a job? Does the DE naturally want to "stick" to the wool, or just fall off?

At my place i ferment my wool, then leave it to rinse in the rain or in a basket in my creek culvert.  then it has to be thoroughly dried.  I don't think we have time for all this at the PTJ, so we will probably just pick it clean of debris and thoroughly dust it (dry) with DE before installation.  Open to suggestions . . .