[Illustration: An old English Ledged Door]
In building the old ledged doors, the planks were set vertically and
held together with battens through which were driven wooden pegs. The
ends of these pegs were chamfered, and a curious mark of tradition can
be noted in the later doors, which were fastened with iron pins that
were also chamfered on the ends, like the wooden pins. Later
construction of doors shows the use of weather-stripping over the
vertical joints and also the use of various layers of planks, with
their grains running at right angles in each alternate layer. The end
timber upon which the harr was placed was thicker than the planking,
and later the timber upon the opposite side was made heavier in order
to strengthen the crude locks. With this change and the moving of the
battens to the upper and lower edges of the door, and the introduction
of weather-stripping over the cracks between planks, there was created
the prototype for the modern panelled door. It was only a slight step
from this to frame the styles, top and bottom rails, and lock rails
around the panels between them.
[Illustration:
Wooden Harr
Iron Harr
Iron Harr
Iron Hinge & Hoolie