Full-Size Hobbit Door
An 8-foot functional round door, modelled in CAD and built over three months — scope I chose to take on well past what the assignment asked for.
The problem
A round door is a carpentry problem wearing a costume. Normal door framing quietly depends on right angles — square jambs, a flat top, hinges on a straight edge. A circle gives you none of that, and it still has to hang true, swing without binding, and close against its opening.
The project also grew. It started smaller than it finished, and I chose to scale it to a full 8-foot functional door rather than stop at what was asked for.
Laying it out
Everything downstream depends on the circle being right. I built up the panel first, then struck the arc across the assembled boards so the grain ran continuously through the finished face.
Cutting it is the committing step — there’s no undo on a circle.
Moving it
An 8-foot door is a reminder that dimensions on a screen have consequences. It had to be transported standing up and strapped down.
Hanging it
Hung in its opening and swinging. This is the point where you find out whether the layout was actually accurate, because a circle that’s even slightly out will bind against the frame partway through its swing.
Painted and finished, with strap hinges and a centred knob.
Result
A finished 8-foot working Hobbit door, built over three months of CAD, woodwork, and carpentry — and used as the entrance it was designed to be.
The useful engineering lesson was the gap between a model that closes cleanly in CAD and an assembly built from material that has grain, moisture content, and its own opinions about staying flat. The CAD model was a starting point, not an answer.