Old Doors

With the house I purchased last year came an old garage that belonged to the long-since demolished house next door. Now that the weather is breaking and I’m getting ready to turn my garage-proper into my shop, I’ve been cleaning out the old garage (I call it a shed as it’s not weatherproof). I’ve been finding tons of fascinating things including boxes of dirt (literally wooden boxes full of dirt) garbage cans of dirt mixed with random metal parts (I can’t make this up) dead rodents, dilapidated swimming pool covers, cat feces, long broken-down lawnmowers, and almost anything else you can imagine that I don’t want, but have no idea how to dispose of. Among all of this treasure are two piles of old panel doors. I’m guessing that the doors all came out of the house that was torn down. Most of them are interior doors, but there are a few that look like they could have been exterior. They have all been painted with many many coats of paint.

I would really like to strip some of these doors to see what kind of wood they are, and possibly use the wood to make my workbench and other small projects (depending on the species).

Anyone have any cautions in doing this? I understand that I need to be on the lookout for nails and the like.

I’ll try to post some pictures this weekend.

-- Big John's Woodshed - Farmington, IL