Hanging doors

[BigMac]

Seeing as Lord Nibbo mentioned it... what is the best way for easing the bottoms of the cheap hollow doors? Just a big plane?

The actual hanging part has been done when the builders were in but now the carpets are down 3 of them are binding a bit.

Sorry v. new to the woodworking so all advice appreciated.

BigMac

[jfc]

Binding on the frame or scraping on the carpet ?
If binding on the frame pack the hinge out if scraping on the carpet a plane or a saw . A saw may be better on the cheapy doors .

[paulchapman]

I hate planing the bottoms of cheap, modern doors. They are usually a mixture of end grain, long grain, hardboard and stuff and an awkward size and shape I usually clamp on a straight edge and run a router along it - but use an old, cheapo bit because you sometime find nails in them.

Cheers

Paul

[bigmac]

Thanks both.

It is scraping on the carpet, the chippies did a good job (with their shiny Festools) so they were fine. Main problem is one of the rooms where we got it hardboarded (as the electircians had wrecked the chipboard floor...) so the floor height is more than expected.

It was the crappy wood and unkown grain direction I was concerned with. Wife will kill me if I end up with a splintered mess at the bottom

Good excuse to go and get myself a router though ;D

[paulchapman]

If you use a router, for the best finish take lots of shallow cuts (say 3 or 4mm) rather than trying to do it in one go. And clamp a piece of wood at the end to avoid any breakout as you come to the end of the cut (but you probably knew that anyway )

Cheers

Paul

[engineerone]

you could always fit rising butt hinges ;D

suggest that you use a piece of wood to mark the gap, and also see if it is the same all the way.

actually not a bad excuse for buying a fein multi master kit

paul

[dom]

If you do fit a rising butt don't forget to angle a way at the top of the door.

Oh and welcome Big mac

[Scrit]

To add to the suggestions made, when trimming pre-finished doors I've taken to scoring the finish line with a sharp marking knife before going at it with a saw, plane, router, etc. as scoring cuts the fibres neatly and allows you to work to a line without much worry about spelched edges (i.e. splintering). I've also used this technique for the edges (sides) when dealing with doors sawn to size using the mighty ( ::)l ) Festool saw and straight edge - because even they can break-out on the edges.....

Scrit

[engineerone]

interesting that there has been no mention of the saw that was originally designed for cutting doors in situ.

i assume that it is either not available now, or pros did not like it?

it was available a couple of years ago, and was basically a vertically mounted motor and the blade mounted very low down.

paul

[colincott]

engineerone said:

interesting that there has been no mention of the saw that was originally designed for cutting doors in situ.

i assume that it is either not available now, or pros did not like it?

it was available a couple of years ago, and was basically a vertically mounted motor and the blade mounted very low down.

paul

Paul

I think it can still be bought but I am not sure where

[Scrit]

engineerone said:

interesting that there has been no mention of the saw that was originally designed for cutting doors in situ.

I assume that it is either not available now, or pros did not like it?

It is a very specialised piece of kit used mainly by flooring installers. Possibly one of the best known ones is the Crain, although a cheap and nasty Chiwanese clone has also been sold by Axminster. Other contenders in the market include the Romus Flex (German, owned by Porter-Cable) and Lamello Tanga. These are hardly cheap tools at £400 to £700 and so you really need to be installing floors all the time to justify the outlay (especially when you consider how quickly laminate flooring goes in and the fact that other specialist tools are required). It is therefre hardly surprising that few joiners have heard of them or used them. Incidentally, did you know that HSS hire door saws?

Does that answer your question? ;D

Scrit

[jfc]

Last time i looked it was over £1000

[engineerone]

nah, the one i am talking about was about 400 quid.

i agree that it is only for a pro who does a lot of doors to fit day in day out.

will see if i can find a link again.

so colin where are you ;D

paul

[mel]

I quite fancy the angle grinder version of the crain one posted by scrit , looks a good solid tool with good guarding

ill keep using the chainsaw for the time being as ive got plenty of petrol

[mailee]

Hey Mel I am fitting a few at the moment, wanna come down with that chainsaw of yours? ;D

[mel]

chain pulling slightly off to the left at the moment as i caught a screw with it
didnt help that i had tears running down my face as the carbon monoxide fumes were building up in the bedroom ;D ;D

[dirtydeeds]

stop talking drivel, hold ye hard. this job takes UNDER 10 minutes with no special tools

scribe the bottom of the door to the floor, 20 seconds on laminate

take the door off, 1 minuite (3 if the screwheads are full of paint)

cutting the door to the scribe, 2 minuites with a hand saw

rehang the door, 1 minuite









dont use the multimaster its the wrong tool

dont use a lamello special tool it cant do the whole door

dont use a router you cant control it freehand

if you have a festool ts55 use it at full depth and bring it out of the end at high revs and slower speed, the breakout is absolutly minimal

[bigmac]

Thanks everyone, thats about a million different ways to choose from ;D

[engineerone]

saw i was talking about was called a karlton,
seems they may well have gone the way of all earthly things

paul

[J]

I used a piece of wood as a guide, and a cheap circular saw with a fine blade. No splintering for me, maybe I was just lucky.

I also have hinges with removable pins, so I don't worry about screw heads nad paint.

J

[Scrit]

engineerone said:

I agree that it is only for a pro who does a lot of doors to fit day in day out.

These machines are actually for flooring fitters, NOT joiners.

engineerone said:

saw i was talking about was called a karlton, seems they may well have gone the way of all earthly things

Oh, really? It might be that the peoiple selling them to DIYers realised that they are bl**dy dangerous pieces of kit. On the other hand they might have found out that they were cheap, inaccurate copies of the original Crain (and as such possibly breached Crain's design rights?). Who knows.

Scrit

[Scrit]

dirtydeeds said:

stop talking drivel, hold ye hard. this job takes UNDER 10 minutes with no special tools........

.......if you have a festool ts55 use it at full depth and bring it out of the end at high revs and slower speed, the breakout is absolutly minimal

Really? Try that with 60mm thick oak doors and see how well it works . Basically the Crain approach is for flooring fitters who can't be *rsed to take the doors off for trimming. For them the technique works as it is fast, effective and requires only one person (important if you are on a large site dealing with 60kg doors....).

Having used the technique you detail at the end, I agree with you that the TS55 and straight edge work really well, although I prefer to score the exit line, especially on splintery timbers like oak. In principle any reasonable quality circular saw with a sharp, fine tooth blade and straight guide (e.g. Bosch, Makita, Mafell, etc) should do just as well. The downside is the price of these things

Scrit

[engineerone]

sorry scrit

but you are right, the only proper way is to take the door off in most cases. glad i don't have to work with 60 kg doors

paul

[dom]

Well my TS55 wasn't at all happy on 40mm Oak doors, it cut out twice when cutting in the length, no I wasn't forcing it.

[dirtydeeds]

cutting a door is a ripping operation, the standard ts55 fitment is a cross cut blade

thank goodness people who have 60mm oak doors dont fit laminate

however i did some work in a million pound house.

they had all the doors changed to £13 cheapies from b&q on 23p hinges