Best way to trim a door

[thiambal]

I would appreciate any top tips from you fine chaps and chapesses.

I have an irregular sized doorway in the house and have managed to find a lovely reclaimed 4-panel door the right height but about 11/2" too wide. As luck would have it the hinge side of the door is already 1" wider than the lock/handle side - so it will not look too odd cut down.

The question is, what is the best way to trim the door. I would think it was had to cut a perfectly straight 90 degree cut with a hand saw. I have a table saw but I am worried about screwing it up.

Can anyone offer advice as to the best way to proceed?

 

[Nigel Watts]

Cutting an old door on a table saw isn't great for the saw because of possible nails/screws damaging the blade. Doors are also heavy and difficult to control on a table saw, unless you have big saw and some help (but big saw = more expensive blade, so all the more reason not to use it.)

I suggest hand saw is best. Scribe lines on both sides, saw slowly and keep checking to see that the saw is upright. Saw a bit to the waste side of the line to allow for errors. Finally plane the edge down to the line, checking with a set square. Best plane to use for this is a jack - ie one about 12 to 14 inches long.

 

[Penners]

I agree with Nigel about the table saw - it would be extremely difficult to control the door (unless it's a bl**dy big saw with a sliding table).

However, hand-sawing is also going to be a hell of a job, bearing in mind that you'll be ripping along the grain of the stile. Personally I would use a handheld circular saw, but check the route of your cut carefully for any nails, etc. before you begin. Don't rely on your saw's built-in fence to slide accurately along the edge of the door - they rarely do. It's better to cramp a rigid running guide on to the door, and run the edge of the saw's base plate along it. This can also be a useful method if you need to taper the door slightly.

However, if you do decide on hand sawing, I recommend you to wait until the weather cools down a bit!

 

[biffvernon]

However, hand-sawing is also going to be a hell of a job, bearing in mind that you'll be ripping along the grain of the stile.

A panel saw that is designed for ripping (it's called a rip saw) has teeth of a slightly diffferent shape to a 'crosscut' saw. Makes the job a fraction easier.

 

[middi]

.......and if you feel energetic, split the difference of the excess to be removed from both stiles, it wil look much better.

 

[thiambal]

Alas, I do not have a circular saw - so a hand saw it is then. Blimey - this will be hard work.

Fortunately, the stiles are already uneven and I am going to trim from the wider one so it will end up only slightly uneven (less uneven that it is at the moment)

I do not want to trim from the other stile as it has a rim lock already nicely in place and if I trim it I am going to have to move the lock and handle holes.

Well, I shall wait for a cool day and give it a go - got a build a new frame for it to go in yet!

 

[Penners]

A panel saw that is designed for ripping (it's called a rip saw) has teeth of a slightly diffferent shape to a 'crosscut' saw. Makes the job a fraction easier.

Yup, got one of them - it may be "a fraction easier", but it's a bl**dy small fraction!

 

[Nigel Watts]

What a lot of whimps! Ripping a seven foot length of 1 1/4" pine is no big deal with a nice sharp handsaw.

 

[Penners]

Provided you're not 63 years old with tennis elbow and a frozen shoulder, bald, short-sighted, overworked, underfed, misunderstood...

But I never complain.

 

[thiambal]

I was just giving this more thought. I have not got a circular saw - I am basically lazy so had sawing had limited appea;

Is there any reason why I cannot use a hand held jig saw?

I am sure there is - otherwise one of you fine people would have suggested it.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

I'm amazed that you are still procrastinating!

Go now and get a saw.

Mark a line on the door.

Saw along the line.

Plane off to finish.

There.

Do not sit down at the computer again until you have done it.

PS A jigsaw is not appropriate for this sort of task as it is hard to cut an accurate straight line; in thick material the bottom of the blade will also tend to "wander" due to grain direction etc. resulting in a non-square edge. A handsaw is guided by the width of the blade, so it is much easier to follow a straight line. If your saw is blunt buy a Bacho 244, about £7 from Screwfix or any builders merchant or half-decent tool shop.

 

[Schoolmarm]

No, DO NOT DO IT NOW!

wait until you have built the frame.

 

[thiambal]

Andrew - I do like a good procrastinate :wink:

and as School Marm has pointed out - I have yet to build the new frame as the new plastering was only completed yesterday.

Still - I knew there was a good reason not to use a jig saw I just did not know what it was!!! Cheers

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

OK, you're off the hook (should that be latch?) for the door, but be warned - the clock is running and we are expecting results.

I'll be interested to see if this little project of yours obeys my rule of project timing, viz: think of a generous time allowance, double it and convert to the next biggest unit of time.
Example "this door should take 4 hours", 4 hrs x 2 = 8 hrs, actually = 8 weeks, or
"the new fireplace will be done in 2 months", 2 months x2 = 4 months = 4 years.
That last one is one of mine, although it's not quite got to 4 years. Yet.

 

[Penners]

Andrew, you're bone idle.

With me, 8 hours only means 8 days (those days spread across several weeks, of course).

 

[worms]

Coming back to the original question of how to do it...

I may be shot down in flames for this but I would do a rough job with the jig saw then do the final trim with a straight edge and a plunge router, but then I admit that my woodworking is more agricultural than cabinetmaker.

 

[Andrew Bodenham]

Penners,

You're absolutely right of course, it should have been days.
But we all know it'd end up being weeks anyway.

worms,

You'd be making life far too complicated. For a one-off job like this hand tools do the work quicker, more quietly and with less mess. And at a fraction of the cost in terms of capital outlay.

 

[worms]

Andrew, each to his own! It was the original poster who suggested the jig-saw. I was merely suggesting how I might tackle the same job. Whether I used the hand saw, the jig saw or the circular saw would depend on whim on the day, which tool was most accessible, whether I felt like some exercise and whether I was doing it at a time of day when noise was an issue!

Whichever saw I used, I would still have to square it all up and at my level of skill I would produce a better finish with the router.

You are right about the capital outlay if it is a one-off job but I would guess that most of the posters on here are doing a whole series of jobs.

I know that routers are viewed on here as a brash way of doing things but it is a pretty versatile bit of kit.

 

[Penners]

I know that routers are viewed on here as a brash way of doing things but it is a pretty versatile bit of kit.

Not by me, Worms, I couldn't live without mine!

 

[biffvernon]

I use my routers so much I keep having to fit new brushes.