Hanging Doors

[chiangrai]

I'm trying to hang some new doors on some new frames in a new house.

I've never done it before and need some advice

.I've been looking at some videos on uTube and some say to put the hinge up close to the edge of the door when you are attaching it.Others say the door will become hingebound if you don't keep the barrel of the hinge a quarter of an inch back from the edge of the door.Whose right.

The doors aren't solid they're just z shaped frames.They are new and heavy and I'm wondering if they are going to shrink alot.Also I see with the doors in the place I"m living in that the doors swell and shrink according to the season.Any advice on this.

Should I make allowance for this when I'm cutting them to size.

I'm doing the first door at the moment and I need to buy a hand plane planeThere iare none for sale in my local town and all the shops seem amused when I ask for one saying everyone has gone electric these days.When I was at school there were the steel planes made by Stanley and they were the new type.The old type were woden.But on eBay the stanley planes are sold as vintage.

Does anybody know where I can get a hand plane in Thailand,preferably online and what type of plane am I looking for.

Any other advice about hanging doors in Thailand Thailand would be appreciated.

[bankruatsteve]

Wooden doors/frames do swell and shrink on the season. That will mostly affect the locking button and the fit in the frame. You need to adjust the plate so that it just catches the button in the dry season or full catch in the wet. The door should have at least a 1/4" gap to the frame in the dry season - wet can fit to the frame. The hinges usually have a pattern to use but, without that just place so that the barrel is at the edge of the frame and you should be good. A good chisel is usually all that's required. What do you want to use a plane for?

Edited October 28, 2015 by bankruatsteve

[kannot]

1st thing you need to do is get some decent tools and by that I mean SHARP and know how to sharpen them as they will blunt quickly on the hard wood here. So youll need an oil stone and oil NOT water as the Thais do, Im assuming you have already offered the door up to the frame to see if it needs planing to the correct size? before hinging it

1, fit the hing to the door itself first leave the knuckle of the hinge just a fraction off the door edge, make sure its square on the door and then mark round it with a stanley knife about 6 inch down from top n bottom for a perfect fit, using the correct size chisel ( dont know your hinge sizes) tap round the line the stanley knife has already cut then you need to tap down under where the hinge will go across the door many shortly spaced lines all the same depth.

After this you can start cutting out with the chisel these small pieces.

Ive found the best hinges here for ALL doors virtually are NOT the stupidly large 4 inch but the much better fit 3 inch stainless ballbearing hinges, I often see them use 4 inch and the hinge sticks out rather stupidly about 1/4 to a half inch...crazy.

After fitting top n bottom hinges you need to get the door into the frame at right angles to the opening and wedge it in so you can open out the hinges you have fitted and mark them off with the stanley knife onto the door frame again with the knuckle just fractionally off the frame ie 1mm again chop them out WORK slowly and TAKE YOUR TIME is the most important thing.

I always stick 3 hinges on to stop any mid door bowing I dont use 2 close to the top but all 3 evenly spaced out down the door length.

You will also need a small drill to predrill the screw holes as you simply cannot force a screw into the hardwood edges they need to be pre drilled, good idea to get a bradawl to mark centre positions of holes so they are dead centre.

Practice cutting hings out on a scrap bit of wood first maybe a day before, with care and patience its not too hard, heres some door fittings i did, make sure hinges are flush with the wood not too deep or too shallow, to deep is easy to fix with a card template under the hinge in case you get carried away.

Edited October 28, 2015 by kannot

[kannot]

Wooden doors/frames do swell and shrink on the season. That will mostly affect the locking button and the fit in the frame. You need to adjust the plate so that it just catches the button in the dry season or full catch in the wet. The door should have at least a 1/4" gap to the frame in the dry season - wet can fit to the frame. The hinges usually have a pattern to use but, without that just place so that the barrel is at the edge of the frame and you should be good. A good chisel is usually all that's required. What do you want to use a plane for?

To fit the door into the frame they are usually never a good fit ever.

[chiangrai]

I have trimed the door down to size with a circular saw and it just needs a bit more off one side (vertical)but only

the last foot not along the whole lenght of it.I see the guys on uTube say to use a plane for this.

But I'm open to sugestions

[GavinK]

As noted above, new door will expand and contract during the seasons, so when it expands and starts catching on the frame take it off and plane it down a bit more. I'd delay staining/varnish/painting it for as long as possible to save having to repaint/touch up the inevitable adjustments. Best to keep the gap between the floor and door as small as possible (without rubbing) to keep the nasties out.

Edited October 29, 2015 by GavinK

[eyecatcher]

As noted above, new door will expand and contract during the seasons, so when it expands and starts catching on the frame take it off and plane it down a bit more. I'd delay staining/varnish/painting it for as long as possible to save having to repaint/touch up the inevitable adjustments. Best to keep the gap between the floor and door as small as possible (without rubbing) to keep the nasties out.

I have a different opinion about swelling and shrinkage of doors.

Of course doors swell in the seasons and thats because humidity is getting into it.

In the uk swelling doors is a given because its always wet.

The practice is to seal that door pdq! Dont wait until you think its stopped because it never will.

Varnish lacquer polyeur paint primer and gloss get it sealed as soon as its hung.

If you find the door has expanded a few month later give it a minor planing as you dont want wider gaps when it shrinks back.

Most important and many sloppy builders forget seal the top and bottom edge as they will have been trimmed and this is where most of the moisture gets in.

And you always need a plane for hanging a door. The forend and the striking plate need a leading edge forming with a plane to ensure the edge of the door doesnt hit the plate before the latch does.

Go for it not a dificult job.

Handiest tool to have for a few doors: a battery drill.

[chiangrai]

What about double doors.Are there any tricks to this.

I cant find any uTube videos on it.

Some people say it's more dificult and any inacuracys shop up more

than a single door.

[kannot]

I have trimed the door down to size with a circular saw and it just needs a bit more off one side (vertical)but only

the last foot not along the whole lenght of it.I see the guys on uTube say to use a plane for this.

But I'm open to sugestions

1000 grit paper.....let us know how it goes, oh yeah rough side of paper

[kannot]

What about double doors.Are there any tricks to this.

I cant find any uTube videos on it.

Some people say it's more dificult and any inacuracys shop up more

than a single door.

1 no

2 no

[kannot]

As noted above, new door will expand and contract during the seasons, so when it expands and starts catching on the frame take it off and plane it down a bit more. I'd delay staining/varnish/painting it for as long as possible to save having to repaint/touch up the inevitable adjustments. Best to keep the gap between the floor and door as small as possible (without rubbing) to keep the nasties out.

I have a different opinion about swelling and shrinkage of doors.

Of course doors swell in the seasons and thats because humidity is getting into it.

In the uk swelling doors is a given because its always wet.

The practice is to seal that door pdq! Dont wait until you think its stopped because it never will.

Varnish lacquer polyeur paint primer and gloss get it sealed as soon as its hung.

If you find the door has expanded a few month later give it a minor planing as you dont want wider gaps when it shrinks back.

Most important and many sloppy builders forget seal the top and bottom edge as they will have been trimmed and this is where most of the moisture gets in.

And you always need a plane for hanging a door. The forend and the striking plate need a leading edge forming with a plane to ensure the edge of the door doesnt hit the plate before the latch does.

Go for it not a dificult job.

Handiest tool to have for a few doors: a battery drill.

expansion isnt that much of a problem here on doors ive found, they usually shrink quite a bit if real wood, I wouldnt stain or seal them for six months as a lot of wood really isnt dried out properly (seasoned) and often badly stored, seal the bottom edge where its likely to get a wet mopping and leave the top one unsealed for moisture to escape if you must.

[sometimewoodworker]

For woodworking tools I use ThaiCarpenter, they have planes and do mail order

http://www.thaicarpenter.com/เครื่องมือ/งานไสตัด/กบไสไม้/กบเหล็ก-14-นิ้ว-ของ-STANLEY.html

They also have other nice tools like this

Edited November 1, 2015 by sometimewoodworker

[chiangrai]

Yes,I've found a little Stanley block plane on thaicarpenter and ordered it.

My wife had to do the reading for me.

Can you read Thai or do you know a way to get it in English.

[kannot]

I have trimed the door down to size with a circular saw and it just needs a bit more off one side (vertical)but only

the last foot not along the whole lenght of it.I see the guys on uTube say to use a plane for this.

But I'm open to sugestions

get yerself and electric plane and plane from the end of the door to the middle of the door only working from both ends inwards , if you carry on off the end you will rip a chunk out of it.............I take it you didnt try my 1000 grit approach then

[sometimewoodworker]

Yes,I've found a little Stanley block plane on thaicarpenter and ordered it.

My wife had to do the reading for me.

Can you read Thai or do you know a way to get it in English.

They don't have anything in English and no I don't read Thai. I find what I need and then I get SWMBO to finalise the order.

For your job the block plane isn't ideal though it is a very useful tool in itself. 50127 or 50125 are much better or a if you want a cheaper one then 50126-1

[bankruatsteve]

Just curious from someone who has actually used a plane on this really hard wood? My last attempt was a long time ago but I recall having to put the blade on such a thin setting that it took forever to do anything. Sanding or a chisel just seems easier to me.

[cooked]

Yes,I've found a little Stanley block plane on thaicarpenter and ordered it.

My wife had to do the reading for me.

Can you read Thai or do you know a way to get it in English.

They don't have anything in English and no I don't read Thai. I find what I need and then I get SWMBO to finalise the order.

For your job the block plane isn't ideal though it is a very useful tool in itself. 50127 or 50125 are much better or a if you want a cheaper one then 50126-1

You can use Google translate to render the site in English, which unfortunately means that plane comes out as frog ('gop'), same word.

I use a Stanley plane on teak wood and I also have two ancient block planes that really do a good job as in the foto I attach.. You need to learn how to sharpen these things (lamp oil in combination with a sharpening stone plus a leather strop). You also need to examine the grains of the wood you are working as if you go against the grain you will rip up what should be a nice surface.

So, think about a cheap electric plane. Thai electric planes have blades that can be sharpened and will rip off half a millimetre like nobody's business. I have found that you have to look at the door frames very carefully when you buy as the first one I bought was crooked which didn't help. They need to be fixed with some precision, no 'neerinuff' stuff allowed.

Edited November 2, 2015 by cooked

[sometimewoodworker]

Just curious from someone who has actually used a plane on this really hard wood? My last attempt was a long time ago but I recall having to put the blade on such a thin setting that it took forever to do anything. Sanding or a chisel just seems easier to me.

It sounds as if you might not have set up the plane very well or it wasn't sharp enough.

As the door is relatively thin sanding is likely to get it out of square and you are not going to be able to use a chisel to take off a little over the length that "changrai" wants and still keep it flat.

What I would use if I didn't have a plane and only needed to trim one door would be my Festool TS55 but that isn't the best tool for the job specially if you are finessing the fitting of several doors.

That is the perfect job for a well setup plane. And I don't much like using hand tools unless I have to

As "cooked" has said you will need to be careful about grain direction and the way to check if you can't see it (sometimes it's impossible to read the grain direction) is to set the plane to take a fine shaving then try it in both directions. One will be better than the other.

[kannot]

Yes,I've found a little Stanley block plane on thaicarpenter and ordered it.

My wife had to do the reading for me.

Can you read Thai or do you know a way to get it in English.

They don't have anything in English and no I don't read Thai. I find what I need and then I get SWMBO to finalise the order.

For your job the block plane isn't ideal though it is a very useful tool in itself. 50127 or 50125 are much better or a if you want a cheaper one then 50126-1

You can use Google translate to render the site in English, which unfortunately means that plane comes out as frog ('gop'), same word.

I use a Stanley plane on teak wood and I also have two ancient block planes that really do a good job as in the foto I attach.. You need to learn how to sharpen these things (lamp oil in combination with a sharpening stone plus a leather strop). You also need to examine the grains of the wood you are working as if you go against the grain you will rip up what should be a nice surface.

So, think about a cheap electric plane. Thai electric planes have blades that can be sharpened and will rip off half a millimetre like nobody's business. I have found that you have to look at the door frames very carefully when you buy as the first one I bought was crooked which didn't help. They need to be fixed with some precision, no 'neerinuff' stuff allowed.

Not only can the door frames be warped here they are often different thicknesses in the rebate from the same manufacturer so measure the thickness of each one when you buy it as it makes things look so much better.