[Shop-talk] Making a door thinner

[Miq Millman]

I just did something similar:  had a door that was too wide, so I used a
router to make the hinge pockets 1/4" deeper then ran the door through my
table saw and sliced a bit less than 3/16" of the hinge side and about
1/16" off the latch side.

I think you can do something similar.  Look up "router jig to flatten wood"
and make a sled that is roughly 31" long and as wide as your (possibly new)
router base.  Woodworkers use this kind of rig for flattening live edge
slabs and the like.

Here's a good video that explains it and shows how to make it using some
plywood and simple rails:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0SDvKHcL5M

Basically, you get a nice wide straight bit and set the jig on the door,
then make passes cutting off 1/8" or less at a time.  Make a pass, move the
jig less than the diameter of the bit, make another pass, etc.

You might not even need to finish the final surface with a plane, but
here's a chance to get a nice jack plane, like the Stanley No. 62  (Orange
big box has them for ~$100).

I've done this, for end grain cutting boards, where I used a 1x2" aluminum
rectangle tube for the rails,

--
__
Miq Millman   miq at bigllama.com
Tualatin, OR  Big Llama Productions


On Sun, Dec 22, 2019 at 6:26 AM Jim Stone via Shop-talk <
shop-talk at autox.team.net> wrote:

> I am installing a barn door in my recently remodeled house and have come
> up with a problem I would like the group’s help with.  I need to put up a
> pair of 8’ x 30" barn doors, one of which will slide in next to a tall
> kitchen cabinet.  So, not exactly a pocket door, but it needs to fit into a
> pocket.  When we designed/installed the kitchen cabinets we planned the
> cabinets for a 1 3/8” - 1 1/2” door, which I planned to make out of tongue
> and groove boards or possibly shiplap.  However, my wife has lately decided
> that she doesn’t like the look of the board door and wants to try something
> different.  I wanted to install something temporary while she shops and
> decides and we went to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore yesterday to see if
> they had anything that would cheaply do the trick, at least for the
> holidays.  To our surprise, they had a pair of new, really nice, 8x30
> shaker style doors for $50 each that would look really good in the house.
> They are solid wood, I think poplar, and the only problem is that they are
> 1 3/4” thick.  I bought them anyway, figuring I could always donate them
> back if there wasn’t a good way to make them work.
>
> There is a possibility that I might be able to make the doors work by
> tweaking the barn door hardware, as the opening is about 1 5/8”.  I will
> try that, but doubt the wall tolerances are that precise.  It it doesn’t
> work, my only option - besides re-donating the doors - is to try to narrow
> the doors a bit.  This *should* be possible, since the stiles and rails
> are 4” and 8”, respectively, so I am not talking about narrowing the entire
> width of the door.
> (For what it is worth, I should add here that while the doors are
> currently 8x30, I need to tweak that a bit to make the match the cabinets
> and door opening and will be cutting them down to about 84” x 29”.
>
> I currently have a good bench top planer that I can’t see anyway to use,
> and a cheap HF hand planer that might work.  But, of course, I would be
> happy to buy a new one or another tool that would do the job.  We are
> probably looking at more than $1000 for a pair of 8’ doors that make my
> wife happy, so there is lots of room in the budget for a new tool.  So,
> what does the group think?  Can I safely take about 1/8” off each face of
> these doors.  Is an electric hand planer my best option, or is there
> another way?  They will be painted in the end, so I can fill in any random
> gouges, but they do have to be smooth and even.
>
> As always, thanks for any advice and Happy Holidays to all!
>
> Jim
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