[Shop-talk] Making a door thinner

Sun Dec 22 16:41:42 MST 2019

Thanks guys.  The sled looks pretty easy to make and would certainly do the trick.  One other suggestion gave me another idea, which would be to use my bench planer to ‘mill’ a piece of wood to perfectly fill the gap between the stile and the panel, in effect giving me a larger flat surface.  I would think I could then use a router with a surfacing bit and work from the outside in, removing a bit of material as I go.  The spacer would give me a flat, even surface all the way to the inside.  I would think that would work fine, without the need to build a sled.

However, it may all be academic now.  I studied the doors more carefully a few hours ago and realized that they are not solid wood, but MDF with about an 1/8” veneer on the front and an inch or so of poplar on the sides.  No wonder they are so heavy.  The MDF and the poplar are about the same color and I was looking at the lock hole, where the hole saw marks gave the appearance of grain.  Probably wishful thinking on my part.   I might be able to take a tiny bit off of each - and it is possible a tiny bit might be enough - but imagine that cutting all the way though the veneer won’t leave me with an acceptable surface for paint.  I might be wrong on that, but hopefully I will be successful modifying the track and be able to make it work that way.  I’ll measure extra carefully!  I won’t have access to a milling machine until after the holidays, so this project will have to stay dormant for a week or so.  Plenty to keep me busy in the meantime!

Jim

> On Dec 22, 2019, at 3:05 PM, Brian Kemp <bk13 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> 
> I second the router guide shown in the video if you don't have a local shop with a door sized industrial sander.
> 
> Brian
> 
> On 12/22/2019 10:08 AM, Miq Millman via Shop-talk wrote:
>> 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 <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 <mailto: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 <mailto: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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