Oak door idiocy

[AJB Temple]

I have just bought these doors off eBay for £310. 55mm hand made solid oak pair of doors , with through M&T joints and really heavy duty oak frame (the frame is much better than the one in the picture which is a similar set of doors in the same building but a bit smaller). The doors were in a methodist church and were made in 2017. They are about 2m high and 1.5 m wide. They swelled and so rather than sort them out properly the church removed them, having paid £3,600 to install them and now have some alloy and plastic ones there instead.

They were finished in a horrible brown varnish, seemingly by a blind person judging by the number of drips and runs.

The genius who hung these doors fitted all the handles, bolts and hinges with an impact driver. He drove every screw straight into the oak without a pilot hole and with no lubrication. As a result about a quarter of the screws snapped off, and about half have the cross head slots stripped.

I need to remove the broken screws and there are a couple that I can't get out at all with my usual techniques. Just wondered if anyone has any brainwaves? I can't get a drill chuck on without quite a bit of digging. I have ordered a screw remover set but this has yet to arrive.

The plan for these is to sand them and either finish in natural oak or paint them high gloss black or red. New fittings obviously, probably nickel. They are going into an inner porch area and will be sheltered from the weather.

 

[Setch]

Get a bit of tubing with Interior d diameter just larger than the screws, file teeth into the end, and use this to bore a hole around the snapped screw. Then, remove he plug created complete with screw. Rebore to a convenient size and plug.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

^^^
I stripped a fascia on my Victorian house and found scores of broken screws and cut nails which I had no hope of removing easily, the wood was sound so I needed them out. I found as good a way as any was to use the smallest hole saw (16mm, iirc) without the pilot, running it backwards until there was a groove around the ironmongery then forwards, cracking the plug out along with the broken screw and plugging the hole afterwards.
It's a bit extreme, but it's an option. There was a thread by BugBear (iirc) where it was done with a piece of small metal tube (such as a broken car radio ariel) with teeth filed in it in a drill - which may be neater.

 

[dzj]

. There was a thread by BugBear (iirc) where it was done with a piece of small metal tube (such as a broken car radio ariel) with teeth filed in it in a drill - which may be neater.

Or a spring dowel pin.

 

[ColeyS1]

There was a thread by BugBear (iirc) where it was done with a piece of small metal tube (such as a broken car radio ariel) with teeth filed in it in a drill - which may be neater.

I use a stainless steel drinking straw but use the same method. Really is a handy tool to keep in your toolbox !



Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

I got some old car door springs from my mechanic and filed teeth into the ends as others have done and although it is a bit tricky getting started once it bits in it works very well. I seem to recall Peter Sefton advertising ready made ones but I have just looked on his site and can't find any. You could try these dental instruments, they are pricy but I am sure will work well. https://www.swallowdental.co.uk/review/ ... t/id/2149/

 

[kevinlightfoot]

Could you maybe use a plug cutter and then plug the holes

 

[AJB Temple]

Those dental drills are fearsome.

Yes, I had contemplated a plug cutter. The smallest I have is 10mm which I use for plugs when I fit oak door frames. Will see if I can find a narrower one.

 

[AndyT]

This thread shows filed steel tubes, complete with a link to the radio aerial discussion. Also a method I've used, using an old fashioned shell bit in a brace.

broken-screws-t102791.html

 

[Benchwayze]

Andy,

The tube drill is the solution; obviously the better the match when you come to plug the hole, the neater the job. These 'drills' do work though.

Fantastic craft-work in the fitting of the doors eh? :shock:

John

 

[AJB Temple]

OK, I have found a 6mm plug cutter hiding in my workshop. Did the job. I will post a renovation thread in due course.

The church was silly with the doors. They were bespoke. The maker wanted £1,000 to fit the frame, doors and door furniture, and finish the doors. It transpires that one of the church people knew someone who was an adept DIYer who would do it for £300. The church is within sight of the sea, and the south elevation takes the force of the weather.

Instead of setting the frame back and sealing it sensibly like any normal person would, he set it right on the outer edge of the brickwork and "sealed" it with foam. Water got behind the frame instantly. The doors were finished in situ, in October, and I would be surprised if they were dry when the finish went on. Hence it swelled and our superstar chippy then dealt with that by trimming a bit off the door. I think he might have used his teeth. I can fix it easily but it was no way to treat bespoke oak doors.

DIYer blamed the joiner for using green wood. I would say this was total nonsense.

I have nothing against impact drivers, indeed I have both impact and oil driven, but honestly, in oak, you need pilot holes and I tend to use a sacrificial screw first to fit hinges. I also lubricate the screws when fitting. And who bangs in steel screws, into brass hinges and fittings, by the sea?

 

[Trevanion]

And who bangs in steel screws, into brass hinges and fittings, by the sea?

Someone who's totally Inept

I've seen it all before, this is also a coastal area and I've torn out less than 5 year old Boxed Sashes made by a once very reputable local company (they no longer do architectural joinery work, I wonder why :roll: ) which were made from JOINERY SOFTWOOD ON THE BEACHFRONT!! They had totally rotted completely and were unsalvageable. Who the hell in their right honest mind agrees to do that?

 

[AES]

+1 for the home made "drill tube" solution - if you've lots of screws to get out then use stainless steel tube.

As a complete BTW, IKEA here (and I'm pretty sure it'll be the same in UK) is a GREAT source for Stainless Steel tube! What? Yup, they sell a griddle thingy in the Kitchens Dept made up of welded SS tube. They cost less than the equivalent of a tenner each and when sawn up are a great source of several decent lengths (about 6 x 12 inches, 2 x 6 inches) of nice straight, quite thick-walled SS tube of about 8mm OD.

Edit: Ah, I'm a bit late, sorry. But hope the Ikea tip is useful to someone anyway.

But as a stop gap, if the original screws had countersunk heads with Torx, Pozi, or Phillips heads, then a standard countersink bit with max dia about the same/a bit bigger than the original screw head works too. Just countersink until the head is completely gone, then centre punch the remaining shank and drill out with a drill the same dia as the screw shank.

That's of course for when the head is mashed. It's a FIDDLY process and doesn't always work well (and would no doubt be a frustrating business to remove lots of dead screws, which it sounds like you've got!) but until the "drill tube thingy" is available it should get you started.

But if the head of the dead screw has completely disappeared ¨(sounds likely in your case, was the installer am apprentice gorilla?) it's also still worth a try with the countersink bit - to try and make a bit of a depression in the remaining screw shank to start drilling from.