Recommended Plane for Door Fitting?

[matt]

Hi all,

For fitting/trimming smaller (inset) cabinet doors I've always muddled through with a block plane. However, I feel I need something more for larger doors (c. 1.5 to 2m).

I get the doors to fit in the hole using a rail saw but when it comes to getting all the gaps consistent and true I'm wondering what sort of size and type I should consider?

Thanks

Matt

 

[chippy1970]

If you've got a decent rail saw then surely a block plane is fine for the odd touch up.

Was you thinking powered or a hand plane ? If powered then I'd highly recommend the festool ehl65. Light weight excellent dust collection and very accurate.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Cheshirechappie]

For cabinet doors, presumably about 3/4" to 1" (20 to 25mm) thick, the ideal tool would be smoothing plane, especially as the bulk of the waste removal is being done by rail saw. The number 4 size is very commonly available, but a number 3 would do just as well.

For larger doors such as house interior or entrance doors, a larger plane (say, number 5) might answer better, especially if there's much to come off, but smoothing out and fine adjusting could quite well be done with a number 4.

 

[MMUK]

If you're not sure what yet want try the faithfull #3 or #4 from Amazon for around £12.49. I've both of these and apart from needing some fettling on the whetstone and wet/dry paper, they're perfectly fine for the job. No point spending hundreds on a plane if you're not sure it'll be right for you.

 

[matt]

Thanks for all the feedback. For today I pressed a second-hand Record No5 into action. Bought it some time ago and fettered with it to get it in a reasonable shape but never used it since. Seems I did a better job than I thought because it did a great job.

 

[MMUK]

Ah! You never said you had a good ol' record stashed away. Now you've seen what it can do, just watch the collection of hand planes grow. I speak from experience here Worst thing is, I'm off to a couple of car boot sales in the next few weeks so no doubt I'll double my collection by Easter