Shortening a door

[Chris Needham]

Grateful for tips on shortening a door using a manual plane. Planing the bottom edge of a door is easy enough when planing with the grain on the bottom rail, but what‘s the best way to plane the end of the side rails where you need to plane across the grain which risks damaging these ends please? Thanks

 

[Alasdair]

I am not an expert but I normally mark the door and plane in from each side then plane the the middle section. If I remember correctly from my school wood work days the plane has to be razor sharp for cross grain. If theres a lot to take off then I use a hand held circular saw with guide clamped to door.

 

[Myfordman]

plane in from each stile towards the centre

 

[Chris Needham]

Yes, a sharp plane for across the grain is a must, thanks. Myfordman - I plane the way you advise but have today chipped a bit off so wondered if there’s a more fail safe way. Maybe it’s aimply a case of practice makes perfect....

just one more thing - does using a bench or block plane make any difference I wonder. This has just occurred to me

 

[Jacob]

Yes, a sharp plane for across the grain is a must, thanks. Myfordman - I plane the way you advise but have today chipped a bit off so wondered if there’s a more fail safe way. Maybe it’s aimply a case of practice makes perfect....

just one more thing - does using a bench or block plane make any difference I wonder. This has just occurred to me

Bench plane 5 or 5 1/2, in from each end as 9Fingers says.
Block plane is just for trimmings e.g. ends of through tenons, or taking off arrisses, or bevels when door fitting

 

[toolsntat]

By how much is the key to the answer along with type of door.
If a parallel cut at say 5mm or more use a cutting gauge (or "knife" filed marking gauge) to give you a line to work up to.
Start off by using a saw across the end grain (preferably pull saw) then plane a bevel to one side and then the other and as said above flatten off the remaining area. A pencil mark on the bevels will serve as a indicator that you are getting it off correctly.
As Jacob says a good sharp block plane is handy for tidying up the end grain bits.
Cheers Andy
Ps I should add a not excessively cambered iron make life a lot easier...
Oh, and a 40grit belt sander is my preferred choice for smaller removals.

 

[Doug71]

You need to take a small chamfer/bevel off both faces of the door from your line/mark to the bottom of the door to stop the breakout, especially important on veneered doors.

 

[thetyreman]

it's a good idea to scribe the bottom of the door when fitted with a compass so you get an even gap all the way along, then saw/plane to that line.

 

[Chris Needham]

You need to take a small chamfer/bevel off both faces of the door from your line/mark to the bottom of the door to stop the breakout, especially important on veneered doors.

That I didn’t know - thank you for this advice

 

[Chris Needham]

By how much is the key to the answer along with type of door.
If a parallel cut at say 5mm or more use a cutting gauge (or "knife" filed marking gauge) to give you a line to work up to.
Start off by using a saw across the end grain (preferably pull saw) then plane a bevel to one side and then the other and as said above flatten off the remaining area. A pencil mark on the bevels will serve as a indicator that you are getting it off correctly.
As Jacob says a good sharp block plane is handy for tidying up the end grain bits.
Cheers Andy
Ps I should add a not excessively cambered iron make life a lot easier...
Oh, and a 40grit belt sander is my preferred choice for smaller removals.

The amount by which the dorm needed shortening to fit was so small that a saw would have been too much. Can you elaborate on ‘Start off by using a saw across the end grain (preferably pull saw) then plane a bevel to one side and then the other and as said above flatten off the remaining area. A pencil mark on the bevels will serve as a indicator that you are getting it off correctly.’ please? I’m not quite sure what you mean

 

[Sgian Dubh]

An alternative technique I've used quite a few times is a large plunge router plus a long ( ≥50 mm long X ≥12 mm diameter) router bit and a straight edge clamped to the door. It can also be useful to attach the straight edged fence ~1000 mm long to a base, a large piece of 6 - 12 mm MDF. After this is made run the edge of the router's base against the fence and use the assigned router bit to cut off the 6 - 12 mm MDF. This creates an edge in the MDF base that you align with marks on the door indicating the amount to remove.

It only remains then to start just beyond the exit side of the planned cut and plunge to the router's full depth three or four times, and after each plunge and raising of the cutter backing the router along the fence 2 - 3 mm a time until a small notch is created at the cut's exit point the full thickness of the door: the purpose of this is to prevent spelch during the next stage. Following that initial task it's a case of starting at the other end (the cut's beginning) and making a series of plunges, locked at depth, and passes (two to three maybe) with the router base held firmly to the straight edge until the last pass at full depth completes the job, except to chamfer or otherwise soften the sharp edges left behind.

Of course, if you don't have a suitable router, it's down to hand saws and planes, the later either electric or hand planes, although electric planes can very quickly create a significant cock-up if you're clumsy, and a hand plane can also cause a cock-up, but generally at a slower pace, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[profchris]

The amount by which the dorm needed shortening to fit was so small that a saw would have been too much. Can you elaborate on ‘Start off by using a saw across the end grain (preferably pull saw) then plane a bevel to one side and then the other and as said above flatten off the remaining area. A pencil mark on the bevels will serve as a indicator that you are getting it off correctly.’ please? I’m not quite sure what you mean

Toolsntat's instructions were for taking 5mm or more off. In summary, cut the end grain parts to the line, then plane off the rest as described (I think of it as planing a tent, then planing the ridge down).

For a small amount, you'll have to plane the end grain too. I'd plane a bevel all round, always working the end grain away from the corners, then plane from ends to middle of the door.

 

[toolsntat]

Toolsntat's instructions were for taking 5mm or more off. In summary, cut the end grain parts to the line, then plane off the rest as described (I think of it as planing a tent, then planing the ridge down).

For a small amount, you'll have to plane the end grain too. I'd plane a bevel all round, always working the end grain away from the corners, then plane from ends to middle of the door.

Yep, that's exactly what I meant.

Cheers Andy

 

[mr rusty]

Track saw for this job all day long. Quick, accurate and you can take a midges wotsit off if you need to.