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I have several interior wooden doors that no longer close properly due to settling and swelling of the various components. I've decided my best option is to plane the edges of the doors where they rub against the frame.

I've read a jack plane or belt sander will do the trick. I'm leaning towards a hand plane because I think a belt sander won't give me a straight edge and it could create indentations if I don't know what I'm doing. I don't.

Now I'm seeing all kinds of tools called jack planes, sweetheart planes and various angle planes. What will work for me? I'm not a woodworker, so it may be a single use tool, but who knows.

Thanks!

I have several interior wooden doors that no longer close properly due to settling and swelling of the various components. I've decided my best option is to plane the edges of the doors where they rub against the frame. I've read a jack plane or belt sander will do the trick. I'm leaning towards a hand plane because I think a belt sander won't give me a straight edge and it could create indentations if I don't know what I'm doing. I don't. Now I'm seeing all kinds of tools called jack planes, sweetheart planes and various angle planes. What will work for me? I'm not a woodworker, so it may be a single use tool, but who knows. Thanks!

(post is archived)

[–] • 2 pts

Solid wood door or hollowcore / veneer? Painted?

The belt sander will do some damage without proper technique. Planes require some skill and practice, as well as sharpening out of the box. Tricky if you are planing any endgrain. How about some elbow grease, and a sanding block?

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

Hummm. Interesting idea. Slow, but deliberate.

Ps: hollow core.

[+] [deleted] • 2 pts
[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

Either of those options will likely result in an uneven door edge- unless you are an expert with them. The surest way to do what you want is to trim the door edges using a straight edge guide and hand circular saw (or router- but this requires an industrial level router which most people do not have). You start by finding the distance from the saw edge to the blade. You then clamp the guide to the door, at a distance of this amount plus the amount you want to cut off. I have commercial aluminum guides to do this, but you can do it with a nice straight board as well. Sometimes there is an issue with interference between the saw motor and the guide, depending on the size and design of the saw, which side of the saw plate you are using, blade depth required, etc. If there is a clearance issue you can mill away part of a thicker board, or use a thinner one- piece of plywood is sometimes a good choice to get a thin piece with a straight factory edge. Just make sure the cut can proceed unhindered before you start, and always double check your layout and then just barely touch the workpiece to make absolutely certain the cut is where you want it. FWIW: A lot of times I mill just a bevel with either saw or router( usually saw) on the leading edge to solve closure clearance issues, but this is more complicated overall.

[–] • 1 pt

I agree. I'm not an expert with woodworking by any stretch. The idea of using my skill saw occurred to me. The saw can easily get away from me and then I'll have to replace the door and start over. However, clamping a guide to the door and treating my skill saw like a router may work. I have shaved ends before with it.

[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

Yes, a guided saw really is the best method. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I am an expert craftsman that has milled, assembled, hinged, hung and adjusted literally thousands of doors. Some of them being in the tens of thousands of dollars price tag range, and a guide is really the only way to go- unless you are in a full on industrial shop where you could accurately run it through a table saw or panel saw, etc- but these methods also usually entail taking off the door hardware.

[–] • 0 pt

On a few occassions i have pounded the door frame a bit, using a chunk of 2x4 (as a protective buffer) and a framing hammer. Just wack it a few times n test it. Sometimes it works, but be mindful not to make more problems.

First of course try to tighten the hinge screws, and use thicker or longer screws if necessary.

One trick for stripped screw holes is stuffing 000 gauge steel wool or toothpicks n glue in the holes.

If not a circular saw works. I use a fine tooth blade and tape on the bottom cross cuts.

Yeah some doors are cheap n hollow but there is some wood on the edges n bottom to cut.

Try 1 door and see how it goes.

Good luck bro

[–] • 1 pt

First, make sure the hinge screws and pins are tight. You may be surprised.

If so, close the door until it's touching the outside edge of the frame, and run a pencil down the door, from the inside. That's what you gotta remove. It's probably not that much, since the door used to fit. Use a belt sander. 80 grit paper. Stop right before the pencil mark. Close, look at it. Do it some more. Once it fits, run the sander up and down the entire length quickly to even it out, using a finer grit belt (100 or 120).

[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

You need to re-shim the frame to make it square. Leave the slab alone. You can fit a squared up frame in a fucked up opening. I squared up a frame at a friend's house just by replacing one of each of the hinge screws with 3" wood screws and cranked it into the frame and stud until the door swung nice.

[–] • 1 pt

Your interior doors are hollow core, which means the inside is hollow. The door is just a box, with a few supports inside. If you plane down an edge, you will ruin the door.

[–] • 0 pt

The supports are that thin?

[–] • 0 pt

You could take the door off and find another house that fits.