Routing for Door Hardware
 

I'm not sure what terms to use in searching for information on this. Hoping you guys can help me. Door hardware sometimes requires some sort of routing. The striker plates that get installed into door jams are flush with the surface of the door jamb because a very shallow rectangle has been routed to accept those plates. Similarly, the edge of my door also needs similar shallow rectangular routing to accept the door lock hardware tongue thingies.

I have a Dremel tool. Three, actually. One has a small spinning shaft, one takes a round blade about 3" in diameter and another vibrates which can operate a triangular sanding pad or certain cutting bits. I do not want to buy a friggin' router if I can help it.

Advise me please.

Just get the attachment for the dremel that converts it into a router

Plunge router

https://www.dremel.com/productimages...MPFCbgYwU2.jpg

I used this attachment since it was all they had in Homie D, and I needed it now


https://www.dremel.com/productimages...P1K5qMBcG2.jpg

There is a $20 kit with plastic templates and a couple of different hole saws to use on a drill. Pin in place, mark, cut/dremel/chisel/drill/whatever out. Pin the other in place, marks center point for drilling handle hole. Other side does lock works hole. Works great. Even an id10t like me can do it (I've replaced every inner door in our house at least once, and several of them 3x... I have destructive kids). Part I have trouble with besides the precise placement is cutting the bottom/top to fit, always end up screwing something up, and the lowes folks won't do it for me even with exact measurement and a promise of no-take-backs ....

I end up using/needing to use - circular saw (trim top/bottom to fit height wise w/ carpet, etc), hand planer (fix width, usually less than 1/4"), chisel(s) and hand drill to cut/saw from template, and template kit.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1543773556.jpg

Sharp wood chisel and a hammer. Yeah, old technology.

Honestly, I'm thinking this. Chisels and a box cutter to create the borders.

This. A few pops to outline the strike plate, a few horizontal cuts and chisel out the material. Hand shave it to smooth.

Routing for Door Hardware
 

Yes, unless you’re doing more than a few doors, this is the way to go.


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Yes simple. However a lot of new hardware comes with the leafs of the hing that have a radius

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1543776978.jpg

This is where I have had trouble doing it by hand. I guess a chisel that matches the radius would be the ticket but I have never seen one (but have not looked either).

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5/8" gouge, not a chisel for the radius. That looks like a 5/8" radius hinge. I have never been a big fan of radius cornered hinges. I like the traditional sq. corners. If a router is needed, use a 5/8" bit and a template.

hammer and a chisel would be my choice if you don't routers set up to do this.

Careful- those big toothed 'hole saws' will skip and bounce and jump around and totally mess up the door with unpainted hardwood and metal facing.

I used the above Irwin template for the first time and the Shlage deadbolt did not work for some reason.
Everything looked like it lined up per the template but the thing did not work.
(vertical was way off, not backset, fwiw)
I've installed about 20 other locks successfully using patience and eyeballing it.

If the hole is totally screwed up, you can mortise in a flush plate and glue reinforcement wood into the missing space) but it will look very commercial ugly without a nice plate.

That's the way I do it. Watch a Youtube video to see the proper way to use a wood chisel. The box cutter does the radii.

That will serve you. A new and sharp chisel should only cost a few bucks. Using the chisel with a small hammer like a wood carver might will be easier for you to control than to try to use your hands to push it. Chopping straight down into the wood perpendicular to the grain will tenderize it and help to control the depth of your cut.

If you are going in from the side, turn the blade so it is flat side down, and use the flat edge as a guide as you go in. If you are coming in from the top, turn the angle down and hold the angled portion of the blade parallel to the surface. Tapping the chisel is a lot easier to control than pushing the blade, which puts a lot of stored energy into a sharp tool. A little at a time. Shavings come off easily, chunks do not.

I'll bet that there are a million tutorials on YouTube.

Not to mention your hand, if anything gets away from you.

"I'll bet that there are a million tutorials on YouTube."

There are a lot but most of them are pretty amateurish.

One thing that is helpful when you have to do this by hand is to locate and screw the striker plate on top of the jamb surface. Double check that this is where you want it and then heavily scribe around the strike to establish your cut. Remove the strike and use the chisel every 1/4" to make a cut as deep as the thickness of the strike (not much as most are around 3/32nds). Rake out the chips and clean up by entering the mortise from the edge leveling out the mortise.

When I'm doing little strikes like those for flush and surface bolts, I always screw them down first to establish the location. If you need to make an adjustment, this is the time to do it. Fill the holes you just drilled with a small dowel or fat toothpick and re-do.

Funny this thread popped up today. Last night just for G & G's I did a YT search for "hanging a new door in an existing jamb." There were a total of 5 videos and 2 of them were by Norm Abrams. Of the other 3, one was a joke and the other 2 said to lay the old door on top of the new one and trace and transfer all the dimensions, etc. As a pro door hanger, any time I did that the door came out not as good as it would have if I started from scratch. I quit that method in the 70's.

And what if you don't have the original door? I've never made a video but if I did, it would be a tutorial, even a treatise, about door hanging. It's not too hard but very few understand it in modern times.

I've hung well over a 1000 doors. Fooked a few up too, but I seem to have done pretty well when the expense of the door got up there. Hanging a $5000 door will get your attention. I might take a few hours on one like that.

Funny. I try that tracing trick and had mixed results as well. I just rather hang the dang thing and do it my way. So you take it off a few more times, big deal. I hired this loud mouth union door hanger a couple years ago. He couldn't hang himself if I made a noose for him. I haven't come across too many that can hang a door or window with a continuous 3/32 reveal. Forget about asking for the 2.5 degree bevel on the door's edge.

Both edges. :)

I have a good appreciation for just how hard this is to do re: hang a new door in an existing jam.
When our daughter last came to visit from Japan, she and our granddaughter got caught in the bedroom the baby was trying to go sleep in when the door knob mechanism broke. We were lucky our daughter was in the room at the time. We tried taking the knob off but couldn't get the 'bolt' to retract. We opened a window and I climbed in and removed the hinge pins, no way that door was opening. So I proceeded to destroy the door by ripping out the 'bolt' portion.
I called my friend who is a wood working type to help (actually do the job) putting in the new one. Only took us about 3 hours or so. Turned out nice and I couldn't have done it by myself. I have no patience when it comes to working with wood.

hahaha. Forgot to write that but I know you will understand. I have had good results without it on the hinge side because I discovered that none of the pre-hung door has it and they seem to work fine in my rentals. Too coat of paint will screw that up:mad: real fast.

This is what happened. Besides the garage door and glass slider in the back, there is only one door to my house. The tongue thingie would not retract. Broken. I made the door an offer it could not refuse. Broke the actual door jamb off. This weekend's surgery was to replace that strip of door jamb, including holes for the regular tongue and the deadbolt tongue. The door did not have mortising to allow the door hardware plates to sit flush, so I fixed that.

I made it as far as getting the new door jamb in place and another hardwood strip at a location where there had been drywall behind the trim, which will help it be more secure. Used four 2" screws to attach the deadbolt striker plate. I think the weak point now is the door itself, which is wood with metal on both sides. I think this door will never be forced open again.

Yes, I used a small hammer. The chisel method works fine.

^^^^This makes me feel better as I thought stuff like this only happened to me.

Follow-up question. The beveled-tongue thingie which works with the regular door handle (not the deadbolt) has two parts. I have never understood why this is a two-part thingie. Perhaps someone can explain. The main question I have, however, relates to whether both of these parts must fit into the hole in the door jamb or, alternatively, whether only the larger part enters the hole.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1543849394.jpg

That's a confusing question but it's your lack of understanding the names of the parts. No problem, I'll answer only how it's done and if that answers your question, good.

The latch face plate is mortised into the edge of the door. Sometimes the latch ass'y comes with 2 plates, a square corner and a round corner to be used when a router and a template is used to cut the mortise. No squaring off the corners.

The purpose of the plate is to hold the latch pawl secure and guide it as it is depressed and extended. Without the plate there would be no place for the door edge screws and the latch mechanism would be pushing and pulling against the spindle shaft likely ending up loosening the rose plate screws over time.

The rose is the round plate that the knob goes through on both sides.

I think what Sup is asking is if the part shown ('bolt'?) goes into the jam as shown.

I have the same or very similar latch on my door. I tried to push just the smaller piece with my thumb nail, as if it were the jam plate and the small piece won't move independently of the larger 'bolt'. They both go into the jam plate as one.

Hope this helps.

It's for security.
The latch bolt is angled and it can be opened with a credit card/knife/slim jim/screwdriver/etc.
But the small dead latch plunger can't be hacked as easily.

https://www.doorware.com/specials/help-center/faqs-door-locks.cfm
Q. What is a dead locking latch bolt?
A. A higher security latch bolt incorporating a plunger that is held in a retracted position when the door is closed, preventing it from being slipped open (by a credit card). Usually on keyed levers and knobs.

[QUOTE=Superman;10270924]Follow-up question. The beveled-tongue thingie which works with the regular door handle (not the deadbolt) has two parts. I have never understood why this is a two-part thingie. Perhaps someone can explain. The main question I have, however, relates to whether both of these parts must fit into the hole in the door jamb or, alternatively, whether only the larger part enters the hole.

Go to about 1:30 on this video:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I4wFsN60-IQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Good video Mark, thanks for posting it.
I guess I have a different latch than Sup'.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1543863418.JPG

[QUOTE=MBAtarga;10271092] Got it. The small pawl sits against the surface of the strike plate while the larger pawl (tongue thingie) goes into the hole of the strike plate. While the large pawl is extended and the small one is not, the large pawl cannot be retracted using a credit card. It would be a mistake to install this lock, and the strike plate, so that both pawls enter the hole in the strike plate. Glad I asked.

When I am done with this project, I had BETTER ensure that at least one key is available (buried in the back yard or something). Also, at least one electronic garage door opener similarly will need to be outside the structure at all times and available. The reason is because of the lock mechanical failure that created this problem. I busted this door open because the lock mechanism was busted so that the pawl would not retract. If that happens again and the door must be forced open, the door will be destroyed.

^^^ That’s the answer.

I’ve had to remove a few locks where I don’t have a key or the lock was jammed.

I break out the BFH and just tear off the knob. Then use a screwdriver to open the door.

Instead of a sledgehammer you could use a HF $15 angle grinder to get to the slide.
(No damage is done to the door that way.)
Just need to replace the lock.

Hide a greased spare key under a rock in the woods about 5-10 blocks away.

I missed the point. Yes the second piece is the security function. Interior passage locksets (handles) don't have that. Anyway, you might have learned something from my previous post. I did say the question was confusing (to me anyway).

Indeed I do learn from you Zeke. Routinely.

So what route did you take? I'm not a fan of the chisel. Been there, done that. I'd go the dremel route with the router attachment in the blink of an eye.

I'm using the chisel method. My chisels disappeared, so I needed to get some anyway. Plus, I had done this before. It works fine, but I am the world's slowest carpenter. First year carpenter apprentices work five times faster than I, and their work quality is three times mine. I've got a lot of respect for tradesmen.

That said, this door will be quite functional and relatively secure when I am done.

Can't talk ya out of it?
I used to install doors in the manufactured homes I sold. I still think the router attachment for the dremel is the better way to go. You have more control of depth with the dremel attachment. Plus once you have the router attachment you'll find other handy little uses for it.