A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of various sizes for her
parents home. According to her they are mostly closet doors. She is
purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously, this means all doors
will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges and she asked me if I
would do it.

Normally, I would do a single door or two of my own and never worried
about a template and routed the hinge by placing guides for the router
based on my measurements, but it was time consuming. I don't want to
spend all day or two doing 9 doors, therefore, I think it's best if I
use a template. I'm seeking suggestions on what template to use/buy or
suggestions on getting through the job fast.

Thanks

In ,
Meanie belched:
A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of various sizes for
her parents home. According to her they are mostly closet doors. She
is purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously, this means all
doors will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges and she asked
me if I would do it.

Normally, I would do a single door or two of my own and never worried
about a template and routed the hinge by placing guides for the router
based on my measurements, but it was time consuming. I don't want to
spend all day or two doing 9 doors, therefore, I think it's best if I
use a template. I'm seeking suggestions on what template to use/buy or
suggestions on getting through the job fast.

Thanks

Just have her buy pre-bored doors

I always just do them by hand. There are jigs
to use with round-corner hinges and a router, but
how will you use that if you need to match up
to square-corner existing mortises in the existing
door frames?

Could it make sense to use pre-hung doors?
If you're just getting slabs then it's hard to see
how you might really save time with a jig. Chiselling
out a mortise isn't really all that time consuming.

On Mon, 12 Jan 2015 21:14:01 -0500, "Mayayana"
wrote:

I always just do them by hand. There are jigs
to use with round-corner hinges and a router, but
how will you use that if you need to match up
to square-corner existing mortises in the existing
door frames?

Could it make sense to use pre-hung doors?
If you're just getting slabs then it's hard to see
how you might really save time with a jig. Chiselling
out a mortise isn't really all that time consuming.


I've always done them by hand too. Without a jig, I'd likely mess up
trying to use a router. I have two tools that you hammer in to cut the
hinge size. (One for the larger size hinge, and one for the smaller
'common' hunge sizes). I'm not sure waht they are called, but they work
great. I bought them at a tool auction, and like them. But even
without them, I can chisel a hinge out in no time. Just make sure the
chisel is real sharp.

If the OP is matching existing hinges and door knob on the existing door
frames, a pre-drilled door wont work.

"Meanie" wrote in message

A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of various sizes for her
parents home. According to her they are mostly closet doors. She is
purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously, this means all doors
will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges and she asked me if I
would do it.

Normally, I would do a single door or two of my own and never worried
about a template and routed the hinge by placing guides for the router
based on my measurements, but it was time consuming. I don't want to
spend all day or two doing 9 doors, therefore, I think it's best if I
use a template. I'm seeking suggestions on what template to use/buy or
suggestions on getting through the job fast.

It's easy enough to make a template...2x4 with masonite or ply cut to
size/shape of the hinges fastened to 2x4; index 2x4 to top or bottom of
door, clamp to door, rout.

A little trickier in your case. Are the jamb mortices round or square
corner? If round, a 1/2" router bit wil most likely match; if square, you
will have to chisel out the corners.

Is the hinge spacing consistent on all the jambs? Probably is but if not,
forget a one size fits all template,



--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder? Tired of the rat race?
Taxes out of hand? Maybe just ready for a change?
Check it out... http://www.floridaloghouse.net

On 1/12/2015 8:34 PM, ChairMan wrote:
In ,
Meanie belched:
A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of various sizes for
her parents home. According to her they are mostly closet doors. She
is purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously, this means all
doors will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges and she asked
me if I would do it.

Normally, I would do a single door or two of my own and never worried
about a template and routed the hinge by placing guides for the router
based on my measurements, but it was time consuming. I don't want to
spend all day or two doing 9 doors, therefore, I think it's best if I
use a template. I'm seeking suggestions on what template to use/buy or
suggestions on getting through the job fast.

Thanks

Just have her buy pre-bored doors


As Jerry already mentioned, doors without the frames will not be
pre-bored because they have to match with the frame they are being hung on.

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On 1/12/2015 9:14 PM, Mayayana wrote:
I always just do them by hand. There are jigs
to use with round-corner hinges and a router, but
how will you use that if you need to match up
to square-corner existing mortises in the existing
door frames?

For square corner hinges after a routerd mortise, a chisel or a square
cutting tool will do the corners.

Could it make sense to use pre-hung doors?
If you're just getting slabs then it's hard to see
how you might really save time with a jig. Chiselling
out a mortise isn't really all that time consuming.



For starters, I've never chiseled out mortises. I've always used a
router. Therefore, I don't want to start practicing on someone else new
doors nor want to do 9 of them when it'll require some time for me with
just one.

Prehung doors are out of the question, she already bought the doors. But
even so, I'd rather drill and mortise 9 doors than remove the entire
door and jamb then reinstall 9 new ones.

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On 1/13/2015 12:46 AM, wrote:
On Mon, 12 Jan 2015 21:14:01 -0500, "Mayayana"
wrote:

I always just do them by hand. There are jigs
to use with round-corner hinges and a router, but
how will you use that if you need to match up
to square-corner existing mortises in the existing
door frames?

Could it make sense to use pre-hung doors?
If you're just getting slabs then it's hard to see
how you might really save time with a jig. Chiselling
out a mortise isn't really all that time consuming.


I've always done them by hand too. Without a jig, I'd likely mess up
trying to use a router. I have two tools that you hammer in to cut the
hinge size. (One for the larger size hinge, and one for the smaller
'common' hunge sizes). I'm not sure waht they are called, but they work
great. I bought them at a tool auction, and like them. But even
without them, I can chisel a hinge out in no time. Just make sure the
chisel is real sharp.

If the OP is matching existing hinges and door knob on the existing door
frames, a pre-drilled door wont work.


I will stop at the house to view the hinges. If they are all the same, I
will remove one, take home and make myself a template. Chiseling isn't
my thing. I'm never consistent nor level. I prefer the router.

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On 1/13/2015 5:11 AM, dadiOH wrote:
"Meanie" wrote in message

A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of various sizes for her
parents home. According to her they are mostly closet doors. She is
purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously, this means all doors
will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges and she asked me if I
would do it.

Normally, I would do a single door or two of my own and never worried
about a template and routed the hinge by placing guides for the router
based on my measurements, but it was time consuming. I don't want to
spend all day or two doing 9 doors, therefore, I think it's best if I
use a template. I'm seeking suggestions on what template to use/buy or
suggestions on getting through the job fast.

It's easy enough to make a template...2x4 with masonite or ply cut to
size/shape of the hinges fastened to 2x4; index 2x4 to top or bottom of
door, clamp to door, rout.

A little trickier in your case. Are the jamb mortices round or square
corner? If round, a 1/2" router bit wil most likely match; if square,
you will have to chisel out the corners.

Is the hinge spacing consistent on all the jambs? Probably is but if
not, forget a one size fits all template,




I agree, making a template/jig is easy but at this time, I'm uncertain
of the hinge sizes or shape. I will be visiting the home today and check
the hinges, then remove one to make a jig. I'm hoping they are all the
same, which they should be.

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| For starters, I've never chiseled out mortises. I've always used a
| router. Therefore, I don't want to start practicing on someone else new
| doors nor want to do 9 of them when it'll require some time for me with
| just one.
|
| Prehung doors are out of the question, she already bought the doors. But
| even so, I'd rather drill and mortise 9 doors than remove the entire
| door and jamb then reinstall 9 new ones.
|

In that case, it might be worth taking a look at
HD or a lumber yard. I've seen people use aluminum
router templates. Some are long templates that
can do 3 hinges at once. They look very handy, but
I don't know what they cost.

Meanie wrote:
On 1/12/2015 8:34 PM, ChairMan wrote:
In ,
Meanie belched:
A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of
various sizes for
her parents home. According to her they are mostly
closet doors. She
is purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously,
this means all
doors will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges
and she asked
me if I would do it.

Normally, I would do a single door or two of my own and
never
worried about a template and routed the hinge by placing
guides for
the router based on my measurements, but it was time
consuming. I
don't want to spend all day or two doing 9 doors,
therefore, I
think it's best if I use a template. I'm seeking
suggestions on
what template to use/buy or suggestions on getting
through the job
fast. Thanks

Just have her buy pre-bored doors


As Jerry already mentioned, doors without the frames will
not be
pre-bored because they have to match with the frame they
are being
hung on.
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus
software.
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With all due respect, Jerry is wrong. I've bought many pre
bored doors and they worked fine.
Door knob height is standard, so unless the person that
installed the doors previously screwed them up, they will
work.
Take your tape and measure existing handle heighth and check
it against a pre bore, they should be the same

| With all due respect, Jerry is wrong. I've bought many pre
| bored doors and they worked fine.
| Door knob height is standard, so unless the person that
| installed the doors previously screwed them up, they will
| work.

Nothing is necessarily standard when you're
actually doing the job. If you replaced 6'8" doors
in modern door frames, in something like a recent
condo development, you were lucky that everything
lined up. If you were replacing doors in an older
house it's almost certain that you'd need to trim
the door and that nothing would line up exactly.
In most cases the striker plate wouldn't even be
similar. All the doors in my house have settled, so
none are square. They all use old fashioned doors
and hinges. They were all hung by hand more than
a century ago, at a time when there was no reason
to care that every door frame have hinges in exactly
the same spot. If I bought pre-bored/pre-mortised
doors I'd have to do a lot of filling.

On Tue, 13 Jan 2015 11:00:57 -0500, "Mayayana"
wrote:

| With all due respect, Jerry is wrong. I've bought many pre
| bored doors and they worked fine.
| Door knob height is standard, so unless the person that
| installed the doors previously screwed them up, they will
| work.

Nothing is necessarily standard when you're
actually doing the job. If you replaced 6'8" doors
in modern door frames, in something like a recent
condo development, you were lucky that everything
lined up. If you were replacing doors in an older
house it's almost certain that you'd need to trim
the door and that nothing would line up exactly.
In most cases the striker plate wouldn't even be
similar. All the doors in my house have settled, so
none are square. They all use old fashioned doors
and hinges. They were all hung by hand more than
a century ago, at a time when there was no reason
to care that every door frame have hinges in exactly
the same spot. If I bought pre-bored/pre-mortised
doors I'd have to do a lot of filling.


That's what I was gonna say......
If the doors were being replaced into factory made frames, (which came
with a door), there may be a standard, but if the house is older, the
frames were likely made for that house, by hand, and there are no
standards. And like you said, there is settling and other stuff to
consider.

If the doors are being replaced, it's likely they are older than the
factory made ones.

In my own house, there was a door missing on a room. I had a door that
would fit the frame, but the striker was off by around 5". I used the
door, but I had to fill the old striker hole in the frame with wood
putty. Fortunately the hinges were darn near right, but even there I
used a a little putty to make up about 1/4". Some people would replace
the frame, but I'm not that picky. I was happy to just get a door on
there and not cost me anything other than my time and a can of putty.

In ,
ChairMan typed:
Meanie wrote:
On 1/12/2015 8:34 PM, ChairMan wrote:
In ,
Meanie belched:
A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of
various sizes for
her parents home. According to her they are mostly
closet doors. She
is purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously,
this means all
doors will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges
and she asked
me if I would do it.

Normally, I would do a single door or two of my own and
never
worried about a template and routed the hinge by placing
guides for
the router based on my measurements, but it was time
consuming. I
don't want to spend all day or two doing 9 doors,
therefore, I
think it's best if I use a template. I'm seeking
suggestions on
what template to use/buy or suggestions on getting
through the job
fast. Thanks

Just have her buy pre-bored doors


As Jerry already mentioned, doors without the frames will
not be
pre-bored because they have to match with the frame they
are being
hung on.
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus
software.
http://www.avast.com

With all due respect, Jerry is wrong. I've bought many pre
bored doors and they worked fine.
Door knob height is standard, so unless the person that
installed the doors previously screwed them up, they will
work.
Take your tape and measure existing handle heighth and check
it against a pre bore, they should be the same

I agree that some suppliers have pre-bored interior door slabs (slabs means
just the door, not pre-hung) and some do not. I think I found locally that
Home Depot has them and Lowes does not, or vice versa.

If they are standard size doors, not custom size doors, the choice of
pre-bore or not pre-bore may be available by checking with different
suppliers. Or, if they are custom sized doors, usually the custom order can
specify pre-bored or not pre-bored.

Of course, if the are pre-bored, that will probably mean modifying the holes
in the door frame to accommodate the new door latches. But, that is easier
than doing the doorknob bore in my opinion.

Also, the pre-bored or not pre-bored question does not have anything to do
with the hinges as far as I know.

As far as what the buy for a template kit, I had the same question. I ended
up buying a template kit at Home Depot and I had a choice of 2 types, I
think. I ended up buying the slightly less expensive version which had some
kind of spring-loaded metal clips that were supposed to hold the template in
place. It didn't work very well and I wished that I had bought the most
expensive template kit that they had instead of the one I bought. I don't
have any more details on that, so I can't tell the OP which model I bought
and what my choices were. I just know that I would definitely buy the more
expensive template next time.

Mayayana wrote:
With all due respect, Jerry is wrong. I've bought many
pre
bored doors and they worked fine.
Door knob height is standard, so unless the person that
installed the doors previously screwed them up, they will
work.

Nothing is necessarily standard when you're
actually doing the job. If you replaced 6'8" doors
in modern door frames, in something like a recent
condo development, you were lucky that everything
lined up. If you were replacing doors in an older
house it's almost certain that you'd need to trim
the door and that nothing would line up exactly.
In most cases the striker plate wouldn't even be
similar. All the doors in my house have settled, so
none are square. They all use old fashioned doors
and hinges. They were all hung by hand more than
a century ago, at a time when there was no reason
to care that every door frame have hinges in exactly
the same spot. If I bought pre-bored/pre-mortised
doors I'd have to do a lot of filling.

Okay, maybe a century old house they wouldn't work, but
anything built within 20 -30 years they should.
I replaced 26 doors in my home and all were spot on, besides
trimming the bottoms a bit for carpet.
The OP did not give the age of the house, so yes there are
LOTS of variables
YMMV

Mayayana wrote:
For starters, I've never chiseled out mortises. I've always used a
router. Therefore, I don't want to start practicing on someone else
new doors nor want to do 9 of them when it'll require some time for
me with just one.

Prehung doors are out of the question, she already bought the doors.
But even so, I'd rather drill and mortise 9 doors than remove the
entire door and jamb then reinstall 9 new ones.


In that case, it might be worth taking a look at
HD or a lumber yard. I've seen people use aluminum
router templates. Some are long templates that
can do 3 hinges at once. They look very handy, but
I don't know what they cost.

I do , and they ain't cheap . Meanie's best bet is to make a template from
one of the hinges . MEANIE make sure your template is closed on all 4 sides
so it fully supports the router , or use a router with an oversize bottopm
plate so it is fully supported for the whole mortise .
40+ years in building trades has taught me a few things ... among them
that bee hive components don't need the level of precision that a $35,000
reception desk requires .
--
Snag
Gues what I was building today ?

On 1/12/2015 17:03, Meanie wrote:
A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of various sizes for her
parents home. According to her they are mostly closet doors. She is
purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously, this means all doors
will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges and she asked me if I
would do it.

As an amateur carpenter I replaced several interior doors and mortised
for the hinges using a router and commercially available hinge template
jig that cost about $10. I stacked the old door on top of the new and
scribed the hinge positions using a combination square. I purchased
another template jig for the lockset and found it just as easy to use a
chisel instead of a router for the strike. I also had to rip about 1/4
each from the edge in order for the door to fit the frame. Each door
took about two hours not including painting.

On 1/14/2015 5:53 PM, Bob wrote:
On 1/12/2015 17:03, Meanie wrote:
A friend is purchasing 9 interior 6-panel doors of various sizes for her
parents home. According to her they are mostly closet doors. She is
purchasing the door only and no frame. Obviously, this means all doors
will need to be drilled and mortised for hinges and she asked me if I
would do it.

As an amateur carpenter I replaced several interior doors and mortised
for the hinges using a router and commercially available hinge template
jig that cost about $10. I stacked the old door on top of the new and
scribed the hinge positions using a combination square. I purchased
another template jig for the lockset and found it just as easy to use a
chisel instead of a router for the strike. I also had to rip about 1/4
each from the edge in order for the door to fit the frame. Each door
took about two hours not including painting.



I haven't done it for quite some time but that sounds about right.