Hi, folks,
I'm doing some trim work on my old house and I have discovered a big
ol' HOLE in a wooden panel. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a cat
door or something, but it's not cut out nice and square so I can
easily patch it, it's very ragged and irregular, though vaguely square-
shaped, about 8 inches square.

Any thoughts on how to best cut a little panel to fit in there?

Thanks!

ds

largecorp took a can of maroon spray paint on October 20, 2007 09:25 am and
wrote the following:

Hi, folks,
I'm doing some trim work on my old house and I have discovered a big
ol' HOLE in a wooden panel. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a cat
door or something, but it's not cut out nice and square so I can
easily patch it, it's very ragged and irregular, though vaguely square-
shaped, about 8 inches square.

Any thoughts on how to best cut a little panel to fit in there?

Painted wood? or a natural finish?

If painted, just fit as best as you can, then putty/filler or your choice,
then sand and paint.

If a natural finish, good luck, consider painting, then see above.

--
Lits Slut #9
Life would be so much easier if we could just look at the source code.

On Oct 20, 9:25 am, largecorp wrote:
Hi, folks,
I'm doing some trim work on my old house and I have discovered a big
ol' HOLE in a wooden panel. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a cat
door or something, but it's not cut out nice and square so I can
easily patch it, it's very ragged and irregular, though vaguely square-
shaped, about 8 inches square.

Any thoughts on how to best cut a little panel to fit in there?

My first thought is a router with an inlay set-up, or just a couple of
appropriately sized collars. See the link below for more details -
click on "Instr" in the price line.

JP

on 10/20/2007 9:25 AM largecorp said the following:
Hi, folks,
I'm doing some trim work on my old house and I have discovered a big
ol' HOLE in a wooden panel. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a cat
door or something, but it's not cut out nice and square so I can
easily patch it, it's very ragged and irregular, though vaguely square-
shaped, about 8 inches square.

Any thoughts on how to best cut a little panel to fit in there?

Thanks!

ds



Find a piece of matching panel, and cut out a square patch bigger than
the hole. Place the patch on the wall to cover the hole all around. With
a pencil, trace around the patch. Cut the ragged hole square using the
pencil markings.
I hope this is a painted panel. Matching the wood grain will be a challenge.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

largecorp wrote:
Hi, folks,
I'm doing some trim work on my old house and I have discovered a big
ol' HOLE in a wooden panel. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a cat
door or something, but it's not cut out nice and square so I can
easily patch it, it's very ragged and irregular, though vaguely square-
shaped, about 8 inches square.

Any thoughts on how to best cut a little panel to fit in there?

Thanks!

ds

You may find that enlarging the hole to make it regular will help. If
it's a painted surface, to paraphrase Frozen: SPACKLE! and paint. If
natural finish look for existing seams or edges and enlarge to that
point. Match the wood and finish as best you can. If that doesn't do
the job to your satisfaction, SPACKLE and paint.
the SPACKLE kid,
jo4hn

On Sat, 20 Oct 2007 06:25:50 -0700, largecorp wrote:

Hi, folks,
I'm doing some trim work on my old house and I have discovered a big
ol' HOLE in a wooden panel. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a cat
door or something, but it's not cut out nice and square so I can
easily patch it, it's very ragged and irregular, though vaguely square-
shaped, about 8 inches square.

Any thoughts on how to best cut a little panel to fit in there?

Thanks!

ds

If none of the suggestions above work, hang a picture over it or move furniture
in front of it..

Another option would be a contrasting/decorative panel, but I'd need more info
or pictures of the panel, I guess..


mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Hey, thanks for the suggestions, everybody. I didn't think of just
enlarging the hole to even it out. It's pretty tight quarters so even
that may be a bit of a challenge, but that would sure simplify
patching.

It is painted woodwork, so I don't have to worry about matching
anything--or being terribly precise due to the magic of spackling.

I wish I could just move furniture in front of it, but it actually is
a hole in the panel around the door, so I've got to seal it up.

Thanks again!

ds

On Oct 20, 9:25 am, largecorp wrote:
Hi, folks,
I'm doing some trim work on my old house and I have discovered a big
ol' HOLE in a wooden panel. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a cat
door or something, but it's not cut out nice and square so I can
easily patch it, it's very ragged and irregular, though vaguely square-
shaped, about 8 inches square.

Any thoughts on how to best cut a little panel to fit in there?

Cut another hole above it. Install a fan and make it into
a warm/cool air circulator.

largecorp wrote:
Hi, folks,
I'm doing some trim work on my old house and I have discovered a big
ol' HOLE in a wooden panel. I'm guessing it was supposed to be a cat
door or something, but it's not cut out nice and square so I can
easily patch it, it's very ragged and irregular, though vaguely
square- shaped, about 8 inches square.

Any thoughts on how to best cut a little panel to fit in there?

Get a cat.

On Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:37:49 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:


Get a cat.



You know... "Make it a feature" is an often overlooked, but very
useful method. G

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** http://www.bburke.com/woodworking.html **
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On Oct 20, 3:54 pm, B A R R Y wrote:
On Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:37:49 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:



Get a cat.

You know... "Make it a feature" is an often overlooked, but very
useful method. G


I thought we were going to keep that quiet?

*G*

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:40:14 -0700, Robatoy
wrote:

On Oct 20, 3:54 pm, B A R R Y wrote:
On Sat, 20 Oct 2007 14:37:49 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:



Get a cat.

You know... "Make it a feature" is an often overlooked, but very
useful method. G


I thought we were going to keep that quiet?

*G*



The cat would teach the OP all about it!

When a cat screws up, it just walks in a circle with the "I meant to
do that" expression. We woodworkers always want to point out flaws.

We can all learn from cats. G

---------------------------------------------
** http://www.bburke.com/woodworking.html **
---------------------------------------------

Can't you just hang a picture over the hole or put a chair or something
in front of it?
--
Better to be stuck up in a tree than tied to one.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org

On Oct 22, 2:36 pm, (Larry W) wrote:
Can't you just hang a picture over the hole or put a chair or something
in front of it?
--
Better to be stuck up in a tree than tied to one.

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar.org

I'm the OP and I'm glad I came back to see the suggestion "get a cat"!
Pretty funny.

For closure, here's what I wound up doing. I did enlarge the hole a
bit to make it close to square. I traced through the hole onto a piece
of cardboard to make a rough template. I cut a square piece of wood
and stuck the template on top. I used my bulging woodworker's muscles
and a hand plane to shape the square, and I got pretty darn close to
matching the hole.

Next I will glue and spackle, and pray to God that the cat doesn't try
to get back in!

Thanks for all the help.

ds