I am trying to replace a door knob for a very old door and it seems like
the latch hole for the door is very big compared to the new knob latches
they make nowadays. Its much easier to make something smaller, but here
its the opposite. I am wondering if i should get a new door or are there
workarounds this issue?

Thanks.

P.S. Here is a pic of the latch hole, its the 9th picture from the top and
has somone with a chisel on it:

http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/d...nstall/new.htm

The pic caption says: "The we used a 1" wide chisel to carefully cut out
the recess for the latch".

Its that latch hole that is at least 4-5inches long in the old door and
the knew knob i bought has a latch that is only like 1.5inches long.

"gk245" wrote in message newspr5wx3xa0qp3ppy@debian...

I am trying to replace a door knob for a very old door and it seems like
the latch hole for the door is very big compared to the new knob latches
they make nowadays. Its much easier to make something smaller, but here
its the opposite. I am wondering if i should get a new door or are there
workarounds this issue?

Thanks.

Sounds like the old mortise type setups I had in my last house. Why not
make a big plug to fit the existing hole? Glue it in place, use a little
filler, then re-drill as needed.

Before you replace the door, stop and take a good look at what you have.
Some older homes had very nice solid wood panel doors. In the sixties people
tore them out to put in modern crappy luan flush doors as that was high
style for the day. Now they are paying a fortune to get the panel doors
back.

You may be able to find a new handle and lockset from a restoration supply
house. That way you would have a good working, authentic style door and
hardware.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

In article ,
"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:

Sounds like the old mortise type setups I had in my last house. Why not
make a big plug to fit the existing hole? Glue it in place, use a little
filler, then re-drill as needed.

That's what I've done with fine results. Make the patch thick but snug
to fit the existing mortise. After the glue cures use a hand plane to
level the new patch to the door edge surface.

Before you replace the door, stop and take a good look at what you have.
Some older homes had very nice solid wood panel doors. In the sixties people
tore them out to put in modern crappy luan flush doors as that was high
style for the day. Now they are paying a fortune to get the panel doors
back.

I pick up every decent old door I come across.

You may be able to find a new handle and lockset from a restoration supply
house. That way you would have a good working, authentic style door and
hardware.

Yes, Van Dyke's Restorers on the net is a good place for repro door lock
hardware. Here in Portland there's a place called Hippo Hardware that is
chock full of salvaged house parts like mortise locks.

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
Offering a shim for the Porter-Cable 557 type 2 fence design.
http://www.flybynightcoppercompany.com
http://www.easystreet.com/~onlnlowe/index.html

Also, you may want to look at the "Commercial" latches. They are typically
longer than a standard door latch and available at the borgs.

Bob S.