[xenon]

I need to plane an internal door to stop it dragging on new floor. I have an electric planer but any suggestions or tricks of the trade on how I can hold / support the door whilst I do this? I can only think of roping someone else in to hold it while I plane it.

[isleaiw1]

Dont you need a workbench or whatever they are called to hold it firmly? Not sure a person will hold it steady enough to get a clean square edge.... but my DIY skills are on a par with my ability to speak Latin...

[Pentland]

. but my DIY skills are on a par with my ability to speak Latin...[/QUOTE]

I see (or read) what you did there.

Anyway, planes for smoothing and levelling wood, saws for trimming and cutting.

Quite literally, a couple of workmates are required. Alternatively, door off, plenty of blankets for protecting any contact points of the door and get it on its thin edge leaning the on the bench at 45 degrees and the grip the top (or bottom) where you are gong to work on in the vice.

[Sennen]

I personally would use a hand saw and take your time.

An electric plane is likely to split the timber especially if it is a cheap door.

[Pond]

Originally Posted by Sennen

I personally would use a hand saw and take your time.

An electric plane is likely to split the timber especially if it is a cheap door.

Yep. Unless you are very experienced with using an electric planer, you WILL wreck one edge or the other (probably both).

The door needs to be removed, held firmly in a 'workmate' type thing and use a fine toothed tenon saw. You can use a 'normal' wood saw if you are experienced, but they are very flexible and difficult to get a neat, straight cut.

I have planed many a door, but tend to use a hand planer as they are much less aggressive and easier to control than an electric thing with the blade spinning at a million times a second. If you ask any carpenter, they will tell you that fitting internal doors correctly is the most skilled job they do.

If the door isn't solid (most aren't) there will just be a thin piece of timber along the bottom, top and both sides for 'adjustment'. Be very, very careful you don't cut all of that away, or the door will just fall to pieces in a cloud of sawdust and paper (they are filled with corrugated paper) .

[xenon]

Only needs a bit shaving off (<3mm) but maybe a tenon saw is best. The door was over £200 so not cheap. At least, not to me.
It's a fire-rated door so presumably not filled with corrugated paper.

Thanks.

[polloser]

Electric planer or a track saw is what I would use. If using the plane I would draw a line right round the door where you want the finish to be and scribe it carefully with a sharp knife using a long level to work against, this should limit splintering and give you a visible line to work to. Set the plane to take off a small amount and work from the edge towards the middle of the door but lift the plane off before getting to the opposite end as that is what causes the ends to chip. Just keep checking your work against the pencil line and it's obviously better to have to refit the door and check a couple of times rather than take too much off at once.

[GOF_430d]

Just a thought, if the door has dropped [especially as its a heavy fire rated door] have you checked that the hinges are secure or rather that the screws are tight - this has happened to me a couple of times.

[polloser]

Also to add an electric planer will make a terrible mess unless it hooked up to a good dust extraction setup, unless you have that I would advise doing it outdoors.

[xenon]

Originally Posted by GOF_430d

Just a thought, if the door has dropped [especially as its a heavy fire rated door] have you checked that the hinges are secure or rather that the screws are tight - this has happened to me a couple of times.

It's to clear newly-laid flooring.

[xenon]

Originally Posted by polloser

scribe it carefully with a sharp knife using a long level to work against, this should limit splintering and give you a visible line to work to.

Good advice, thanks.

[GOF_430d]

Originally Posted by xenon

It's to clear newly-laid flooring.

Ah Ok, then ignore my comment.

[xenon]

Originally Posted by GOF_430d

Ah Ok, then ignore my comment.

But thanks for your suggestion

[Alscoob]

Electric plane as mentioned by polloser above. To cut less than 3mm with a saw is difficult to do when you consider the thickness of the saw itself.

After we had new carpets fitted I had to trim 9 doors at first floor, all done with electric plane. Fortunately it was summer so did them all outside to keep the mess out of the house, down side was lugging them up & down the stairs but fortunately they were not fire doors!

I had two 'A' frame things and laid the doors flat on these, used neoprene rubber over the tops of 'A' frames so as not to damage the doors and to stop them sliding about.

As mentioned work from edge in towards middle, you can continue across the door but ensure you lift / stop the plane before it gets near the edge you are heading towards. Plane blades work in a clockwise direction and that action will want to splinter / lift the edge that is not restrained by the door bottom timber.

Something like these works... https://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-f...SABEgJHgvD_BwE

[DaveA]

By far the best tips here are "do it outside"... Having had similar work done recently, our joiner was doing all the planing, sawing etc outside and with the amount of dust that even "little" jobs produced, it was well necessary...

Not done it myself, so cannot comment on the right/wrong tools...

[Watsey]

Depending on the tools you have available, I'd use a track saw with the cutting depth set to around half depth. Make two cuts, one from each side. Measure accurately so as to avoid a step in the underside of the door.

That way the blade will be cutting into the material at 90 degrees, rather than a planer which will cut at close to 0 degrees (i.e. laterally rather than perpendicularly).

The other benefit of a track saw is the rubber edge helps to reduce splintering and rip-out as the blade leaves the material.

[Kendo67]

I fitted eight hardwood doors around the abode a few years ago , had to plane them on all four faces , great excuse to buy a decent planner.

Ended up with an Erbauer which did the job perfectly , it even had a dust bag attachment to keep the dust to a minimum , incremental adjustable from a "baw hair" up to 4mm on softwood.

K

[Wills2]

I hung 7 doors once years ago, I used a power planer the results were interesting and variable but the doors got hung, I did it single handed and that's not easy as doors are heavy and large, you need to be able to secure he door when your planing those power planers are no joke.

[neilr]

Joiner here,
Three easiest options, tracksaw if you have access, other than that Circular Saw with a sharp blade running against some kind of straight edge clamped to the door. Take your time and make several passes increasing the depth with each pass until you get through the door.
Electric planer, mark the door with a line you want to plane to and plane from either edge towards the middle at the smallest depth option on the planer working up to the line.
Planers are great for edge work, not so much on the top or bottom of doors.

[xenon]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-fit-Inn...s%2C161&sr=8-6

These helped and job is done. I scribed with a sharp knife as suggested, and used the plane from the edge inwards, lifting before reaching the other edge. Worked out well.
Thanks all for the advice.