All How-To Topics
|
|
Door-trimming jig
comments (0) January 31st, 2011 in Project Gallery
Official Fine Homebuilding Post, editor
24 users recommend
Click the "thumbs up" button above to vote for this tip. Help us choose Fine Homebuilding's top-10 window and door tips.
Photo: Drawing by Charles Miller
The hinge side of a door must be trimmed to width at 90°. The latch side is usually trimmed at 5° off vertical for a beveled edge. Making these long cuts straight and smooth is easy with this two-sided jig.
First, buy a fine-toothed blade for your circular saw. I prefer a carbide-tipped plywood blade. Mount it on the saw arbor, and then use a combination square to make sure that the saw's base is 90° to the blade.
Build the jig with 1/4-in. Masonite, 8 ft. long and about 12 in. wide. Accurately place a straight Masonite guide strip, 2 in. wide, down the middle, gluing and tacking it firmly into position. Leave dimensions A and B large at first. When the glue is dry, trim the sides with your saw -- one side with the blade set at 0°, the other side with the blade set at 5°. Mark the respective sides clearly. When the jig is clamped to the work, the appropriate edge will register the line of cut. For smooth operation, apply furniture wax or car wax to the surfaces on which the saw's baseplate slides.
For crossgrain cuts, first run a knife along the cutline to sever the surface fibers of the wood. This will eliminate splintering, which can be a problem with veneered doors.
Philip Zimmerman, Berkeley, CA
posted in: Project Gallery, windows, doors
|
|
|
|
-
How to Paint Fiber-Cement Siding
Painter Jim Lacey shares some tips for caulking and painting fiber-cement siding. read more
|
|
The Best Door and Window Tips
Give you're favorite tip a thumbs up
Browse through this collection of Fine Homebuilding reader-submitted window and door tips, and tell us which ones are the most, useful, interesting, and innovative. We'll tally the thumbs up and make a pdf download of the ten favorite tips.
Have a better tip to share?
Stop by our There's a Better Way Quick Tips page and post your own ingenious construction solutions.
Comments (0)
You must be logged in to post comments. Click here to login.