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This should be an easy question for someone who installs a lot of doors:
Is there any good shortcuts for installing the locksets? Particularly I’m wondering about how you install the plate on the frame. There’s a number of sets out there for drilling the proper holes in the door, but there’s not much support for the jamb side of the install.
Obviously you can do the basic mark the plate location, chisel out a little wood, and drill a hole to accept the deadbolt.
Is there any shortcut – like those templates you use to install a hinge – whack it into the hinge location and it cuts the outline to chisel to.
Thanks
Replies
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Here's what I'd do if I didn't have my set of drills, clamps, stamps, etc. for installing door hardware:
1. Mark a horizontal line at the level of the hardware. Extend this mark across the door edge and to the other side.
2. Measure from the door edge the 2-3/8" or 2-3/4" setback for the hardware you're gonna install, and make a mark on the horizontal lines on each side of the door.
3. Probably you're gonna use a 2-1/8" hole saw for the lockset or dead bolt. Drill fron one side until you're about halfway through, then drill from the other side. If you've been careful, the holes will line up.
4. Now drill a horizontal hole about 1/8" dia. from the center of the mark on the door edge into the large hole you've made in the door.
5. From the large hole, insert an 8d nail into the 1/8" hole. Close the door against the weather stripping, and push the nail into the jamb to mark the location you will use for the bore which underlies the strike plate on the jamb.
6. Now drill out the 1/8" hole to the diameter of the bolt mechanism. (Typically 7/8, 15/16 or 1")
7. Next, insert the bolt mechanism into the door edge, drill pilot holes for the screws, and screw it lightly but firmly into place.
8. With your utility knife, mark the outling of the bolt mounting plate on the door edge. Do not use a pencil. Hold the knife edge perpendicular to the plate.
9. Remove the bolt/plate assembly. With your utility knife, deepen the marks you have made to about 1/8". Take your time. Use a sharp blade and don't let it slip.
10. Now chisel out the mortised area for the bolt plate.
11. Test fit by pressing the plate into your opening UPSIDE DOWN... that is, with the bolt sticking into the door edge and the mechanism projection out.
12. Nice fit, huh? OK, now deepen the mortised area to accept the support beneath the bolt plate, and as you test fit, make sure the bolt mechanism is not striking the "rear" of the 2-1/8" hole.
13. Remember the mark on the jamb? Dril a 1" hole there deep enough to accept the bolt (through drill for a dead bolt).
14. When you install the striker plate, fasten it first to the jamb, and use it as a template for marking again with your utility knife. Again, cut deep, then mortise the area with your chisel.
15. Nice, crisp fit, huh?
16. I forgot step zero: Get Rubbermade stool from truck, provided subs aren't already borrowing it. Saves wear and tear on knees.
Good luck, Steve
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Thanks for the advice - your way of marking for the plates is a good idea. I've pencil outlined it before and then punched the outline with a chisel (straight down), but the results are only so-so.
One more question for you though. When you say "my set of drills, clamps, stamps, etc.", does that involve special tools, or just jigs you've put together to speed up the process? Does someone make a stamp for the job?
Thanks.
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b WBA At Your Service
Steve, Why does your list have about 10 more entries than the Kwikset instructions I read this morning ?
J.
My company invested in a Schlage lock boring kit about 7 years ago that was worth every bit of its 450.00 price tag. It came with a set of dies like the hinge butt gauge you have used, that are designed to mark the mortise on the jamb. Steve gave you some good advice on how to locate the jamb mounted strike plate with a nail. For your information, the centerline of the strike is also the centerline of the door. If you are hanging a 1 3/8" door, center the strike at half this distance (11/16") from the edge of the jamb. The strike's centerline is almost always the centerline of the mounting screw holes.
I have a cheap plastic jig from PorterCable ($20) which is available anywhere which does a great job for routing strikeplates.
If you are really interested in any of the marking dies from Schlage, I would call your local commercial door hardware supplier for assistance.I'm sure they could be purchased individually without buying the entire boring jig. If you don't get any help, e-mail me and I will call my supplier for you.
Good luck.
*If you have a Tool Crib catalog, check the page on "Door Hanging Tools" and look at the boring jig set by Classic Engineering. You may also be able to find this item at .Once you set the elevation of your hardware (by marking a horizontal line on the centerline) you clamp a guide on the door edge. The guide serves as a guide for boring the holes in the door. The door edge is bored with a 1" hole, and then a 1" dowel with a pin in its center at one end slides through the edge bore to mark the jamb (achieving the same thing as the 8d nail in my original post).The strike markers have a plug which inserts into the bore on the door edge or the jamb, depending upon which plate you're marking. Smack it with a hammer, and the perimeter of the plate is marked.(I don't hit the markers too hard, since I like to use my utility knife to outline the perimeter of the plates... My chisel never seems sharp enough to avoid crushing the end grain)My set is a less expensive version distributed by Kwikset, which does'nt include the 1-1/2" forstner bit, but does have a 1" auger bit for the latch bolt assembly. Buy enough Titan hardware and you distributor just might give you one. I think it can be purchased for about $100 to $200.Hope this helps, Steve
*Tim, that Schlage rig sounds top-notch! My Kwikset kit is OK, but as a remodeler, I give it only occasional use.I just went out to my shop and found some Kwikset instructions. I guess I did give a lot of steps, but hey!, Kwikset gives eight... I exercised much of my verbosity dealing with the utility knife marking technique. It makes my hair hurt to see sloppily installed hardware on an expenive door. I get minor scalp pain spasms when I see a poor job on a cheap door, too. Somewhere, someplace, an old-timer taught me to use the utility knife as a marker whenever a fine fit was required, and I couldn't restrain myself form sharing.Back to the Kwikset instructions: The 1/8" and 8d nail trick is there for the reading, and maybe that's where I got the idea, or maybe some old ace shared it with me. No intent on my part to claim to have invented the technique.Regards, Steve
*Ditto on the use of the utility knife. Only way to go.Loved your instructions Steve. Never did the nail trick. Will try that next time. Always installed the lockset and used lipstick on the bolt to locate strike plate position. Nail sounds easier.Easier yet, most the doors I install are low grade that my boss buys. Theyr'e mostly prehungs and already predrilled!Davo.
*Funny, all the pre-drilled doors I have seen lately seem to come without the jamb predrilled & mortised for anything but the lockset. No big deal though, I am always looking for new ways to spend my time.
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This should be an easy question for someone who installs a lot of doors:
Is there any good shortcuts for installing the locksets? Particularly I'm wondering about how you install the plate on the frame. There's a number of sets out there for drilling the proper holes in the door, but there's not much support for the jamb side of the install.
Obviously you can do the basic mark the plate location, chisel out a little wood, and drill a hole to accept the deadbolt.
Is there any shortcut - like those templates you use to install a hinge - whack it into the hinge location and it cuts the outline to chisel to.
Thanks