So all our bedroom doors have holes for rim locks from back when it was a boarding house. I’ve been thinking about how to fill the holes (about 2″ in diameter) and I think a dutchman is probably the best choice. But I’m open to other suggestions. I’ve got some matching wood from a door frame that was removed which I think will work well for dutchmen.
So any tips or pointers? How thick should I make the patch pieces? Since I have to put one on each side of the door, should I try and stuff the gap in between with Abatron putty? What is a good router bit and guide to use? What shape is good for this? I’m thinking sorta oval-pointed traditional, but maybe just square is easier?
A harder problem is the notch where the strike was. I’ve got a matching piece of trim to work from, but I’m not sure how I will cut a matching filler piece. I’ll try to post a picture of that part.
Replies
Bryan ,if the door is painted Bondo will fill the hole perfectly. Hot glue a piece of 1/4" plywood to each side of the hole. Stuff a piece of styrofoam between the plywood for rigidity. Put a couple of dozen staples in each piece of plywood. Pry the staples up a bit for a key. Mix bondo and apply. When dry sand and paint. Bondo doesn't shrink, so if you get the patch level or a bit high the first attempt you can,patch, sand and paint the same day.
Not sure about the strike plate, maybe replacing the trim would be easiest.
mike
No, the finish is orange shellac. I haven't spent all this time stripping paint and sanding just to re-paint.
I just did what you want to do last week- put dutchmen to fill the holes in some doors.
I used a router with a inlay collar, made a template, and the inlay collar made both the dutchman and the mortice in the door. You leave the extra collar on to make the dutches, and remove it to mortice the door.
I made the template out of 1/4" temp. masonite, and made it sort of a oval/diamond shape for the patches. The patches ended up being about 3/8" thick. I used double face tape to tack everything together while routing.
Two really nice things about using the inlay set- the dutch fits perfectly into the mortice, and you can easily contol the depth of the mortice. I made the dutch just a little proud so I could sand it perfectly flush.
I didn't have to deal with the trim where the strike was, but I would glue a patch in, and plane/carve/ sand it to fit. Another thing I've done in the past is "steal" trim from inside a closet for the more visible areas.
This is pretty much my thinking too. I'm planning to try for one template for the worst case (I've got about 5 doors, two sides each) and use the same template on all the doors. Did you use multiple sizes or just one?Also, what router, bit, and template did you use? I realize that I'm probably going to have to buy a new router for this, (rats! another excuse, err.. reason - yeah that's it - to buy another tool). There is an Hitachi kit that looks promising (I really want that 3 1/2 HP Milwakee, but it is a fixed base). So "inlay collar" is what I'm looking for?The issue with the casing is that there is a profile on the edge. So I can't sand to fit on the exposed edge - I'll need to keep removing the piece and sanding the interior edges to get a good fit. So I want to figure out a way to get me as close as possible right away. My closets don't have the same trim on the inside, but I do have two pieces from a door that got canceled. So I have matching wood, finish and profile, I just need a good way to make the patches.
I used a P-C plunge router (7529?), largely because that's what I own and the inlay bushing fit it.
Yeah, I only made one size template for all the holes. I had 2 doors to do, and it took longer to make the template than it did to route everything. But make sure your template is large enough to allow for the difference in sizes between the inlay bushing with the removable collar on , and without the removable collar. I didn't, and had to make a new template. D'oh!
I bought mine at a tool show a few years ago, but any number of tool dealers will carry it. Rockler calls it a inlay bushing & bit with removable collar, part # 83642, for $31.99
Were you able to route out the morise with the inlay bit? My patches are about 3 1/4" by 3 1/2" to cover both the hole and the recess of the rim lock, and I find that I can't route out all the mortise with the inlay bit. I think I'm going to borrow another router and use 1/2" straight bit to take out the bulk of the mortise. The inlay bit seems to not leave that smooth of a mortise, and it takes forever.
Yes , the mortice bit worked fine for me.
But, I only went a little less than 1/2" deep, and I set my plunge router to to it in 3 stages, so the bit wasn't pushed too hard. If you do 1/8" or so at a time, the mortice bit is fine.
I wasn't too worried about the smoothness of the bottom of the mortice. It wasn't perfect, but pretty good, good enough to glue.
I think each mortice only took a minute or 2 to do, and they were about the same size as yours. I was routing into chestnut, tho, which is pretty soft.
I wonder if your mortise bit and guide set are bigger than mine. If your patches are about the size of mine, I don't see how you had a problem with the guide fitting in the template. I don't come anywhere close to being limited. My bit is basically a spiral bit like in a roto-zip - about the size of an 1/8" drill bit.My neighbor said he would lend me a second router. I think if I put out side limit blocks on my template, that should work. I've got 7 doors to do, two sides each.
I think there was a misunderstanding. I didn't have a problem with the guide fitting the template. I made the first template wrong, so it wasn't big enough to cover the old holes. The guides fit fine, the operator had some brain problems. LOL
My bit is a 1/8" spiral. As long as I didn't push too hard, there was no problem. I would like to get some larger inlay guides for larger work.. I saw that Woodworker's Supply has them. Now I've just have to order them before I need them.
Thanks! Yes, I mis-read what you said about the size of the template. I have yellow pine doors - kinda hard, especially with shellac on them. I'm trying to preserve the sides I did not have to strip.I'll have to look at my woodworkers supply catalog. I saw large template guides, but I don't recall seeing the inlay guides any bigger.
On page # 58, from catalog #213, fall 2005
oversize inlay guide bushings- 5 pc. set is catalog # 959-596 for $64.49
they also have a 4 pc. set for $59.99, cat. # 959-603