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I’m currently doing the trim on a custom victorian reproduction and the customer has bought “fast-fit” MDF doors. For the closets we’re using two fast-fi doors, the two hinge jams, and, making a new head-jam for the double width. The trouble is that many of the doors have a bow in them (from the lock bore to the bottom along the latch side, it looks like a curled piece of paper, about 1/4″+ of warp); and, because in the double configuration one of the doors is reversed, the error is compounded.
These doors have a grain texture and can’t be surfaced planed; does anyone know a way to straighted MDF doors ?
Replies
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Sorry but I have never been successful at straightening MDF. If it goes, it's gone.
Big myth that it won't warp.
Chris
*You get what you pay for. Sorry.Ed. Williams
*Phill, what's a "fast fit" door? Now, "slow fit" I know all about.I guess you've gone through them to see if you can't get any to cuddle in the same direction.
*Phil, sounds like they are mis-marked. Should read "No fit"? Joe H
*It's a packaged door (door, hinges, pre-machined jams); you assemble the three jam pieces (the hinge side reverses end-for-end, the latch side flips side-for-side); hang the jam at one hinge; loosely mount the hinges; install the door and tighten the hinges; then square the jam around the door. With 'wood' jams, they're pretty good; with MDF jams, it's a little frustrating because the jams twist and bow like construction paper: trying to join two of these kits together to make a double closet door can give you headache.These doors have been sitting on-site for several weeks, supposedly inside in the warm and dry; but, they feel damp to the touch.
*Well, they were never designed to have two kits joined together to form a double door.
*Would you say the warp was caused by packaging tensions, storage with the weight of the door or some other weight bending the material, a surface treatment that caused unequal loading (such as when plam is applied to one side and not another)?? Could you reverse any of the above with a treatment that would last? Apply a weight to the convex side to straighten the section then seal it good.?Are you locked in with these doors or can you change the slabs to something more stable?
*To any of you not familier,these are a door basically designed for the handyman or DIY market.Many builders in and around Toronto use them as well,,but they do make double configurations in all the standard sizes.What a curse that these things even get brought on to a site that is referred to as,"a custom victorian repoduction",certainly shows just what many people know about this type of work.It is possable to straighten them,by stacking them flat and weighting them till they are dry,or clamp a straight edge on them,blocked in such a way to force the warp out,,may help to dampen them a bit before hand.I have done this myself a few times and it worked,,but paint them all around asap.
*Stuck with them I'm afraid, at least downstairs there will be real wood french doors (I hope they're real wood, I haven't seen them yet).
*Phil, The [CM108] doors will also swell shut after you paint them, so be forewarned. Pre-hung units in our region retail for $65.00 or less and include the bore, both sides of unit with primed 356 casing, and 3 - 3-1/2" hinges on 4-9/16 split jambs. CM108's are also available in bi-fold and bi-pass doors. They are sometimes a challange to keep bi-folds flush and plumb on 4-0, 5-0, and 6-0 units in the center where they meet and the warp prone bi-passes are a write-off. Even when "acclimated to proposed ambient area to be installed" the CM108s will swell shut and warp and forget about using them in a basement. The solid core units are a little better. If the door slabs you are using are swing-reversable ,I'd bet the bore is half-way up the door, too.
*At least the latch bores are reasonable - the hinge mortises are symetrical, so the door reverses by which-ever way you mount the hinge (it has only one way up). I've heard somewhere that sometimes a heat-gun can be used to straighten these doors; but, I asked a retired carp at HD yesterday while I was in getting a price-match (boy, does that cut down on tool costs) and he just winced.
*FastFit, made by PremDor??? Hinge gains on most of the MDF jambs don't line up properly with the gains (mortises) on the doors. They also don't realize the bevel on a 1'6 door should be a little steeper than a 2'6 door. Have fun.
*Phill, Try resting the slabs on saw horses and let a fan blow on them about a day. Also works on post formed countertops . . . Scott
*Yep, figured that one out early - you have to add about 1/32 of mortise to the top and bottom of the door mortises and they go in better.
*Okay, I'll suggest that - I'm also going to try the heat-gun/plant mister trick.
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I'm currently doing the trim on a custom victorian reproduction and the customer has bought "fast-fit" MDF doors. For the closets we're using two fast-fi doors, the two hinge jams, and, making a new head-jam for the double width. The trouble is that many of the doors have a bow in them (from the lock bore to the bottom along the latch side, it looks like a curled piece of paper, about 1/4"+ of warp); and, because in the double configuration one of the doors is reversed, the error is compounded.
These doors have a grain texture and can't be surfaced planed; does anyone know a way to straighted MDF doors ?