Interior door making #8: Measure twice cut twice: part deux

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This is part 8 in a 9 part series: Interior door making

I seem to have a knack for doing things backward. This time I cut the hinge mortises on the door upside down, meaning I thought the top was the bottom and vice verse, so they don’t line up with the frame hinge (or the other doors in the hallway – bad! . Filling that large of a hole and making it flat would be time consuming and difficult. So I filled them with a bit of wood shaped like the hinge. I cut the pieces to size on the tablesaw and cut the corners on the bandsaw. Now I have just a very small filling job to look forward to.

I was really hoping to get these guys installed this weekend, which was a very ambitious schedule. I only have a couple of hours per week night to work, so this mistake cost me an entire calendar day. It’s still technically possible to finish this weekend if I can get them primed AND one side painted tonight. But I still have to sand one door and fill both, so this is really cutting it close. But being Friday, I’ll have more time after work than I usually do. We shall see.

Losing fingers since 1969

working on this casket I had to make compound cuts and left and rights and since the molding is different on one edge than the other , I’ve made at least a dozen wrong cuts . Lucky for me I only loose the couple of inches , because I can cut the bad angle off .

Wheaties

Good thinking there.

I do some of that too, always when I am in a hurry.

Abbas, Castro Valley, CA

I’m always in a rush with these doors. Even more so now that I’m close to finishing this project after 2 years. They take up a lot of space and there are many tasks involved including drying time. I got everything painted on one side yesterday. This morning I’ll paint the other side and start rewiring my bedroom closet for a jamb switch. Maybe get one in tonight and one tomorrow. That would be record time. One week start to finish. I don’t think I’ve done that for 1 for much less 2.

Losing fingers since 1969

Good fix. We all make mistakes like that from time to time. The best idea is to have the hinges mounted the same distance from the top and the bottom. Probably not a very useful suggestion since you are almost done now.

Mike, an American living in Norway