How to...Home Page

Fitting a Door Main Page

Cutting the door

• When cutting a door to fit, be sure to remove an equal amount of wood from each side and from the top and bottom, up to a maximum of 12mm i.e. 6mm from each edge.
  
• Use a panel saw to cut off relatively wide strips from the door before you smooth the edges with a plane.
  
• Better still, use a circular saw. Guide the saw on a straight line by running it against a stout wooden batten clamped to the face of the door. Do not cut down to the marked lines - leave a small amount for finishing with a plane.
  
• Use a bench plane for final fitting, taking off fine wood shavings until the door fits perfectly.
  
• An electric planer saves work. It removes wood so quickly there is no need for a saw when removing thick waste.
  
• When planing the top and bottom of the door, work from the sides towards the centre to avoid splitting the wood at the corners.