Oh yes I know that pain as well. I have a homemade "track" for my old circular saw. It does get used still on occasion but only for rough work now I have a proper track saw.
Trimming door bottom
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Oh yes I know that pain as well. I have a homemade "track" for my old circular saw. It does get used still on occasion but only for rough work now I have a proper track saw.
Bristol_Rob
Established Member
The secret to a clean cut is to scribe a line with a cutting gauge first. Then use a hand saw or track saw for perfect results. (Taught to me by my original apprenticeship master, far too long ago now)
You can actually buy(or hire maybe) a specific door trimming saw. Much like a circular saw but designed to work with the door already hung.
One side-opposite the motor/handle sits a minimum of 10mm to the ground.
I think I've heard iot called a 'Jamb Saw'
One side-opposite the motor/handle sits a minimum of 10mm to the ground.
I think I've heard iot called a 'Jamb Saw'
andy hamilton
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Thanks but I had a look online and a tracksaw wouldn't be suitable for us for various reasons - partly because we work mostly onsite and have enough kit to transport/load/unload but mainly becauseit wouldn't do anything better or faster than our current set-up. The combination of Makita cordless circular saws and our own jigs which take minutes to make and cost almost nothing are ideal for what we want. I agree clamping a straight edge at the correct offset isn't satisfactory, but that's the function of the narrow piece of straight edge we screw to the top face of the wide baseboard. It acts as a fence for the baseplate of the circular saw. Once we've run the saw along the fence to remove the excess from the baseboard edge we know the saw will cut exactly along that line. I can see that many woodworkers would find a tracksaw useful and I'm not averse to buying new tools, but being in business every tool we buy has to work for its living. A tracksaw wouldn't be any advantage for us and a decent one isn't cheap. I learnt years ago that cheap tools are nearly always a waste of money
Jonathan S
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Eric The Viking
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Track saw + new or sharpened blade AND a scoring cut (remember to go "backwards" doing this!). I find the resulting cut doesn't even need a pass with a plane.
It helps that my Makita track saw has a scoring setting, whch makes that bit easy, but even so, it's not a big deal.
[edit] You can do the same, door-still-hung- trick (in the video Doug linked-to above) with Makita, with the additional feature that Makita rails let you lock the saw on the rail (anti-tipping feature). I'd guess those Festool clamps would probably fit the Makita rails too. [/edit]
For the final cut I'd suggest having the blade deep-ish, so the teeth enter the door at a decently steep angle - this minimises splintering.
But don't forget: if these are modern interior doors, the middle bit is basically thin cardboard strips on edge in a honeycomb pattern (simply to space the two main surfaces apart), with small and nasty bits of softwood all round. If the doorway is small, the actual door might already have had a lot of the bottom softwood trimmed off in fitting, which is a right PITA to deal with.
I had to trim four doors in my daughter's house recently for carpets, and was annoyed to cut through into the honeycomb on two of them. The builder who fitted them left the tops tall (uncut), making further trimming for carpet clearance almost impossible. What made this worse was that the softwood strips weren't even fitted parallel to the door's original edges, but on a squint. So I ended up with a thin wedge of splintery softwood on the bottom!
In retrospect, I should have drilled through the hinge side with a small jobber drill, to see how much wood was left on the bottom of the door - if it hit free air, obviously, no bottom batten at that point! Such small holes could then be easily filled for painting. If there isn't enough wood left, I guess the only option is to trim the top, move the hinge positions, then trim the lock and hinge sides as necesary (frames are rarely true) - PITA.
The doors came from Wickes, BTW. Abysmal quality (even if every other shed sells the same stuff, that is really no excuse).
It helps that my Makita track saw has a scoring setting, whch makes that bit easy, but even so, it's not a big deal.
[edit] You can do the same, door-still-hung- trick (in the video Doug linked-to above) with Makita, with the additional feature that Makita rails let you lock the saw on the rail (anti-tipping feature). I'd guess those Festool clamps would probably fit the Makita rails too. [/edit]
For the final cut I'd suggest having the blade deep-ish, so the teeth enter the door at a decently steep angle - this minimises splintering.
But don't forget: if these are modern interior doors, the middle bit is basically thin cardboard strips on edge in a honeycomb pattern (simply to space the two main surfaces apart), with small and nasty bits of softwood all round. If the doorway is small, the actual door might already have had a lot of the bottom softwood trimmed off in fitting, which is a right PITA to deal with.
I had to trim four doors in my daughter's house recently for carpets, and was annoyed to cut through into the honeycomb on two of them. The builder who fitted them left the tops tall (uncut), making further trimming for carpet clearance almost impossible. What made this worse was that the softwood strips weren't even fitted parallel to the door's original edges, but on a squint. So I ended up with a thin wedge of splintery softwood on the bottom!
In retrospect, I should have drilled through the hinge side with a small jobber drill, to see how much wood was left on the bottom of the door - if it hit free air, obviously, no bottom batten at that point! Such small holes could then be easily filled for painting. If there isn't enough wood left, I guess the only option is to trim the top, move the hinge positions, then trim the lock and hinge sides as necesary (frames are rarely true) - PITA.
The doors came from Wickes, BTW. Abysmal quality (even if every other shed sells the same stuff, that is really no excuse).
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It's easier in those cases to just add a new bit of wood into the door. Doesn't take long to do, certainly a lot less work than moving the hinges etc. It's not like it has to be pretty, it's never seen.
Eric The Viking
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I did consider that first-off, but it meant removing a long, thin, splintery wedge, then a glue-up.
So I left them alone, after making sure nothing would catch on carpet (there were other issues to deal with - the builder hadn't hung them properly in the first place, and hinge positions had to be dowelled and re-done, doorstop had to be replaced, and so on - starting again from scratchwould have been faster!).
So I left them alone, after making sure nothing would catch on carpet (there were other issues to deal with - the builder hadn't hung them properly in the first place, and hinge positions had to be dowelled and re-done, doorstop had to be replaced, and so on - starting again from scratchwould have been faster!).
Phil Pascoe
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I'm the odd one out. I use a router. 
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Hand electric planer is good for trimming a door bottom as long as you work IN from both ends to avoid spelching, and work to lines on both sides, turning it over as you go. Final passes might be easier with a hand plane. If you need to take a lot off it doesn't take much effort to hand saw and then finish with a plane.
I'd probably leave it alone as well as long as the door still felt structurally sound enough. I did have a door in just this situation that was feeling a bit wobbly and was flexing at the bottom. Not having the equipment at the time to add in a new full length strip I cut a couple of small blocks and glued them in instead, worked a treat and made the door much more solid, only took a few minutes.
If you get chance, try one out. A tracksaw and cordless circular saw are completely different beasts. I used to use a circular saw with jigs, which was good, then swapped to a cheap tracksaw which was better, faster to use and set up, more accurate. Then I swapped to a festool tracksaw and it's even better, and more accurate again. I still use my bosch cordless but anything needing any kind of accuracy or straight lines I reach for the trackaaw.
Anybody tried this?
Strikes me a technique to use on new installs rather than the kinds of situations described here. Would be interested to hear of "real world" experiences though as removing the doors is a pain and the cost of the clamps could quickly be recouped in time saved.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
If you do your own work or are in a position to specify, hang your doors using loose pin hinges. Doors can then be removed and re hung in seconds without losing any accuracy or strength of fitting. Why these are not commonly used I really don't know - a whole house would cost only a few quid more.
Eric The Viking
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Both Festool and Makita used to advertise their saws as capable of this (although AFAIK Makita haven't ever made nice clamps like those in the video). In most British houses it would be tricky as floors and doorframes are often not true - Once you get away from the old colonial states, American new build is often on greenfield sites and commonly of wooden frame construction, so it makes sense. I am very tempted to get a pair of those clamps asn they would be useful for all sorts of rail saw operations. And next time I am door trimming, I'll try that first.
@ Andy Hamilton: Tracksaws ("plunge saws") replace many of the traditional functions of circular saws. They are safer, in many instances faster too, and the quality of cut is superb. What's more, you can ditch a lot of jigs: I have one Systainer for the saw, spare blades, mains extension, clamps etc., and a bag with 2x 1.4m rails in it (which is well-padded and can tuck-in anywhere in a van, estate car, whatever). My saw is 110V so no issues on-site either. The dust extraction is also superb.
I gave my traditional circular saw away, and don't miss it. Anyway, the Makita has the fittings for the traditional circular saw fence/guide if that was ever needed. They are so good that (now the patents have expired), most tool manufacturers are copying the premium brands as fast as they can. And now they are cordless, too. Mine is my most used power tool, after my cordless drill. I think it's made in the UK too.
Doug B
Shy Tot
I have to admit @Eric The Viking that I read & smiled when I read the last post by @andy hamilton it so reminded me of myself 10 years ago when a joiner friend suggested I invest in a track saw, I really didn’t think it was for me but how wrong I was, it’s one of the first tools I put in the van in a morning & has paid for itself multiple times over, so good I bought a second cordless one.
Doug71
Established Member
The worst doors for trimming the bottoms off (if you have to cut through the bottom lath) are some of the modern ones with chipboard cores. I did some a while ago and the chipboard just gummed up the electric plane, it was like the heat from the planer cutting reactivated the glue in the chipboard causing one big sticky mess, it bunged up the extractor etc.
I generally use the electric planer for trimming door bottoms, with extraction it makes no mess at all so you can do it in the room where the door is. Track saws do make a bit of dust so you need to use it outside really, also you need more space to lay the door down etc where with a planer you can just take the door off and do it on it's edge right next to where you took it off, no carrying the door downstairs risking catching the wallpaper etc.
I generally use the electric planer for trimming door bottoms, with extraction it makes no mess at all so you can do it in the room where the door is. Track saws do make a bit of dust so you need to use it outside really, also you need more space to lay the door down etc where with a planer you can just take the door off and do it on it's edge right next to where you took it off, no carrying the door downstairs risking catching the wallpaper etc.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Must say I'm impressed by the claims for the track saw and I've seen Doug's immaculate work. Had a look at the Festool blurb, I hadn't realised how different it was from a circular saw plus guide, a piece of MFC in my case - accurate but fiddly.
Jonm
Established Member
Some years ago I paid a carpenter to change all the doors in a house, I am slow fitting doors. Went on personal recommendation. Panel doors, Howdens, painted, cardboard honeycombe, cheap but look OK. Had to go round afterwards making adjustments to catches, even had to move a door handle which was at wrong level. On one of the doors the bottom rail was paper thin. Cut a piece of wood on my table saw and glued it in. Easy to do but irritating that carpenter did not do it. Needless to say I have not used the carpenter again.
