Ungluing 1930s doors

[deema]

Probably more bother than making a new door….,but doable.
I would try a heat gun, scrape off the paint at the tenons and using a screw pull out the wedges. Tapping to see if it comes apart. Most stuff will as shrinkage means the wedges will be a bit loose.
If not, just cut through the rails at the styles and rebuild using loose tenons. A loose tenon slips into the rail and the style and is glued / use Dominos

 

[alex robinson]

I don't see it as an issue, I was just curious.

It's as well to outline a strategy for the whole process, though. Exactly how to do it depends on the skills and equipment available. If the doors easily come apart, you're laughing. Otherwise - if you saw through all the rails down one side, you then have to make new tenons on the ends of those rails whilst they're still captive in the opposite rail. A bit awkward in work handling.

Dowels? Dominos? You can plug any original mortices if necessary, but any tenon remains might serve that function. Any mouldings on the frame to be scribed / mitred?

Initially I had not thought of cutting them. Now I am thinking of routing the amount I want to remove from each side off the horizontals while the door is still intact, so making the wide side of the tenons. I could then saw each side off, cut the short side of the tenons and recut the mortices.

Have you considered making (or having made) your own doors to the pattern of the ones that you are thinking of buying?

That way they'll fit.
...... besides, existing door-apertures in older houses rarely have parallel sides or right-angles in corners.

Making from scratch would be an option, but this way only 2 will need altering, the other 3 will already fit correctly (to a few mm)

 

[rogxwhit]

Now I am thinking of routing the amount I want to remove from each side off the horizontals while the door is still intact

Good thinking!

Assuming that the originals are through tenons, and the re-cut ones don't end up quite as long as the stiles are wide, you can always plug the resultant voids on the outsides of the stiles ...

 

[Droogs]

acetone into the joints, give it 30mins and see if the joint seperates

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Millimetres please!!! Building trades don't use cm - mm & m only!

Ha ha. I would neither p*ss on, or even spit on a centimetre if it was on fire. In fact, if a centimetre was drowning, I'd p*ss on it to make sure it died. Devil's spawn is the centimetre. Slainte.

 

[okeydokey]

I would like to replace my bright orange modern pine internal doors with something a bit nicer and have come across some lovely 1930s doors which will fit some of the frames. We have an understairs cupboard and loo which have much narrower doorways however. I don't want to just cut the edges of the doors back however as I think the changes to the proportions would make them look silly.

Does anybody here have experience of ungluing doors like this so as to cut them down, but keep the shape the same? I know disassembling items built with hide glue is meant to be possible using alcohol, but more modern adhesives or hidden wedged tenons are almost impossible to undo. What are my chances, or should I just wait for a smaller one to come up? Thanks!

Do you have a reclamation yard in Reading where they sell all sorts of goodies from roof tiles to wood burners to all sorts of odd doors sizes? Might be worth looking I have been to Dorton in Burgess Hill where I have bought the odd door or perhaps try Doorstore think there is one in Reading

 

[baldkev]

Get them chemically stripped, they should fall apart.... ask how i know that

 

[Inspector]

Ha ha. I would neither p*ss on, or even spit on a centimetre if it was on fire. In fact, if a centimetre was drowning, I'd p*ss on it to make sure it died. Devil's spawn is the centimetre. Slainte.

I suppose a reference to decimetres would get me drawn and quartered.

To be correct the doors were made under the imperial system so all measurement discussions about them should be the same.

 

[Adam W.]

Have you considered inches?

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I suppose a reference to decimetres would get me drawn and quartered.

To be correct the doors were made under the imperial system so all measurement discussions about them should be the same.

No. I'd just raise my eyes to the heavens, tut in an exaggerated shoulder shrugging French mimicking manner, ignore you for an unspecified period, and hope you came to your senses quickly, ha, ha. Talk inches, feet and related dimensions if you want though. I still understand that stuff, even if I find those fraction things a pain in the *rse. Slainte.

 

[Inspector]

Not to take things too far off topic but when I was taught in school in the early 70s we were taught to use microns, millimetres, centimetres, decimetres, metres, kilometres and maybe something between the last two but I can't remember. It was in science class so they covered all the bases. Were briefly taught all that chains, rods, furlongs, fathoms and knots etc for completeness of stuff we would likely never need either. Never said anything about chords, board feet, or quarter sizing of hardwood. Stuff that as it turned out was more important in this hobby.

Pete

 

[okeydokey]

If it helps
A cricket pitch is a chain long
A rod is approx 5 metres

 

[Inspector]

Never seen a Cricket pitch but have seen how far they hop.

I'm out of my league. Get it? Another measurement reference.

Pete

 

[okeydokey]

CN Tower in Saskatoon is 187 feet high so I am told, haven't tried measuring it (yet)

Could that count as another measuring reference

 

[Flipper]

I would like to replace my bright orange modern pine internal doors with something a bit nicer and have come across some lovely 1930s doors which will fit some of the frames. We have an understairs cupboard and loo which have much narrower doorways however. I don't want to just cut the edges of the doors back however as I think the changes to the proportions would make them look silly.

Does anybody here have experience of ungluing doors like this so as to cut them down, but keep the shape the same? I know disassembling items built with hide glue is meant to be possible using alcohol, but more modern adhesives or hidden wedged tenons are almost impossible to undo. What are my chances, or should I just wait for a smaller one to come up? Thanks!

I think someone else may have mentioned this already but heat and patience are the best way of separating all glued wood

 

[rogxwhit]

heat and patience are the best way of separating all glued wood

That's a bit of a blanket claim!

 

[hlvd]

Millimetres please!!! Building trades don't use cm - mm & m only!

the only place the centimetre is used is in school.

 

[hlvd]

They are 3 panel, and I want to loose 8 - 10 cm width from 2 of them, and one needs about 15cm off the height as well. Maybe there is enough to cut them and remake the tenons.

That’s 2” either side, it’s too much and will look very odd.
You probably won’t have enough stile left for a latch and set of handles with what’s left either.

 

[rogxwhit]

That’s 2” either side, it’s too much and will look very odd.
You probably won’t have enough stile left for a latch and set of handles with what’s left either.

Um - he's planning to reposition the stiles ...

 

[hlvd]

Um - he's planning to reposition the stiles ...

Excellent news!!