Mastercarpenty
Junior Member
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2016
- Messages
- 235
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Heh heh heh. It's simple really but it might take you a few years to learn how
The guy who got me started into trim carpentry did it with a jigsaw, said it couldn't be done any other way- Slow, messy, and a PITA. Someone else showed me how to rough-cut a block to fit the hole so the center-drill had something to bite into- Faster, cleaner, but still a PITA especially if the block moved or popped out. Someone else used a section of broomstick through the plunger hole- best so far but those holes come in 2 sizes and broomsticks vary too, plus it's hard to sweep with a 2-foot long broom handle. Enter the lockset drilling jig, king of the job. Screw the jig to the door where the plunger holes are and now your holesaw or forstner bit has something to keep it aligned until it's in far enough to align itself. Works best with gentle pressure and by 'walking' the bit around off-axis till you've got depth all round, then you align squarely and drill away- Fast, accurate, easy, works on every door, and doesn't hinder the sweeping-up at the end of the day :trophy:
I use a plastic jig so that it doesn't dull my tools. And as I work mostly on old houses it sees frequent use. I've seen every method and manner of lockset hole-making imaginable on these, including one apparently done entirely with only a 1/2" chisel! Ditto locksets; I've likely seen them all by now. I installed a fancy one once which had 15 holes that needed drilling- that lock and door cost more than I make in 2 months time. Talk about nervous stress, doing that one was almost scary. And since I started this life in commercial and industrial work I got to see and learn those babies too. Coordinators, panic bars, multiple types of closers mounted several different ways, electric strikes, openers, magnetic hold-opens, storefront doors, ball-bearing hinges, sprung hinges, riser hinges, bathroom partition doors, roll-up doors, sliding doors of every sort, bifolds, accordion doors, you name it and I've done it including jailhouse door locks too. Doors and locks are my specialty and not to be boastful but I've never seen or heard of anyone better simply because of the vastness and diversity of the different ones I've done.
When you get down to the brass tacks of them, doors are simply your 6th grade geometry lessons being put to use and their hardware is mostly common-sense thinking and observation of how the parts fit together and work together. The tricks and shortcuts will make themselves known to you after you've fixed enough of them simply by thinking and paying attention to what caused the problem you're dealing with in the first place. I'm not that smart but I'll never understand why so many guys have such trouble doing doors and locks well- tain't nuthin to it a'tall
Phil
