Monday, November 06, 2006

I Love Mortising

I love it so much, that I went too deep and ended up having to shim to get the hinge flush with the new-old door edge. But really, mortising is surprisingly enjoyable. I like that fine hand work and precise detail. It might also have something to do with the fact that I successfully hung the new-old door within 2 hours! The last time I hung a door, it took me about 8 hours.


As I was working on this, I was thinking about what kind of old house this new-old door came from. I was also figuring that the hollow core door that I was now replacing, probably replaced some other heavy 5-panel door. Then I wondered, that replaced door is probably now in some other old house in town. Maybe the same house that this door came from? Whoa.

I still need to paint, install a knob, new strike, etc. but I'm really liking that 5-panel look. See if you can spot Scully. She sort of blends into the floor, being all dark chocolate and stuff.

2 comments:

Ms. P in Jackson said...

A big CONGRATULATIONS! to you. I have heard from sooo many people that hanging a door is a terrible, harrowing experience and should be left to the pros. You give me hope. I have watched a 'how to' video on doing this and it didn't look so hard but obviously the guy knew what he was doing and it wasn't his first; He also installed a deadbolt. I have a total of about 20 doors to hang so I guess by the 5th or 6th I should have a pretty good idea of how to do it properly. I'm glad it went so well for you, the door looks great.

Joe said...

Good gravy! Twenty doors???
You'll be a pro by the third. I think the trick was to work slow, and enjoy it, while paying close attention to fine details. You know, I measured from hinge to hinge several times on the jamb, from different points of reference. Each time it came out 54-1/2". Dead on. So naturally, I made sure the hinge to hinge measurment on the door was dead on 54-1/2" as well. Of course, when I went to install it, I had to use some wedge action to get it to fit. Not much forcing, but it just goes to show you how precise things need to be.
Best of luck to you.