Door Hanging - Which tools?

[Tyre Tread]

I want to change a dozen doors in my house and I'm being quoted £80 per door.

I have hung a few doors before using basic hand tools but they took me a looong time and I thought the finish could have been better.

I have plenty of time on my hands right now so would sooner spend some cash on tools and hang the doors and fit the furniture myself.

I have a set of reasonably good, sharp, chisels, I've already bought a pair of air wedges and a set of self centering drill bits.

Can anyone recommend a suitable router and are the corner chisels worth the money?

Which, if any, of the available hinge jigs would you recommend?

Any other tools that are helpful and would be worth investing in to fit a dozen or so doors?

Any tutorials that you thing are worth watching?

Many thanks in advance for advice.

[Promised Land]

No disrespect to you but if you’re needing to ask what tools you need to hang doors you really shouldn’t be attempting it.

£80 a door isn’t a bad price depending on your location, I charge £45 for cheap egg box style doors and £65 for any oak veneered style door.

Yes you could hang them I have no doubt but it’s like me coding a programme, I’m not in that profession so wouldn’t do as good a job as someone who is.

Internals on 3 inch butts don’t require a router, a very sharp 3/4 or 1” bevel chisel is all you need plus a marking gauge.
Electric planer, a hand plane to take the arisses off and a 1/2” chisel for the latch, plus an inch And a half inch auger bit for the latch, bath locks, don’t use flat/ speed bits.

If you’re cutting the bottom to go over carpet, tiles etc re use the timber inside by cleaning the face off and glueing it back in if egg box doors, if a veneer door they’re usually chipboard inside so no need for that.

Chisels need honing too, not just straight out the box as they’re only sharpened. So an India sharpening stone or diamond stone if you prefer.

[wolfracesonic]

This was covered on here a few weeks ago.

[Simpo Two]

I did all mine with a flat bit drill and hammer and chisel. Quite a skill to get the plates inset nicely. I used an old chest of drawers with the bottom drawer ajar to hold the door on edge, and a pillar drill on top.

Tools aside, a slim book or magazine is handy to stand the door on at the right height while you fix the hinges.

[hyphen]

[Tyre Tread]

Promised Land said:

No disrespect to you but if you’re needing to ask what tools you need to hang doors you really shouldn’t be attempting it.

£80 a door isn’t a bad price depending on your location, I charge £45 for cheap egg box style doors and £65 for any oak veneered style door.

Yes you could hang them I have no doubt but it’s like me coding a programme, I’m not in that profession so wouldn’t do as good a job as someone who is.

Internals on 3 inch butts don’t require a router, a very sharp 3/4 or 1” bevel chisel is all you need plus a marking gauge.
Electric planer, a hand plane to take the arisses off and a 1/2” chisel for the latch, plus an inch And a half inch auger bit for the latch, bath locks, don’t use flat/ speed bits.

If you’re cutting the bottom to go over carpet, tiles etc re use the timber inside by cleaning the face off and glueing it back in if egg box doors, if a veneer door they’re usually chipboard inside so no need for that.

Chisels need honing too, not just straight out the box as they’re only sharpened. So an India sharpening stone or diamond stone if you prefer.

With all due respect, did you read my post. I've done it before and just want to do a better job hence the request for advice. Sorry if I'm stepping on your professional toes but I think £80 to hang a door where I live isn't good value. If I lived in the south beast I might feel differently.

Last time I used flat/speed bits. Why do you suggest it's preferable to use an auger?

[WishIWasAJoiner]

Air wedges are good for getting your spaces around the door before transferring the hinge positions.

When you come to hang the doors, I’ve found the air wedge can be a bit frustrating for me as well as door lifters. Using a good magnetic drill bit which holds the screw, place the bottom edge of the door (hinge side) through the threshold and the top hinge will line up - one screw into the bottom hole of the top hinge and then pull the door back through and place all three in the lower and check your fit.


I’ve only ever fitted doors with - Hammer, chisel, electric or hand planer, auger bits, 3mm drill bit, marking gauge, drill, pencil and a door holder I made out of 4x2.


Sorry forgot to add - I personally wouldn’t use a router, unless you would like to set up a jig for the hinges or free hand the majority and then clean them up with your chisels. If you do want to use a router a 1/4” palm router would be my choice. A Katsu mains powered off Amazon which as far as I can tell is a Makita copy and I think it will suit your needs. I have the Katsu and I use it all the time for work and diy at home. Cheaper options may be available but I cannot recommend anything else unless your want to go Festool, majors or dewalt, all of which I have personal experience with - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LVVJB7A/ref=cm_sw_r...


I prefer auger bits over spade bits because I’ve found them easier to handle when cutting out for mortise lock - when stepping down for each cut, I’ve found the spade bits slip, it could be user error though - I’m only 6 years into the trade

Edited by WishIWasAJoiner on Wednesday 29th December 13:55

[Tyre Tread]

WishIWasAJoiner said:

Air wedges are good for getting your spaces around the door before transferring the hinge positions.

When you come to hang the doors, I’ve found the air wedge can be a bit frustrating for me as well as door lifters. Using a good magnetic drill bit which holds the screw, place the bottom edge of the door (hinge side) through the threshold and the top hinge will line up - one screw into the bottom hole of the top hinge and then pull the door back through and place all three in the lower and check your fit.


I’ve only ever fitted doors with - Hammer, chisel, electric or hand planer, auger bits, 3mm drill bit, marking gauge, drill, pencil and a door holder I made out of 4x2.


Sorry forgot to add - I personally wouldn’t use a router, unless you would like to set up a jig for the hinges or free hand the majority and then clean them up with your chisels. If you do want to use a router a 1/4” palm router would be my choice. A Katsu mains powered off Amazon which as far as I can tell is a Makita router will suit your needs. I have the Katsu and I use it all the time for work and diy at home. Cheaper options may be available but I cannot recommend anything else unless your want to go Festool, majors or dewalt, all of which I have personal experience with - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LVVJB7A/ref=cm_sw_r...


I prefer auger bits over spade bits because I’ve found them easier to handle when cutting out for mortise lock - when stepping down for each cut, I’ve found the spade bits slip, it could be user error though - I’m only 6 years into the trade.

Edited by WishIWasAJoiner on Wednesday 29th December 13:52

Thank you, that's very helpful.

I'm not sure I grasp your process shown in bold. How do you lift the door into place?

[WishIWasAJoiner]

I’m very poor when describing things, sorry.

When the door is ready to be hung, so hinges cut and it can be place into the frame. When it comes to attaching the door to the frame my process is -

Stand the door perpendicular to the frame so the hinges are in line with the cut outs on the door frame. I then lift the door slightly and put the bottom edge of the door (the hinge side) slightly through the door opening and tilt the top of the door back towards you and it will make it easy to line up the top hinge with the door frame cut out and attach one screw in the bottom hole of the top hinge. I then hold the bottom of the door and gently bring it back through the opening and attach the bottom hinge to the door frame. The door will then be safe to open and close to check fit (providing correct screws etc are used haha), if you’re happy with the fit, then add the rest of the screws. If the door binds a little bit - adding all the screws usually corrects this by pulling the door over.

Sorry if that still doesn’t explain it, in person, demonstrating it would be 2 minutes and I’ve found it a lot faster than lifters and air bags. I hang fire doors the same way, it’s how I was shown to do them on site.

Edited by WishIWasAJoiner on Wednesday 29th December 14:41

[timberman]

If you intend using a router to cut out the hinge recesses then don't bother with a hinge jig,

just get one of these

bearing guided template bit

and make your own jig to suit whichever hinges you get ( I used to make mine out of left over bits of 3/4" ply or mdf)

you can also make jigs to help with drilling holes for the spindle bar and other parts if you want,

I have a corner chisel,
if using a router it does make cleaning the corners up a bit easier but isn't absolutely necessary, a sharp chisel will work easily enough

also one of these

drill guide

is good for centring the drill bit on the door edge when drilling to fit the mortice latch/lock

you will need a drill with a 43mm collar to use this though, which might be an issue if you only have cordless drills

[Evoluzione]

Tyre Tread said:

Last time I used flat/speed bits. Why do you suggest it's preferable to use an auger?

A decent joiner will have both for different jobs.
Downsides of both:

A spade bit can change direction, in the wrong hands and if drilling for a latch you can actually come out the side of the door.
An auger can and will split a 38mm door when drilling for the latch, to stop it you clamp the door first.

Forget routers, air wedges, any other kind of fancy lifting gubbins, for 12 doors you don't need it.

[Simpo Two]

Tyre Tread said:

Last time I used flat/speed bits. Why do you suggest it's preferable to use an auger?

Auger bits give a cleaner smoother cut. Flat bits scrape rather than cut and can catch if the angle is slightly wrong. But in this case as the holes will be covered it's not important, and flat bits are cheaper.

[LocoBlade]

Evoluzione said:

Forget routers, air wedges, any other kind of fancy lifting gubbins, for 12 doors you don't need it.

I disagree. Air wedges are less than a tenner and make hanging a door so much easier, its not like each door will be fitted once and left forever, in all likelyhood you'll be taking them on and off a few times to check fitting and to paint etc, and like many things they can be used for other DIY jobs once in your tool kit. Buying a router is probably an extravagance just to do one job but getting accurate and consistent depth with a chisel is an art and for those of us without those skills you will be quicker, neater and more consistent doing the majority with a router.

[Little Lofty]

You don’t need a router for 12 doors, a marking gauge is all you need for marking hinge position and depth.

[timberman]

Evoluzione said:

Tyre Tread said:

Last time I used flat/speed bits. Why do you suggest it's preferable to use an auger?

A decent joiner will have both for different jobs.
Downsides of both:

A spade bit can change direction, in the wrong hands and if drilling for a latch you can actually come out the side of the door.
An auger can and will split a 38mm door when drilling for the latch, to stop it you clamp the door first.

Forget routers, air wedges, any other kind of fancy lifting gubbins, for 12 doors you don't need it.

I probably didn't read the OP correctly,

I thought Tyre Tread perhaps already had a router,

if not I would agree that buying one just for the purpose of fitting some doors is not really worth the outlay, unless of course he intends using it to tackle other projects as well,

Never tried using air wedges so can't really comment but, I've fitted many doors and never felt the need to use anything fancy like that, I do have one of the door lifters as per the picture posted by hyphen, but only really use it occasionally and mostly prefer to use wedges to position the door while marking out for hinge positions etc.

if a router is a must then just a 1/4" size will do the job nicely and come in handy for other jobs too.

[benson1980]

Having been in a similar position myself, I would recommend a set of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-fit-Innovations-Magic...

Perhaps might seem extravagant for one job but by the time you get to the final few doors you'll be glad you have them. They're a great invention.

An electric planer is also a must in my view. I just got a relatively cheap black and decker one a few years back and have done loads of doors with it. Still works fine.

[Evoluzione]

LocoBlade said:

Evoluzione said:

Forget routers, air wedges, any other kind of fancy lifting gubbins, for 12 doors you don't need it.

I disagree. Air wedges are less than a tenner and make hanging a door so much easier, its not like each door will be fitted once and left forever, in all likelyhood you'll be taking them on and off a few times to check fitting and to paint etc, and like many things they can be used for other DIY jobs once in your tool kit. Buying a router is probably an extravagance just to do one job but getting accurate and consistent depth with a chisel is an art and for those of us without those skills you will be quicker, neater and more consistent doing the majority with a router.

Not only do they add to the cost, they'll slow you down.
All you need is a wooden wedge, or a chisel.

What other DIY jobs would you use one for?

[LocoBlade]

Evoluzione said:

Not only do they add to the cost, they'll slow you down.
All you need is a wooden wedge, or a chisel.

What other DIY jobs would you use one for?

Each to their own, certainly not essential but IMHO if working alone they make it easier/quicker to align the hinge with the rebate than a wedge of wood or a chisel, without risk of damaging the bottom of the door or the floor. They're also useful for jobs like lifting/levelling a cabinet or appliance so you can put packers in or winds legs down etc and probably other things I've not thought of, but its not like they're a massive outlay, I'd happily buy them again to help fit the 6 doors I did recently even if I had to throw them away at the end of the job.

[Tyre Tread]

WishIWasAJoiner said:

I’m very poor when describing things, sorry.

When the door is ready to be hung, so hinges cut and it can be place into the frame. When it comes to attaching the door to the frame my process is -

Stand the door perpendicular to the frame so the hinges are in line with the cut outs on the door frame. I then lift the door slightly and put the bottom edge of the door (the hinge side) slightly through the door opening and tilt the top of the door back towards you and it will make it easy to line up the top hinge with the door frame cut out and attach one screw in the bottom hole of the top hinge. I then hold the bottom of the door and gently bring it back through the opening and attach the bottom hinge to the door frame. The door will then be safe to open and close to check fit (providing correct screws etc are used haha), if you’re happy with the fit, then add the rest of the screws. If the door binds a little bit - adding all the screws usually corrects this by pulling the door over.

Sorry if that still doesn’t explain it, in person, demonstrating it would be 2 minutes and I’ve found it a lot faster than lifters and air bags. I hang fire doors the same way, it’s how I was shown to do them on site.

Edited by WishIWasAJoiner on Wednesday 29th December 14:41

I get it now. Thank you

[Tyre Tread]

timberman said:

If you intend using a router to cut out the hinge recesses then don't bother with a hinge jig,

just get one of these

bearing guided template bit

and make your own jig to suit whichever hinges you get ( I used to make mine out of left over bits of 3/4" ply or mdf)

you can also make jigs to help with drilling holes for the spindle bar and other parts if you want,

I have a corner chisel,
if using a router it does make cleaning the corners up a bit easier but isn't absolutely necessary, a sharp chisel will work easily enough

also one of these

drill guide

is good for centring the drill bit on the door edge when drilling to fit the mortice latch/lock

you will need a drill with a 43mm collar to use this though, which might be an issue if you only have cordless drills

I had one of those Axminster drill guides for years and never used it so gave it away when I moved house 6 years ago.

I have several drills. Even got my dad's old Black & Decker metal cased drill. (My dad dies in 1985 so it's probably 45, if not 50 years old) which should fit it. ISTR there were different colour plastic collars with the drill guide I had.