Whats the best tool/power tool to get the best finish? would an eletric planer be best?
thanks
thanks
Taking half an inch off door
- Thread starter FilthyMcNastys
- Start date
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I would second the router. Use a 1/2" router with a 50mm long 12.7mm bit as used for fitting kitchen worktops and clamp a straight edge to the door. You get a perfect right angle, straight cut with control as to where you want it.
If it is painted/varnished already use a bit of brown paper to stop the sole plate of the router scratching the surface.
If you have never used a router for this sort of thing before, the tick is to find the distance from the clamped straight edge to the router bit when it cuts. The easiest way to do that is grab a scrap bit of timber and do a short cut and measure it. Then use that to set the straight edge the right amount back from where the cut needs to be.
Note I might be biased but if I want a really good precision cut on wood I always use a router.
If it is painted/varnished already use a bit of brown paper to stop the sole plate of the router scratching the surface.
If you have never used a router for this sort of thing before, the tick is to find the distance from the clamped straight edge to the router bit when it cuts. The easiest way to do that is grab a scrap bit of timber and do a short cut and measure it. Then use that to set the straight edge the right amount back from where the cut needs to be.
Note I might be biased but if I want a really good precision cut on wood I always use a router.
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I agree, it depends on what you have in your tool box, and what the door is made out of.
If it's a solid timber door and you have a power plane, i'd do three passes with the power plane at 4mm and finish off with either a smoothing or jack plane.
If it's a hollow door, the ones with the moulded face, I'd use a circular say to cut 10 to 11 mm off and again finish with a smoothing or jack plane (I'd use the circular saw in this instance because of the staples that are buried in the stile and bottom rail that ruin a power planers cutters).
If you only have hand tools, gauge 10 to 11mm on either side of the door and use a panel saw, and once again, finish it off with a hand plane.
If it's a solid timber door and you have a power plane, i'd do three passes with the power plane at 4mm and finish off with either a smoothing or jack plane.
If it's a hollow door, the ones with the moulded face, I'd use a circular say to cut 10 to 11 mm off and again finish with a smoothing or jack plane (I'd use the circular saw in this instance because of the staples that are buried in the stile and bottom rail that ruin a power planers cutters).
If you only have hand tools, gauge 10 to 11mm on either side of the door and use a panel saw, and once again, finish it off with a hand plane.
D
Deleted member 174758
Like JohnD I'm another one who uses a circular saw with a fine, sharp blade for pretty much all the door length trimming I do. Ideally the saw should run against a batten and the edge of the door where the blade will exit will have a cleaner edge if the cut line is first scored with a sharp knife run against a square.
A planer (or for that matter a hand plane) needs to be worked in from both sides to the middle which can give inexperienced users problems getting a straight edge o the bottom of the door. As for a router - well if you have a decent 1800 watt 1/2in router then maybe, but you'll have break-out problems at the end of the cut and it will be slow and noisy
A planer (or for that matter a hand plane) needs to be worked in from both sides to the middle which can give inexperienced users problems getting a straight edge o the bottom of the door. As for a router - well if you have a decent 1800 watt 1/2in router then maybe, but you'll have break-out problems at the end of the cut and it will be slow and noisy
If it's hollow it will have to be cut off and the timber baton reinstated as they are rarely much more than 1/2inch thick.
No slower than using a planer and for more controllable. A softwood or hollow door could be done in one pass and a hardwood in two. Most of the time will be in the setup. No messing about scoring surfaces, and if you are going to clamp a batten to guide the saw, then you might as well break out the router.
As for the breakout that is easy to control. You simply don't breakout at the end. Stop just short and push the router straight in to the guide with the middle point of the cutter just past the edge. As long as you have a sharp bit then there will be no problem. Done it loads of times in softwood, and a range of hardwoods including oak and ash, and laminated chipboard. If you are really worried about breakout score the edge you are going to breakout with a sharp knife and a square edge.
A router bit as far as I can tell will last ages if used in wood or MDF, but even a quality bit seems to blunt very quickly in chipboard.
D
Deleted member 174758
A saw will do the job in one pass. An industrial planer will do it in 3 passes (4mm a pass - maximum depth of cut on the biggest planer), but you do have to hold the planer at a bit of an awkward angle. A router will probably require 3 passes with a 1/2in diameter cutter unless you intend to cane the cutter - and you'll have to move the batten for each pass. Ergo a saw and batten are faster (one cut) - and potentially more accurate. In my line of work I often work with commercial floor layers and go through the process of shortening doors quite a bit - I have a heavy power planer, a heavy 1/2in plunge router and a plunge saw with a rail (which replaced a saw and a batten); it's the saw and rail which I use every time because of the speed/accuracy (and lack of break-out)
D
Deleted member 174758
Speed? Accuracy? Consistency?
Before you ask, yes, I know how to use a hand saw, and a plane. Certainly for aninexperienced DIYer a circular saw and a batten used with care will probably deliver a more accurate, more consistent result than a hand saw.But won't get as clean cut as a router.
Yes and how many DIY'ers have an industrial planer?
Utter twaddle. You never have to move the batten. With a softwood or moulded door, a good 1/2in router bit and a decent router you can do it in a single pass. Trust me I have done it many times and it won't cane the cutter. With a hardwood door you would need two possibly three passes at different depths but you never move the battern. You might argue that a separate full depth pass is a good idea for a perfect cut, in which case use a kitchen worktop jig, so you don't need to move it. However it is the bottom of a door an the minor marks from the different passes will easy rub out with some sandpaper, where as chipping from the saw will not.
There is no way on earth that a saw and a batten can ever be more accurate than using a router. It is just simply not possible. I would point to the use of routers in cutting worktops as proof of why a router is more accurate and gives a better finish.
The problem is that a saw in my experience always causes slight chipping along the cut edge which you just don't get with a router. As I outlined previously the use of a sharp bit and care where you would break out and break out is easy to eliminate.
I would also point out that the OP asked for what tools to get the best finish, for which the only answer can be a router. Beats a saw for the finish, and easier than messing about with a planer at awkward angles.
D
Deleted member 174758
Which begs the question, " How many DIYers have a decent 1/2in router?". Whereas quite a few people seem to have a power planer - albeit a domestic model which can only take 2mm per pass as opposed to 4mm per pass of an industrial one. Another point about router cutters that you didn't make - it is normally regarded as unsafe practice to take a cut with a router of more than 1/2 the diameter of the router cutter - so with a 1/2in diameter bit you shouldn't be taking more than 1/4in per pass because of the increased risk of experiencing a climb cut
Which is why a lot of professional joiners use plunge saws with rails these days like Makitas, Festools, etc, I suppose?
So the twaddle (to use your own verbiage) that you are trying to peddle is that the vast majority of trade joiners, who don't use routers for this sort of task, are complete numpties who don't know what they are doing?
had to do this today on 2 doors,and used my PLANER 1 door was approx 15mm and the other was 20mm.
i did have my router set up aswell,to do the fire strips as these were fd30 doors.
silly me shouldve used my router to do the job
different chippys will use different tools to do the same job,
not 1 of these answers that have been submitted by us all are wrong,JUST wrong to the guy who does it differently
i would use whatever tools you have and feel comfortable using them and think of the safety aspect aswell.
1 door was approx 15mm and the other was 20mm.i did have my router set up aswell,to do the fire strips as these were fd30 doors.
silly me shouldve used my router to do the job
different chippys will use different tools to do the same job,
not 1 of these answers that have been submitted by us all are wrong,JUST wrong to the guy who does it differently
i would use whatever tools you have and feel comfortable using them and think of the safety aspect aswell.
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