Filling old mortises

[chris milner]

My new project is making an old exterior door (with glass panes on the top half) into a dutch door for our nursery. The door had the original old mortise door knob componites. What do you guys recommend filling the hole where the mortise is? Keep in mind that I'll be cutting right through the mortise. Should I just put a scrap peice of wood in there? We will be painting the door too.

[Jim Morgan]

WoodEpox. Use scrap buttered with WoodEpox to fill most of the void, then overfill with more WoodEpox. Plane or sand back to level once it sets up. Once primed and painted, the patch should not be visible.

[johnny means]

Best way to fill a void in wood is with more wood. Machine the mortise to make it easy to match then glue in a tightly fitted patch.

[Mike Cutler]

I'm with Johnny, especially because you intend to cut right through that area, after you fill/repair it.
I did the same thing last summer to a 100 year old door.
I made the filler piece and set it in place with T-88. Worked like a champ. ( I didn't cut the door though. I just drilled out the area for a new style lockset.)