Hand or Electric Plane

[Bob Moyer]

I am installing hardwood floors in my house; I will need to plane the bottom of 6 oak doors; would you recommend a hand or an electric planer to do this. I did look at the Dewalt DW680K.

Thanks

[Greg Cole]

Bob,
Any specific reason to need to plane them...?
A straight edge & circular saw or guided circ. saw system should do fine or am I missing something?

Greg

[John Gregory]

Bob,
I would have the same question that Greg had. I would use a good straight edge and a circular saw with a good blade. I would imagine you need to remove 3/4"-1" to clear the new hardwood floor. You can score and use tape on the blade path to reduce chip out. Even with a planer you could get a blow out on the one edge if not careful.

Just my $0.02

[Charles Wiggins]

Bob,

I'm with Greg and John, or if you have the time and the $$, Rockler has a door trimming router bit. It's basically a 2" tall pattern bit. (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11083)

[BOB OLINGER]

I've trimmed bottoms of doors very satisfactorily with a GOOD circular saw. A couple of tips I used. Instead of cutting freehand, clamp a straight edge that will guide the saw and provide a good straight cut. Secondly, take your small hand plane with a sharp blade and you can bevel the edges to make it look original. I suppose you could also use a router set shallow, but a plane works good for me.

[Matt Tiernan]

Straight edge, router and a straight or spiral bit worked well for me.

[John Gregory]

I think this is a great solutions Charles. In fact I need to narrow some sticking doors and I may use the bit from Rockler to do so. Trim the hinge side then re-mortise the hinges.


Bob,

I'm with Greg and John, or if you have the time and the $$, Rockler has a door trimming router bit. It's basically a 2" tall pattern bit. (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11083)

[Ben Grunow]

Just remember that the sides (stiles) of a wood door are end grain so be careful to avoid tearing out the grain on the exit side of the cut if you use a router.

I use the festool now, but in the past used a CS and even scored the cut with a knife prior to cutting. Especially if the door is finish painted.

[Jack Hogoboom]

If you decide to plane, power is the only way to go. I did 22 doors in my old house and would have never made it without the power plane.

I have a Bosch which worked great. Worth every penny.

Jack

[Bob Moyer]

Bob,
Any specific reason to need to plane them...?
A straight edge & circular saw or guided circ. saw system should do fine or am I missing something?

Greg

I should have explained that it will be about 1/2" that I will need to remove, also they are stained solid oak doors.

[Randy Klein]

I should have explained that it will be about 1/2" that I will need to remove, also they are stained solid oak doors.

I love using hand planes, but I would not want to do 1/2" of endgrain with one.

[Jim Becker]

I love using hand planes, but I would not want to do 1/2" of endgrain with one.

Agreed. If you must use a planer, power is the best way to go, despite the limited usefulness for anything else. But personally, I'd use (and do use) a guided circular saw system for trimming doors.

[Todd Jensen]

If you were fairing them in I would recommend both. However, I agree with Greg and John on this one - I'd be reaching for my Festool 55/circular saw and an edge guide. Tape both sides with painter's blue tape to eliminate chip-out and you're golden. The fact that you're even asking leads me to believe you'd be extremely frustrated planing these doors down as opposed to just cutting them - you'd be turning a 1 hour project into a week project in no time flat. Good luck; this should be a no problemo easy fix.

[Bob Moyer]

If you were fairing them in I would recommend both. However, I agree with Greg and John on this one - I'd be reaching for my Festool 55/circular saw and an edge guide. Tape both sides with painter's blue tape to eliminate chip-out and you're golden. The fact that you're even asking leads me to believe you'd be extremely frustrated planing these doors down as opposed to just cutting them - you'd be turning a 1 hour project into a week project in no time flat. Good luck; this should be a no problemo easy fix.

Guys,

I still new at this and don't have all the neat stuff you have; what circular saw blade do you recommend since I have the original one that came with the saw.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Whatever method you use, if you score the exit of the cut with a good sharp chisel or knife you will greatly reduce the risk of tearout. Even with a power plane or saw you will get some.

[jason lambert]

I have everything a circular saw with a medium blade and guide works fine. I also use the festool with the guide that is my choice but any AC power saw will work. As long as you don't get tare out frome a dull blade you are fine the cut doesn't need to be perfect it is the bottom of a door and the materal is usally soft anyhow unless it is solid wood doors. A plainer will work but will take you longer since you can only take a little off at a time and there is no good way to guide it so it is possible you could get a wave or curve on the edge if you are not careful.