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Thread: Help hanging an interior door

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Help hanging an interior door

    I made an interior door out of Sassafras that ended up being 1 3/4" thick because of the stock I had. That went well but I think that was the easy part.

    I'm intimidated by mortising the hinges and actually hanging it. The doorway will be getting a new oak jamb so I have a few options.

    Should I basically make a prehung door? Mortise the hinges and assemble it in the shop? If I did this method, should I mortise the hinge jamb first, and then attach the top and other side jamb?

    Or should I install the jamb first, then hang the door and put the stops on?

    This is the first of every door I'll be doing in the house so I want to get the best process figured out.

    Thanks,

    Travis

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Somewhere on these forums, I have a how-to. Hopefully, a search can find it. I built new houses for 33 years, and never used a prehung door.

    The reason for setting in place is if you want perfection. You can set the jambs so that no trimming of the door is needed. It can stay in place wherever you leave it, without swinging on its own, regardless of if the wall is perfectly plumb, or not. It can shut easily, with no rattling, and a single sound.

    If your tools are not on site, it will be more work. When I was building houses, the shop setup was right there, so each step was done in place. It took only one day to hang all the doors in a house to perfection. Being the main moving parts in a house, my door closing was a good selling point for the houses.

    Most people have never seen anything but a prehung door, so had never experienced a door hung this old way.

    If your main considerations are fast and cheap, just prehang.

    edited to add: The search worked:

    https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....hanging+how+to
    Last edited by Tom M King; 01-26-2020 at 8:45 AM.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Travis Fatzinger View Post
    I made an interior door out of Sassafras that ended up being 1 3/4" thick because of the stock I had. That went well but I think that was the easy part.

    I'm intimidated by mortising the hinges and actually hanging it. The doorway will be getting a new oak jamb so I have a few options.

    Should I basically make a prehung door? Mortise the hinges and assemble it in the shop? If I did this method, should I mortise the hinge jamb first, and then attach the top and other side jamb?

    Or should I install the jamb first, then hang the door and put the stops on?

    This is the first of every door I'll be doing in the house so I want to get the best process figured out.

    Thanks,

    Travis
    I would always build pre hung in the shop on your work bench where you have space, accessibility and your tools handy instead of having to do everything on the job site where conditions are not optimal. I would suggest cutting your jamb material and doing the hinge mortising on the door first and then the jamb prior to assembling the jamb. It is easiest to make a router jig that is the length of the door with stops on the ends to clamp onto the top and bottom of the door and have some fixed router templets that are positioned along the length of the jig. Use a bit with a guide bushing and mortise your hinge locations on the door then transfer your jig to the jamb with some careful measuring to make the door have what ever amount of clearance on the top and bottom of the jamb.

  4. #4
    Definitely easiest to mortise for hinges before the jamb is assembled. I make a simple jig of 1/2" sheet stock about 5" wide with rectangular cutouts the length of and an inch or so wider than the hinges. Hinges are typically not balanced around the door's center height (6" from top & 9" from bottom is typical) so rather than making the jig the same as the door height I index it to the top of the door and make the top and bottom cutouts equidistant from the ends with a center cutout exactly in the middle- easy to do on the tablesaw. This allows for a fence on one face of the jig that registers to the door face and jamb edge (the jig has to be flipped end for end between door and jamb, thus the need for centering).

    The mortises are cut with a short top-bearing flush trim bit. The jig is set down from the top of the jamb to allow clearance between the door and the head jamb. Double check the mortise locations before routing.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Location
    Lancaster, Ohio
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    Tom, that is one very nice write up of how to hang a door.
    Same basic way I have done for over 45 years.
    Only difference is i have a hinge jig.
    First one was a JC Penny that clamped on, second one is a Bosch that nails on. I have used a Rockwell in the past also.
    never prehang a door.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    I didn't realize that I didn't include anything about the hinge jig. Maybe the person I wrote that for didn't have one. I didn't reread it.

    I also use a hinge jig. The one I use on the door is an old Craftsman, made in the '60's, and soon after that discontinued. The reason I like that one is that it clamps onto the door, without leaving any marks like the later ones made that use pins, or such, to drive into the door edge.

    That jig can also be used on the jambs, but I made a mate for it out of plywood, specifically for the jambs. It can be used either way the door swings, with nothing to move, and door top clearance built in. It screws to the jamb with the screw holes going where the stop will be applied, so there are no holes to have to fill. I made it out of plywood, several decades ago, and hardened the edges where the router guide rubs with epoxy. Being only used one day a year, it's still as good as when I make it. With that carefully plumbed with a good level, the door will stay in place wherever its left, even in an old house where the wall might not be plumb.

    I also made several router jigs for the lock strike mortises the same way, that clamp to the door, and screw to the jamb. It makes the whole process go quickly, and perfectly. We would do one step at a time, all the way through a house. I used the cheap plastic jigs to make the good ones by, with slight adjustments. They stay in a waterproof toolbox, with desiccant, so they still look like the day I made them too.

    I too started doing this for a living a little over 45 years ago-actually 46 since last Fall.

    edited to add: I'll bet that J C Penny jig is the same one as my old Craftsman. I found some replacements for those nylon feet some years back, but I forget where now. I think on ebay.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 01-26-2020 at 11:47 AM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
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    Waterford, PA
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    1,225
    Travis, I hung 5 re-claimed doors using Tom's instructions in our old house and all 5 work perfectly. Just take your time and you'll be fine.

  8. #8
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    I used to build houses. I had a jig similar to this. It takes the guess work out and you can rout both the door and the jamb. Perfect fit every time.


    https://www.toolnut.com/porter-cable...xoC9pIQAvD_BwE

  9. #9
    I would pre-hang it in my shop and then put it up. I might break down the jambs to make it easier to move it. I like to screw them together. I make a jig for the hinges. I use a shop made jig for cutting the mortises with a flush trimming bit with a top bearing. That way the cut out of the jig is the size of hinge. Radius of the bit should match the radius of the hinge. If they are square corners, just use a chisel to finish the mortises. For a door or two, I would just make a jig for one hinge. But if I had a house of doors to do, I would make a jig to do all three hinges - saves the marking for each hinge spacing.

    Around here, pre-hung doors come with split jambs and the casing is already installed. I did a couple doors that way but getting the split jambs aligned for installation was a PAIN. So for the rest of the doors in this house, I made the lumber yard give me regular door jambs and the casing. That way I could shim the hinge side to fasten the hinges to the studs instead of depending the the casing to support the door. I'm sure if I did it enough the split jambs could be faster. But to me they are the worst. They install the casing with staples. Ugly holes. I like making doors but I used cheap hollow doors since they are painted anyway. But I had to at least get them supported by the studs.

  10. #10
    I have an old Stanley hinge jig I bought in the 70's. Always routered in the hinges after setting the jambs. As heavy as a 1 3/4" door is, would be difficult to hang it prehung with a interior jamb. First make sure the floor is level, or if it is not you can add or subtract from the length of the jamb side on the lock side. Make your jamb top so you have about 3/16" gap for the door in the jamb. Takes a little room for a door to fit into an opening, especially when it is a thick door. I would shim behind the top hinge, and use a long screw to go through the hinge and the shim and into the opening. Nails holding a heavy door tend to give. Once you have the door hanging on the hinges, with the top of the jamb secured, you can shim and adjust the jamb to the door the rest of the way around.

  11. #11
    If you have a whole house to do the jig with all 3 hinges could make sense. If you're just going to do one, then this alternative works and is a lot cheaper:
    https://www.toolnut.com/accessories/...-template.html

    You will need to very carefully make sure that the spacing is consistent between the jamb side and the door manually; which the more expensive jig helps with.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Ambler, PA
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    Wow, thanks for all the responses, there is a lot of info to digest here.
    I'm still leaning towards pre hung since this will be on my 3 year olds room and it would be great if I could be finished before nap time.
    I picked up a Carey/Lee Valley jig for $10 on ebay tonight so that should help.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
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    The hinges are the easy part. The lock mortise will be a struggle depending on the lock you select. If you have in mind a full mortise lock set, you know an old school mortised lock, then Porter Cable makes a router which clamps onto the edge of the door and bores the mortise. Its a PC 513 and its about $800, and I don't see many in the used market much. They are highly prized. If your using a hardware store lock, then some hole saws will do the trick.
    Regards,

    Tom

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