Planing a Door Edge, and Shaving Less Than You Think
Alright. Hinges, then the strike plate, and now we're finally getting to the door itself.
If you've done the last two lessons and the door still drags, and it's not the hinges and it's not the latch side catching wrong, chances are the door itself is too big for its opening somewhere. That's a planing job. This is the one where I tell you to be careful, because it's real easy to take off more than you need and there's no gluing wood back on.
First, find out where it's actually rubbing
Don't just start planing because you assume it's the bottom or the latch edge. Close the door slow and watch it. Look for the shiny spot or the drag mark, we talked about reading those a couple lessons back. Nine times out of ten it's one of these:
- The top corner on the latch side (door's dropped a little on its hinges, or the opening's shifted)
- The bottom edge scraping the floor or a new rug
- The whole latch-side edge binding evenly, top to bottom, which usually means the door's just slightly too wide for the jamb
Chalk is your friend here. Rub a little along the edge you think is rubbing, close the door, open it again, and see where the chalk got wiped off. That's your contact point. Now you know exactly where to plane instead of guessing.
Set the door up right
Take the door off its hinges. Trying to plane it hanging is awkward and you'll take uneven passes. Lay it flat across two sawhorses, or clamp it on edge to a bench if you've got one. You want it steady so the plane can do smooth, even strokes without you fighting the door at the same time.
Take less than you think you need
Here's the opinion I'll stand behind all day: shave less than you think. Set your hand plane for a thin, thin pass. You're looking for a curl of wood, not a chip. Run it along the whole length of the edge, not just the spot that was rubbing, or you'll end up with a dip in the middle.
Rehang the door. Check it. If it still binds, take another thin pass. Two thin passes beat one thick one every time, because you can always take more off and you can't put it back.
I learned this one the hard way at my old apartment, first door I ever tried to fix on my own. It was sticking in the summer so I planed it, and I got a little proud of myself and took off way more than I needed. Felt great in July. Come January the wood dried out and shrank back down and there was a gap under that door you could see daylight through. Cold air just pouring in. Wood moves with the seasons here, dry in the winter, it swells back up in the humidity of summer, and if you plane for the swollen version you're stuck with a gap the other six months of the year. Take a little, check it, take a little more if you have to.
Clean up and seal the edge
Once you've got it fitting right, don't skip this part. Sand the edge smooth, and if it's a wood door, put some primer or paint on that raw edge before you rehang it. Bare wood soaks up moisture unevenly and you'll be back here again in a year. Takes five extra minutes.
A word on what planing can't fix
I had a guy ask me once about a foggy window, thought if he could just get in there and reseal it he'd save himself buying a new one. Spent a whole evening on it before he figured out the seal between the panes was blown for good and there's no fixing that from outside, it's a replacement job, full stop. I mention it here because doors have their own version of that. If a door's warped, actually bowed across its face and not just sitting a little crooked in the frame, planing won't fix it. You can shave the high spots down but you're chasing a curve, and you'll plane the thing down to nothing before it ever sits flat. If you sight down the edge with one eye and see a bow instead of a straight line, that's a replace-the-door problem, not a plane-it problem. Don't spend your Saturday finding that out the slow way like my window guy did.
Watch your hands
Hand planes have a blade sticking most of the way out the bottom. Keep your fingers behind it, and when you're not using it, set it on its side, not flat on the blade, so you're not resting a sharp edge on the bench or your leg. Nothing dramatic, just don't get lazy with it.
Before next time: if you've got a door at home that drags, go find the contact point with chalk before our next class. Don't plane it yet, just come with the spot marked so we can talk through it together.