Shaving doors - belt sander

[FerrumB5]

Bought a house recently, and noticed that 4 doors were catching on carpet.
Doing this with a cordless "mouse" sander would have been a month long project (one door needed a 1/4" trim on the bottom, 1 needed 1/6", 2 others were better). Purchased Ryobi 3x18 in belt sander for $50 at Home Depot and did the whole job in 2 hours.
"Professionally" done by contractor (using similar or even same belt sander), this job would have cost several hundreds. Profit.

If you value your time, belt sander is THE tool for this kind of a project. Needless to say it will be used in many other projects to come (floors refinish at some point, furniture, garden, you name it)

[lthenderson]

I have a more expensive porter cable version of this:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-7698K-4-Inch-Planer/dp/B0000C6DWJ/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1446485319&sr=8-10&keywords=2+inch+planer

but that would reduce the job from two hours to a matter of minutes. However, a belt sander is probably more versatile for other projects.

[James]

I have gone the file route, it isn't pretty... :)


I agree with the sander or planer method as the right way to do the job. For me I would probably just rent the sander...

[FerrumB5]

Renting was $20 per 4 hours + $5 for 2 belts (well, I bought the belts as well just in case). So, not critical in paying extra 30 for owning the tool. And yes, portable sander is a lot more versatile than a machine.
Filing 1/4" off the bottom of the door, where the hardwood beam is - no, thank you. (I did file a door once, but had to remove a 1/4 mm only)

[Bob W]

I've done it with a circular saw as well.   Snap a line.  Slow, Steady, patient hand. 

[Fishindude]

I'd use a hand held planer or circular saw with the proper blade.

[FerrumB5]

I did consider both planer, circular and even recipr saw options. Planer was not so much cheaper than that belt sander (surprisingly!!), and as I mentioned - I have plenty of projects in the near future for the sander. Circular saw - same price, give or take, but not too many applications for me

[Spork]

I suspect he meant a $10-20 block plane for "hand planer" not a powered planer.

But nothing wrong with getting a belt sander.  They can be very handy.

[Left]

have you just checked the frame first? You might be able to hammer it a little and make the space?

[FerrumB5]

Yes. All checks were done prior to sanding off the excess. Measure twice, cut once :)

[index]

Harbor freight has a $10 hand planer that works really well. I would buy an orbital sander for this if you want to use a power tool. Orbital sanders are much more versatile that belt sanders.

[zolotiyeruki]

I've done it with a circular saw as well.   Snap a line.  Slow, Steady, patient hand.

I'd use a circular saw as well.  Except I'd clamp a straight piece of lumber across the door as a guide.

Which reminds me, I have a couple doors in the house that need this treatment...

[Fishindude]

I suspect he meant a $10-20 block plane for "hand planer" not a powered planer.

Nope a 110V electric powered hand planer.
Shaving off doors is exactly what that tool is made for.
You can probably rent one.

[paddedhat]

Sorry, but after decades of wearing tools out, I have got to disagree. The best DIY method is a laying the doors on a pair of sawhorses. Clamp a straight edge on, and carefully cutting with a circular saw. The next step up is cobbling up a permanent straight edge and shoe, out of scraps. For this you take a piece of thin plywood, like 1/4" luan, roughly 6" x 40". Attach a nice straight 1x2  along the long edge of the plywood. I would glue and staple this, as it needs to be permanent. Now put a nice blade in the circular saw and use the 1x2 as a rip guide. This will trim the ply to the exact edge you need. When it's time to cut a door, just place your assembly exactly where you want the cut to be, and clamp it down. The plywood shoe protects the door from scuffing, and your cut will be exactly flush with the edge of the plywood.

I used to work in a custom millwork shop, and we would get a ridiculous amount to trim or shorten doors. With a home made jig like I describe, it takes longer to grab the tools and put them away then it does to make a nice clean cut on a door.

[Fishindude]

Problem with a circular saw / straight edge is that most guys won't have a good saw, nor the right (sharp) blade, and they will splinter the heck out of the door along the cut line, particularly if it is a veneer door.

[paddedhat]

Problem with a circular saw / straight edge is that most guys won't have a good saw, nor the right (sharp) blade, and they will splinter the heck out of the door along the cut line, particularly if it is a veneer door.

Well, Like I once heard an old Army general say, "you can't make ice cream from cow shit".  If you hack at anything with a POS tool and a dull blade, you get what you deserve. As for veneer doors, scoring the cut with a sharp utility knife before cutting is the proper way to prevent splintering. This only needs to be done to the top face, since the bottom won't have splintering issues, due to the direction of blade travel.

[lthenderson]

Problem with a circular saw / straight edge is that most guys won't have a good saw, nor the right (sharp) blade, and they will splinter the heck out of the door along the cut line, particularly if it is a veneer door.

Well, Like I once heard an old Army general say, "you can't make ice cream from cow shit".  If you hack at anything with a POS tool and a dull blade, you get what you deserve. As for veneer doors, scoring the cut with a sharp utility knife before cutting is the proper way to prevent splintering. This only needs to be done to the top face, since the bottom won't have splintering issues, due to the direction of blade travel.

I solve splintering by just putting a scrap piece of thin plywood or whatever is handy down on the top side. Sometimes depending on material, a heavy strip of tape along the cut line will also do the job.

[risky4me]

Problem with a circular saw / straight edge is that most guys won't have a good saw, nor the right (sharp) blade, and they will splinter the heck out of the door along the cut line, particularly if it is a veneer door.

When I was a finish carpenter I often trimmed several doors a day. We would place door on a saw horse, place straight edge 1/8" up from where you want the bottom to be, and scribe through the veneer with a sharp utility knife. A circular saw chips the veneer on the top(facing the saw) not the underside generally. You can either clamp a board as a guide but with the scribed line you can make a fairly rough cut below the scribe line and the then just touch it up with a bevel with a  sanding block to the scribe line. You only see the nice, straight, scribed line- not the rough cut. Stay 1/16 min. to 1/8" below the scribed line.- don't try to get too close to the scribed line. Use a newer blade and the bottom should not splinter or chip. Give the bottom side a slight bevel with the sanding block to keep it from splintering the veneer in the future. If you have high humidity it is a good idea to coat the cut bottom with a fast drying sealer like spray shellac or lacquer(or anything to seal it, but these dry very fast).

[FerrumB5]

All good points here about circular saw and splintering, etc.
In my project I tried to minimize cost and it was a one time job anyways (or until we put new carpet in XYX years)

[BTDretire]

I've done it with a circular saw as well.   Snap a line.  Slow, Steady, patient hand.

 My thought also.
 My dad would cut a line in the veneer with a utility knife, then follow that with the circular saw, that way the blade didn't chip the edge.