One of the most time consuming aspects of my work has been machining and hanging doors. Installing doors and casing has never been a problem, but beveling, mortising hinges, and drilling the doors and jambs always slowed things down. Plus hanging doors is a rats nest of potentially expensive errors. Read the full article…
If you’re routing a curved surface, or if you have to follow a curved template and you’re using a router bit with no guide bearing, then you need to use an overhead pin router. I had to make some curved gooseneck rails for an old house; several of the existing rails had rotted away. The goosenecks would have to match the profile of the rail—they all needed to be routed, and I didn’t own an overhead pin router. Read the full article…
…with One Router Sled
I live in an old stone barn that was converted to a house in the 1950s. The master bathroom needed a makeover, so I gutted it in preparation for a complete overhaul. I wanted to build a new closet and separated toilet area, both of which needed doors. I decided to build louvered doors out of Mahogany, which would normally cost approximately $600 from an online supplier. Read the full article…
I had a set of custom doors to build from scratch and boy was the timing right. Festool picked me as one of the few carpenters to get a Domino XL for user evaluation. And I took full advantage of the opportunity, one that I felt was both a privilege and a responsibility. I carefully documented the process for my peers on THISisCarpentry. Maybe another contributor will follow up with a different angle on this awesome second generation tool. Read the full article…
I was working on a remodel—a high-end home near the Hamptons—when the homeowner came out the front door with a magazine in her hand. “Look!” she said. “This is exactly what I want on top of my front door!” She tilted the picture toward me: a handsome Greek Revival portico decorated with an elliptical sunburst. “It’s going to cost you,” I told her. “How much?” she asked. “About $1,200,” I said. She smiled and said, “Do it.” Read the full article…