My most recent job had me installing 14 raised panel doors that I had stained and finished. The doors were manufactured with a mdf core and maple veneer and solids. After hanging all the doors, I started to drill them for the knobs. I had rented a pretty nice jig for the boring, but soon came upon my first major mistake of the project. The jig had 2 holes in it for 2 different backsets. On the first door, I started the hole from the front side, and went to the backside to complete the hole to prevent chip out, …..and started the hole in the wrong backset(I’m sure those of you reading this, saw this coming!). I realized I was in the wrong hole just as I drilled through the veneer. After a few minutes of feeling very sick to my stomach, and thinking that I would now be replacing the door at my own expense, I placed tape over the “wrong” backset hole on the jig so as not to make the same mistake again, and I proceeded to finish the other doors. By the end of boring out the other doors, I had convinced myself that I could save the door by carefully removing the veneer, make my own veneer, re-apply it, and stain and finish. Below are a few pictures documenting my labor. The pictures show the wrong hole, my router jig for precisely removing the veneer, and the finished repaired door.
Enjoy,
Eric
Replies
Wow! "Great save!" as they say in sports.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 3/1/2006 11:58 am by forestgirl
Nice.
We all learn lessons like you did here. If you do a lot of cylindrical lock preps, you might consider making a router template and use a plunge router for the large bore. There's never any chipout and there's never any variation.
Terry
good repair.
in general, an elliptical shape is easier to hide than a square/rectangular one, should this happen in the future.
Good job, looks like an excellent color match. Glad you could save the door.
I was told that the difference between a pro and an amateur is the pro knows how to fix his/her mistake.
You did a good job.
Doug
Next time I get in trouble with hole in the wrong place, I giving you a call, Eric. Nice save!
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Thanks to all for your kind comments. While there is a small amount of pride I feel for having been able to fix the door, the reason I posted was to show everyone else a solution to a problem, not a personal gloat. I'm just glad I didn't have to buy a new door. Thanks again for the kind remarks.
Eric
Beautiful fix!! Don't you just hate when stuff like that happens? I've been known to mutter, curse, pout, and generally feel sorry for myself for hours after stuff like that - lol.
Hopefully, you plugged the hole with something solid before you re-veneered it. I wouldn't be comfortable with a weak spot that close to the door knob.
I wish someone made a 35mm (inside diameter) hole saw. I've mis-drilled the hinge cups for euro hinges a couple of times and used a 1-3/8" hole saw to make a plug. The fix was almost invisible but............ - lol.
Dave,
To answer your question, I did fill the hole with auto body filler first. However, I didn't plug the hole, I replaced the whole rail veneer. I didn't feel I would be able to pull off just a plug. I've attached 2 more pics to show what I mean. In the first pic, you can see the melamine on the sides that the router bushing guide rode against. You can also see the auto body filler. Incidentally, when I started to remove the veneer, there was a void under the original veneer that I had to fill also.
Eric"When it comes time to die, make sure all you have to do is die." -Jim Elliot
Kudo's to you for taking the time to 'do it right'...
Jumpman
Ahhh, now I get it.
Good move replacing the whole panel - hiding "patch" lines has never been my strong suit - lol.
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