Guys, help me out on this....
I have an older home where all the door knobs are tarnished badly. So, I've decided to replace them with new ones. The problem is the old holes on the doors are too small to accept the new knob fixtures. Any suggestions to achieve a professional result?
thanks, Anthony
Purchase a hole saw (there's a standard size for current locksets). Use a piece of scrap 1/8" masonite or 1/4" ply or anything similar, about 3x3". Use small brads to temporarily tack this scrap to the door over the existing hole. This will give you material to start the hole saw with. So long as the existing holes aren't too far from the door edge, you'll be able to make the change seamlessly.
There is a hole drill arbor that holds two different hole saws. You put a smaller hole saw on that just fits the old hole and a bigger hole saw that is the correct size. The small hole saw acts as a guide for the big saw. It is made by Starret and McFeely's carries it as part #HS-0019. They say: It could happen to anyone, but it happened to you. You relied on bad information, and are now staring at a 1-1/2" hole where a 1-3/4" hole is supposed to be. Now you can fix such vexations. Simply screw the hole saw for the existing hole onto the "OOPS" arbor (it accepts both 1/2" and 5/8" threaded cutters), screw the correct hole saw onto the pin-lock arbor, then place the "OOPS" arbor in the pilot drill hole. For the system to work, the inside and outside hole saws must have a size difference of at least 3/16". Perfect when installing new door lock hardware, or when enlarging holes for new piping in an old house. (Hole saw blades not included). Made in USA.
If you do not have a 3/16" difference you can use a router an a rabetting bit. Put the correct ball bearing on your rabettting bit and make a cut about halfway through the door. If the old hole is 1" and you need a 1 1/4" hole, you would make an 1.8" rabbet around the hole. Then swap in a pattern cutting bit and use the newly cut rabbet as a guide to finish the rest of the cut.
Clear as MUD???
Yea, I'd sure try polishing or plating, at least get an estimate. If you redrill, you can clamp the sacrificial stock with Quickgrips or c clamps and blocks, so you don't make nail holes. If you use a piece of
1/2-3/4" pine, you can use it repeatedly. The hole in the pine will guide the saw just fine and won't wear much.
Too bad it's a mail order thing. I generally stay away from mail order.
That sounds very useful to have around.
As far as a me too answer, I was going to suggest using a hole saw or fly cutter to make a plug the size of the old hole, and using that to guide in a new hole saw. I don't know if that would work. The mail order gadget sounds much better though.
Or for that matter, whip out the Brasso. Brass takes a long time to get truly nasty looking, so if you clean it up good, it will probably be possible to maintain it in some perpetual state of partial tarnish forever with a little routine maintenance.
Before you enlarge any of the holes, make sure the hardware will fit. The center of the hole may need to be in a different location...not merely making the hole larger.
Couple ideas...
Good luck.
Have a nice week...
Trent
Dyslexics of the world ... UNTIE !
I can't for the life of me see how this would work. lol Am I missing something.
Have a nice week...
Trent
Dyslexics of the world ... UNTIE !
Go to an auto parts store and get a can of Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish. It works as well on brass as it does on aluminum. When I was in basic training, there was a guy that used to be an auto detailer. He brought a can of Mother's with him. The rest of us had Brasso as it was available in the PX. After seeing what it could do, the drill sargent told the guy that he would have to use Brasso like the rest of us unless he wanted to supply us all with Mother's. It IS that good. Try it. You'll never use Brasso again.
refurbishing
But here's what I'm picturing, Ed...
The piece of wood goes over the old hole.
The first problem...
How do you know where the exact center is of the old hole?...in order to position the drill properly...in order to be at the exact center of the hole when you drill thru the good piece? I know it could be done...with a lot of EXACT measuring...but
But here's the real thing that puzzles me...
If I'm using a hole saw, the drill bit bites into the scrap piece. You finally get the hole saw down to the scrap piece...and you start cutting the new, larger hole. When you get thru the scrap piece, by that time the drill bit is no longer biting into anything. The only thing that's happening is that you now have a new, larger hole in the scrap piece...and the sides of that hole can steady your saw...to keep on going and drill the larger hole in the door. But the drill bit itself no longer has any bite.
The 2x4 or even 2x6 template would do the same thing...probably better.
Now...if you put a scrap piece on the OTHER side of the hole...and the drill bit was long enough to catch that scrap piece...then that would be another thing. The bit would pull the saw thru...and it'd be kinda easy to gauge the center of the old hole.
Maybe that's what he meant...putting the scrap on the opposite side.
Did I miss something? I HAVE been running low on coffee lately! lol
Have a nice week...
Trent
Dyslexics of the world ... UNTIE !
Trent© wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
You don't really care about the center of the old hole. Just position the guide (scrap) so that it's center is the right distance from the edge of the door for the new lockset.
The center drill bit doesn't pull the hole saw thru, it's just there for guidance. You still have to push the drill to force the hole saw teeth into the work.
John
(who's done the very thing suggested, and recommends using a piece of 1x rather than something as thin as 1/4 ply, to provide a better guide for the hole saw)
We're talking about the original problem, John. The OP wants to enlarge the hole...just make it larger from its original center point.
Well, it actually DOES pull. But that's not the point I was trying to stress. The pulling or not pulling is not the important thing, of course. Once the drill is thru the template, the template really has no purpose...except that the sides of the new hole will stabilize the hole saw. There no longer is any guidance for the drill bit.
As I said, you can accomplish the same thing...and probably a lot better...buy drilling the new hole FIRST...in the 2x template OFF the door...then putting the template on the door...centering it properly...and then drilling again with the template to enlarge the hole.
Personally, I'd probably use 1/4 or 1/2 stock...drill the hole...then clamp it on the door and router it.
Have a nice week...
Trent
Dyslexics of the world ... UNTIE !
Yes, that is sufficient and is the entire purpose of the template.
And no real need for it anyway. It is only used to center the drill initially. After that it has no effect anyway.
Why drill twice? Put the scrap on the door, mark and drill. Why make things more difficult?
-Jack
No matter where you drill the template, Jack...on the door...or off to the side...yer only drilling the template once.
Me, personally...
I'd rather line up a hole over another hole...than line up a drilling point on a block of wood with a hole. And I could even put the old-size hole saw into the old hole...so that I could make sure the spacing was pretty much even around the template hole.
Have a nice week...
Trent
Dyslexics of the world ... UNTIE !
In all this discussion about how to enlarge an already cut knob hole, I have not seen any mention of using a special arbor that takes two hole saws. McFeely's sells an arbor that accepts one saw the size of the existing hole and one saw of the larger diameter to be cut. The smaller saw guides the drill while the second does the cutting. Barring the purchase of a new arbor, why not just make a dowel the size of the existing hole and having a center bore the diameter of the pilot drill for the hole saw. Slip the dowel onto the hole saw arbor, and use as a guide through the existing hole.
I have to disagree with this. It is only the best way if the holes are in the same location. When you are replacing an old lockset you may find that the backset is identical for old and new. You may also find that it is not. When it is not then this approach is useless.
-Jack
Of course. If the centre doesn't line up with the original location, then some other method will have to be used.
Well, the last time I had to deal with this problem, I ended up making plugs for the old holes and gluing them in place. After things had set up well, I simply used hole saws and forstner bits to drill the NEW holes where I wanted them. Since the new hardware was offset enough from the old that there would have been a noticable gap, I thought this the simplist way to deal with it. If carefully done, filled and sanded, it leaves a smooth surface that, when painted, will make it hard to tell the holes were there. on the other hand, if the existing hardware still works well - why fix it? The tarnish problem can be dealt with by making sure the doors get used on a regular basis. Regards Dave Mundt
Thanks to all who have made suggestions. I was hoping to keep all the old knobs,etc., except they are completely worn out. They "grind" when opening and closing the doors and there's metal filings all over the linings of the holes. I should have mentioned that sooner. Maybe the original owners of this home must have hung 100lb laundry bags on them! lol...
It's at times like this I had my lathe. I would have turned a plug and glued it in and then redrill the holes. I learned my lesson - NEVER sell a good tool!!
Anyways guys, thanks for the great replies and, please, keep them coming if you've ideas. I'm not in any big hurry. Gotta keep time open for golf, right?
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