Can I use router to mortise hinge & lock on fiberglass door?
I have not worked with fiberglass doors previously. I have had limited experience hanging doors in existing jambs most of my work has been pre-hung units, but I am comfortable taking it on.
Now I have a client that wants an exterior door replaced, and I lean toward just replacing the slab.
If I purchase a fiberglass slab, can I use my router and template to mortise the hinges?
The existing lock is a mortise style lock, which I have never worked with. Is the strike side stile on a fiberglass door a different material that routes cleanly? Is it crazy to attempt installing a mortise lock on a fiberglass door?
I have visions of touching a router bit to the door and shredding out long strands of fiberglass and instantly ruining a $500+ slab.
Blue Fox Carpentry
Replies
Kevin
Bluefox_ wrote:
I have not worked with fiberglass doors previously. I have had limited experience hanging doors in existing jambs most of my work has been pre-hung units, but I am comfortable taking it on.
Now I have a client that wants an exterior door replaced, and I lean toward just replacing the slab.
If I purchase a fiberglass slab, can I use my router and template to mortise the hinges?
The existing lock is a mortise style lock, which I have never worked with. Is the strike side stile on a fiberglass door a different material that routes cleanly? Is it crazy to attempt installing a mortise lock on a fiberglass door?
I have visions of touching a router bit to the door and shredding out long strands of fiberglass and instantly ruining a $500+ slab.
Blue Fox Carpentry
check closely in advance the slab you'll be getting. All the Fiberglas entry's I've worked with have a wood edge you can rout the hinges and and latch mortise of conventional hardware. A mortise lock set might have a wider plate.......
Drilling out the holes in the fiberglass skin would be no problem.
The rail and stile dimensions should be available from the manufacturer.