Old-style Lock Mortise?

buildenterprise

How do I bore a door to accept the old style of slide-in mortise lock? Or is it even possible?

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Dan_Watson

Anything is possible, you can drill it out using a forstner bit or spade bit then clean up the pocket with a chisel, or use a router to remove most of the material and then square the corners off, or my favorite (though ive never used it)would be a mortise lock installation jig...they may be alittle pricey if your only doing one! about $500.00! no matter what you do make sure your tools are sharp, and take your time...nothing i worse than breaking through to the face of a door.

Teetorbilt

Another thread.

http://www.contractortalk.com/showth...t=lock+mortise

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cleveman

Doesn't it call for a 5/8" pocket? I had to do about 10 of these once and all came out well. I made a dowelling jig out of a block of wood and clamped it in place. I used a hand-held drill and ended up wearing a glove on my drilling hand because it got so hot. Did I mention it was white oak? Clean up with a chisel as a previous poster already mentioned.

If I had to do it again, I think I would just use a drill press on the stile before the door was constructed. This would be way smarter.

I think that after I cleaned up all the hardware and removed the firecrackers etc. from inside the locksets, I sprayed everything with some clear coat something or other.

Those locksets and custom doors really make some women wet in the crotch when they see them. Especially if you leave a skeleton key sticking out from the lockset. I really like them if the creak a lot when opening and closing.

Good luck.

BKFranks

You can either drill it out and then use a chisel, or they make a tool that a router mounts on that you crank with your hand. It makes a cut and then on the next pass it moves deeper.

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Railman

I used to do the Baldwins every now & then. The hard part is to not blow out the sides. I never had a problem, but I heard of a lot of horror stories. You gotta use an extra dose of patience! I just took my time, & stopped very often to check the remaining wood thickness on each side of bore.

If I were to do it today, & think I would use an extra long (12"?) 3/16, or maybe 1/4 bit to act as a guide. You could clamp a bored guide block to the door for the small bit, bore it, & then follow up with the big bore bit. The big bit will follow the small bore, as long as you are reasonably parallel to the door edge. The rest is pretty much covered in previus posts.

Another good way to bore them is with a Shopsmith, set up in a horizontal bore position. I did about 30 interior doors that way on one home. It was easy!
Joe

buildenterprise

I ended up using a 3/4" ship auger to bore out the bulk of it, then a jigsaw to straighten the hole, then a chisel to mortise in the mounting plate. It was a hollow-core door, BTW.

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