Door Jambs
Today was the day to finish off and mount the door jambs. I had the rough cut jambs glued up (except for the piece upon which the bulb seal is mounted) , and now they needed to be trimmed and mounted on the side walls. I had cut them oversize a little bit, and I also had the templates I had made for the two pieces which together formed the outline for the jamb.
My initial thought was I would use two sided tape to fix the template to a piece of plywood, and use the flush-trim router bit with the bearing on the bottom. Then I could fix the rough cut pieces onto the template and trim the outer side (the plan was to screw and glue the jamb to the side wall after the outer profile was trimmed, and then use the flush-trim router bit to match the inner surface exactly with the door opening in the side wall). So I started by putting the tape on the reverse side of the two template pieces.
I used double sided carpet tape for this application. It stuck the template to the plywood very well. Then I put some double sided 3M mounting tape on the template and placed the door jambs on that. I also tacked the two jambs together so I could do them both at the same time, a total thickness of 1 inch for the jambs, and 1/4 inch for the template.
When I adjusted the router bit for length, I discovered that the bearing plus its retaining collar and set screw were greater than 1/4 inch. Uh oh. Not enough clearance. So that plan was scrapped. I started taking the template off the plywood, and problems ensued because the tape did not want to release. Using brawn instead of brains (I have very little of either), I managed to get the constituent parts -- apart. Not without damage, though.
This is the reason I should have waited for the proper Baltic Birch plywood. Birch plywood is not the same as Baltic Birch. I have a whole rant about this that I am saving up about what not to do when building an offroad trailer with plywood.
So I get the two tacked together jambs with the template on it ready and clamping it to my "work surface," I clamp it and trim the outer profile using a bit with the bearing on the top. In a risque sense, you have to be willing to do it from the top and the bottom. (Emoji goes here).
I wound up with this. The jamb is glued and screwed to the inner wall.
The outer profile was trimmed as above, and after I screwed the jamb to the wall, I took the router with the flush-trim bit (bottom bearing) to trim the inner profile flush with the door opening.
Next, I had to cut and mount the lip on which the bulb seal goes. This was going to be easy. The outer edge of the lip had to be flush wth the outer profile of the jamb, and the plans call for this to be made of 1/4 inch plywood. So I tacked a piece of the material on the jamb which was slightly larger than the dimensions of the jamb. Out came the router with the flush-trim bit (bottom bearing), and I cut the piece to the exact size right on the door. Voila.
Then all I had to do was use a base plate on the router with an edge guide attached to get the 2 1/4 inch width on the lip. The first try resulted in an error.
I said words like dang and stuff. I figured out that if I cut 1/2 inch holes with the outer circumference 2 1/4 inches from the outer jamb edge to use as starter holes (and stopping holes) I could control the cuts better. This is what that looks like.
So it all worked out in the end.
Today was the day to finish off and mount the door jambs. I had the rough cut jambs glued up (except for the piece upon which the bulb seal is mounted) , and now they needed to be trimmed and mounted on the side walls. I had cut them oversize a little bit, and I also had the templates I had made for the two pieces which together formed the outline for the jamb.
My initial thought was I would use two sided tape to fix the template to a piece of plywood, and use the flush-trim router bit with the bearing on the bottom. Then I could fix the rough cut pieces onto the template and trim the outer side (the plan was to screw and glue the jamb to the side wall after the outer profile was trimmed, and then use the flush-trim router bit to match the inner surface exactly with the door opening in the side wall). So I started by putting the tape on the reverse side of the two template pieces.
I used double sided carpet tape for this application. It stuck the template to the plywood very well. Then I put some double sided 3M mounting tape on the template and placed the door jambs on that. I also tacked the two jambs together so I could do them both at the same time, a total thickness of 1 inch for the jambs, and 1/4 inch for the template.
When I adjusted the router bit for length, I discovered that the bearing plus its retaining collar and set screw were greater than 1/4 inch. Uh oh. Not enough clearance. So that plan was scrapped. I started taking the template off the plywood, and problems ensued because the tape did not want to release. Using brawn instead of brains (I have very little of either), I managed to get the constituent parts -- apart. Not without damage, though.
This is the reason I should have waited for the proper Baltic Birch plywood. Birch plywood is not the same as Baltic Birch. I have a whole rant about this that I am saving up about what not to do when building an offroad trailer with plywood.
So I get the two tacked together jambs with the template on it ready and clamping it to my "work surface," I clamp it and trim the outer profile using a bit with the bearing on the top. In a risque sense, you have to be willing to do it from the top and the bottom. (Emoji goes here).
I wound up with this. The jamb is glued and screwed to the inner wall.
The outer profile was trimmed as above, and after I screwed the jamb to the wall, I took the router with the flush-trim bit (bottom bearing) to trim the inner profile flush with the door opening.
Next, I had to cut and mount the lip on which the bulb seal goes. This was going to be easy. The outer edge of the lip had to be flush wth the outer profile of the jamb, and the plans call for this to be made of 1/4 inch plywood. So I tacked a piece of the material on the jamb which was slightly larger than the dimensions of the jamb. Out came the router with the flush-trim bit (bottom bearing), and I cut the piece to the exact size right on the door. Voila.
Then all I had to do was use a base plate on the router with an edge guide attached to get the 2 1/4 inch width on the lip. The first try resulted in an error.
I said words like dang and stuff. I figured out that if I cut 1/2 inch holes with the outer circumference 2 1/4 inches from the outer jamb edge to use as starter holes (and stopping holes) I could control the cuts better. This is what that looks like.
So it all worked out in the end.
