wdwerker Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 A clients home was burglarized . They smashed a Thermopane french door. About 16" of the plastic frame that held the glass in was broken out. 25 year old doors so parts or an exact match was not available. This was one of 6 doors so one new door would look awful. So I got roped into fixing the plastic frame as best as possible. I trimmed the damaged plastic with my Fein Multimaster saw to a 45 at each end and saved the pieces as templates to match. Back at the shop I grabbed a scrap of white oak and made 3 blanks . Carefully traced the shape on the ends and started figuring how to cut it. Ripped 2 slots where the rabbets would be while the blanks were square. Started sorting through my router bits. I've collected at least 200 over the last 35 years. Every time I found a shape that would work the bearing was going to be in the way. Finally found a 35 year old Craftsman steel bit that was in the first set I ever bought. It had never been used. Set it up in the router table, adjust the fence then run each piece. Change the height, set the fence, repeat... I was only using a small section of the bit for each pass. At some point I had to start clamping a second fence in front so the blanks were being fed through a slot. Push sticks used every time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Once I had the shape I used my Grripper push blocks to make the final rips to finish the rabbets . Then I could clamp them in the vise and start sanding. I've got a set of shaped rubber blocks that you wrap with sticky back sandpaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Awesome! Glad it worked out, and I'm sure the clients are happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Still waiting on the new thermopane glass. I did remember to take one more picture after I had boarded up the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Crawford Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Great save - if you are lucky the client will see how much better wood is over plastic and you will get a contract to do all the other doors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Awesome job Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Pretty amazing. And the initial setup was done with an old Craftsman bit!Good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Hey, I need the same thing for one of my doors. Steve, do you make house calls? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 It was 5 hours alone to make 3 pieces , each was less than 2 ft long. I made 3 to have room for error when routing and a spare I case the miters were off at the install. It wasn't cheap or easy to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 Exactly why I haven't done it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerrySats Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 The new molding looks great , you saved the day for that client. Just curious how you go about pricing a job like that ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 Long time client( 32 years) who trusts me completely, so I did it time and materials. Otherwise I would have guessed at the time then added 50% , the materials were a scrap of 8/4 white oak I had. It came to 7 hours total time to measure, make the trim and install, then go back the next day to remove clamps and board up the opening until the glass comes in. It all was done rush on a weekend so they could set the alarm and go to work on Monday. For any other client time and half would have been the starting point of my estimate. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 I'm as impressed that you knew how to label the photo! I would have had to take a Sharpie and write on the Poloroid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 New App, PicsPlay Pro was the only way I could have ever have made those labels . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FtrPilot Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 Long time client( 32 years) who trusts me completely, so I did it time and materials. Long time client ----> best kind. Who trust me completely ----->earned over 32 years. Probably earned in year 1 and reaffirmed over 31 years. Well done...a model for all small business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted April 23, 2015 Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 Awesome work as usual Steve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2015 Thanks for all the kudos ! I just wanted to show that with some time, a router table and a tablesaw you can create or copy almost any molding. Just take it one section at a time, set up the bit, move the fence and use push sticks ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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