Cutting down exterior doors

[Cochese]

I seriously debated buying this on the spot Saturday. If they still have it and you say it can be done, it will be mine.

I've been wanting to replace the doors on my shop, they are simple plywood 'doors.' Standard height, not a standard width. I found a set of exterior French doors that fit what my design wants to be perfectly, but they are a combined 12.5" too wide. I was wondering if it were feasible to rip the door about 6" on the hinge side in order to get them to fit. They appear to be solid core doors. This is such a good deal that the total cost would be way less than materials to build inferior versions from scratch.

I know absolutely nothing about door construction. I don't know if what I am suggesting is worth it. I would open the door frame up to fit, but that's a whole 'nother adventure I'm not sure I want to explore.

[LarryG]

Most likely, not feasible. It's easy to tell if a door is solid core, not so easy to tell what that core is. Typically there are solid wood stiles and rails at the perimeter for structural rigidity and for the hardware to attach, but the area out in the middle might be particleboard, plywood, random length/width wood blocks, or who knows what.

The widths of the stiles also varies depending on the manufacturer and quality, but it's a safe bet that cutting 6-1/4" off the hinge side of the door would remove the entire stile. Even splitting the difference and cutting 3-1/8" off both edges of both leaves would be too much to leave a sound assembly, IMO.

[JSUPreston]

I discovered recently that a solid core door doesn't mean that it's solid wood. I bought 2 solid core doors for a desk I made at home (long story, don't ask ). One of the doors needed about 3' cut off to make it fit. When I cut it, I realized that the core of the door was glued up chips and sawdust that literally crumbled in my hands. It worked for my purpose.

If you do buy the doors and they turn out to be like mine, I suggest saving the scraps and gluing them back up like you would a hollow core.

[sscherin]

I ran into the same thing.. The "core" was wood chips and glue that hardly held together.

You could cut the door to width. and route out a pocket for a new stile. Route what you can between the skins, clean up with a chisel and fit a new hardwood stile.

[jdon]

Sounds like they're using a strict of "solid"- as long as it's not a liquid or gas, anything goes!

[Cochese]

I had a feeling this would be the case. I guess I shall continue in my plans to build from scratch.