Putting a door's latch on and lining it up?

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Keitai

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When you put a latch on. I wanted to put the bolt through fixing on it but couldn't line them up. Just screwed it in. Is there a trick to doing it?

Bought some Auger wood bits; are these better on doors? When are they used instead of flat bits?
 
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Use 2 screws first to hold then drill through. I just use 3 screws myself as never bother with those through fixings
 
Whatever fits. Pozi yeah. I drill small pilot hole to guide
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I don't understand this. Have I missed something?

You put a square on the edge of the door, aligned to the mark for the centre of the hole you drilled for the tubular latch

draw a line on the door face

measure from the door edge the distance of the two piercings in the latch (or hold it against the mark) and mark them

(you usually do this measuring and marking in one go, before you drill for the latch)

When you have a paper template, you might get away without using a square and measure, but I would, to check.

drill the hole furthest from the door edge. Insert the latch. Peer through the hole. Can you see the piercing? If no, you will have to enlarge or reposition your hole. if you move the hole, redraw your line to find the position for the other hole.

if you are using the sleeve-nuts, it does not matter if your hole is a bit big.

Then drill the second hole

Once you have fastened those two screws, and checked that the latch operates freely with no binding, you can drill the others.
 
JohnD said:
I don't understand this. Have I missed something?

You put a square on the edge of the door, aligned to the mark for the centre of the hole you drilled for the tubular latch

draw a line on the door face

measure from the door edge the distance of the two piercings in the latch (or hold it against the mark) and mark them

(you usually do this measuring and marking in one go, before you drill for the latch)

When you have a paper template, you might get away without using a square and measure, but I would, to check.

drill the hole furthest from the door edge. Insert the latch. Peer through the hole. Can you see the piercing? If no, you will have to enlarge or reposition your hole. if you move the hole, redraw your line to find the position for the other hole.

if you are using the sleeve-nuts, it does not matter if your hole is a bit big.

Then drill the second hole

Once you have fastened those two screws, and checked that the latch operates freely with no binding, you can drill the others.
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I see using set square u measure and mark both sides before drilling. Before I was just doing it for one and the hole the other side wasnt perfectly inline. I've done it properly in these photos
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If the door is in a public area, or it is any kind of chipboard core or hollow door you must use the sleeve nuts. If you don't then sure as eggs are eggs the screws will eventually pull out. Lock and ironmongery suppliers often mandate the use of sleeve nuts and without them if anything breaks or fails you'll have absolutely no warranty

Bought some Auger wood bits; are these better on doors? When are they used instead of flat bits?
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Flat bits are a bit more difficult to keep running straight, but are perfectly adequate for drilling lipped chipboard core doors(e.g. modern fire doors). Proper auger bits (not those inaccurate sawn off speed augers sold by Irwin, Armeg et al for drilling joists, are a lot easier to align and drill straight, with caveats: firstly if you want them to last and hold an edge, don't buy cheap Chinese ones because they are dreadful, instead buy German or Austrian ones (e.g. Bosch, Fisher, Fisch, etc) - they do cost more but they tend to be more accurate and last a lot longer; drill using a heavy duty drill because larger auger bits (above 12 or 14mm) can overwhelm a smaller drill especially a cordless one; drillat a low speed (300 to 700rpm) - auger bits can overheat and lose their temper if run too fast; learn how to sharpen your bits and keep them sharp; always clean and oil them after use and store them in a proper bit roll. They are used when more accuracy is called for, and when deep drilling (e.g joists for plumbing,)
 
I've been trying out auger drill bits but they seem to damage the sides a bit. Is it better to use the flat bits? ( Have both drill sets in photo.)

Where does the small lock go in other photo?
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Your auger bits look like no name Chinese ones - not very sharp and not very good (OK for drilling holes in joists but naff all else). The nickers on cheap bits tend to be badly sharpened and they are made from crisp steel, so they won't score the edge of the hole correctly. Buy a single Bosch one from Ebay and try that to see the difference. If you gave awkward timber you can sometimes reduce spelching by first runnig the drill slowly in reverse to break the surface fibres before drilling the hole. Decent auger bits cost a lot more than £2 or £3 a pop that the ones in cheap sets cost. If your spade bits are Irwins (they look like it), then they are reasonable quality, and they (thankfully) lack the screw points that Bosch spade bits all seem to have (which pull in too fast to allow drilling of some hardwoods). TBH you'd be better off with the spade bits than the cheap augers - providing they are sharp (and you might need to learn how to sharpen them, now). Learn to start slowly
 
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JobAndKnock said:
Your auger bits look like no name Chinese ones - not very sharp and not very good (OK for drilling holes in joists but naff all else). The nickers on cheap bits tend to be badly sharpened and they are made from crisp steel, so they won't score the edge of the hole correctly. Buy a single Bosch one from Ebay and try that to see the difference. If you gave awkward timber you can sometimes reduce spelching by first runnig the drill slowly in reverse to break the surface fibres before drilling the hole. Decent auger bits cost a lot more than £2 or £3 a pop that the ones in cheap sets cost. If your spade bits are Irwins (they look like it), then they are reasonable quality, and they (thankfully) lack the screw points that Bosch spade bits all seem to have (which pull in too fast to allow drilling of some hardwoods). TBH you'd be better off with the spade bits than the cheap augers - providing they are sharp (and you might need to learn how to sharpen them, now). Learn to start slowly
Click to expand...


£29.99 from Screwfix
 
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