Simplify Door Replacement with a Lock Installation Kit

Irwin Tools Wooden Door Lock Installation Kit

As the owner of a large, somewhat nervous Lab (see note†), from time to time I find it necessary to replace doors she’s damaged. In truth, finding a replacement door is not usually very difficult because the sizes of door slabs are fairly standard. What is difficult is moving the hardware from one door to the other. I’ve picked up a couple of simple tools along the way to make it possible. One is a butt template, the other is my Door Lock Installation Kit, made by Irwin Tools (their catalog number 3111001). When it comes time to install the lockset, this tool makes life a lot easier.

What You Get for Your Thirteen (or so) Bucks

The kit comprises two parts:

• A plastic jig that attaches to the door. The jig clamps on one edge of the door, automatically centering the edge hole. The self-centering feature lets you switch between 1-³⁄₈ ” doors (standard for interiors) and 1-³⁄₄ ” doors (exterior). The jig contains a 2-¹⁄₈ ” hole for cutting the face hole and can be adjusted for 2-³⁄₈ and 2-³⁄₄ backsets.
• A three-piece hole saw, which includes 1” and 2-¹⁄₈ ” hole saws and a ³⁄₈ ” mandrel. The saw set is made out of carbon steel, and is suitable for use with solid wood and hollow-core doors (most of them have particleboard along the edge where the lock goes).

Using the Kit

1. After carefully transferring the location of the lockset hole from the old door to the new blank, mount the jig to the edge of the door with the screws from the lockset’s faceplate. Mount the hole saw with 2-¹⁄₈ ” cutter and fit it into the face hole guide; drill through to the opposite side.
2. Switch the hole saw to the one-inch size. Using the hole on the edge side of the guide, drill from the edge until you’ve created a hole that connects the edge with the face hole.
3. Chisel out a space for the face plate and mount the lockset. You’re done.

Thoughts…

This is an inexpensive solution to a problem that most people only encounter once or twice. As such, it’s very useful but isn’t particularly durable. I’ve used mine three or four times. Because the hole saws are mere carbon steel instead of carbide-tipped, the kit can’t be used on metal doors and the saws dull fairly quickly. The concept, however, is sound.

Other manufacturers make installation kits that are more durable, both in including a more robust clamping method and in the inclusion of carbide-tipped bimetallic hole saws. Kits made for metal doors (at about 70% more) have longer-lasting hole saws. So while this kit gets kudos for making the job easier, it loses points for being just a little too close to disposable.

However, for someone who just one door to repair, this is a handy-dandy tool to have in your arsenal. And who knows – maybe some day you’ll need to install another door blank! Summary PLUS: Accurate, inexpensive, and easy to use MINUS: Not useful for metal doors, not particularly durable WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: If you have one or two doors to replace, make life easier with a Door Lock Installation Kit. If you have several to install, get a better one than this.

† A word of explanation: Our previous blonde lab was rescued at the age of 2-1/2 from the kennel where she had been abandoned by her previous owner. After four months in a 6 x 8 chain-link enclosure, suffering most of that time from a torn ACL in one of her hind legs, she developed a case of separation anxiety. Hence, it’s not always a good idea to close her on the other side of a door… 

copyright © 2018 scmrak