congratulations, it’s a door!

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Hey Siliconshaman LOOK I remembered to mark the edges before I took the hinges off! (for which i MOST PROFOUNDLY thank you)

ANYWAY I cut most of the first mortise with the Correct Tool, which is chisels!

Three wood chisels of varying widths lay on a white tabletop.

But then I realized that 1) it’s not gonna be precise no matter what tools I use & also 2) I have a jigsaw, so I cut the second one with that & they’re both more-or-less the right size. Ish.

Yep, that's a jigsaw.

See?

The edge of the door, which now has a mortise cut in it -- basically a recessed area that the flat part of the hinge fits into, so there's less of a gap between the door & the doorframe.

I’m REALLY glad those hinges are sturdy, cos that way I avoided having to take the entire door off. I just undid each hinge, cut the mortise, & screwed the hinge back in. That said, I had a table under the door, too, to hold some of the weight.

That went quickly enough I figured I’d try getting the deadbolt on!

I’d decided against putting an actual doorknob on the side door about three point eight seconds after deciding I wanted a side door, because the chances I would run an entire doorknob sticking out of the side of the tinker’s wagon into something Large were approximately a hundred percent. Yes, I know a know only sticks out like an inch anna half past where a deadbolt sits. Yes, I shouldn’t be driving the tinker’s wagon that close to anything ANYWAY. Too bad. Deadbolt.

After a LOT of futzing around I got the thing attached!

It's the latch side of a silver-coloured deadbolt, & it's neatly fastened to the door.

It turns out that the door originally had a different sized doorknob! Which I didn’t know was a thing! But lo, a gap.

Seen at a different angle & closer up, it becomes speedily clear that the deadbolt is off-center in the hole it's supposed to go through, leaving a crescent-shaped gap on one side. Oops?

Which is fine, it’s on the inside, I know how I’m gonna make it neat, AFTER ESTRELLA.

Can’t lock without a strike plate!

A bit of doorframe, upon which is drawn, in Sharpie, the rough outline of the strike plate. That's the metal bit around the hole where the latch goes.

Fortunately(?) there’s enough of a gap all round the door that I didn’t have to cut a mortise for the strike plate!

From the outside the silver deadbolt & strike plate look REALLY good against the purple door. If you can ignore the roughly quarter-inch gap between the door & the doorframe, which is supposed to be a LOT smaller than that.

& now? It locks AND unlocks!

From inside the tinker's wagon again -- my hand is on the deadbolt latch, & the door is slightly open. It's a door!

& yes, I DID remember to bring the keys inside when I was done.


This was posted originally to my Patreon, a little over a week ago.

If you want to see these posts sooner, & not incidentally help support me & my cats in our travels & such, the way to do that is to sign up as one of my Patrons for as little as a buck a month.

I’d REALLY like that.

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