OMG I have a door! //550 words, just over 1 page

After being racked up for a couple weeks, I got back into commission with a bang. Several, actually.

The door to my head was stubborn, stuck, and clunky (head means bathroom, smartalecks!) and finally I saw why: it was warped.

No comment.

I took out the sill, removed the door and what little hardware was on it (another sore point), and tried turning it different ways. Repositioning wouldn't work; it was going to have to be surgery.

I wish I had pictures, because this was pretty amazing.

I took my Magic Pull Saw and sliced off a nearly 1/4" thick wedge from the taller side. As long as you let the tool do the work, it's like slicing butter - very slowly.

I took a cold chisel and scored a line across the bottom edge of the door, slightly above the level where constantly getting stuck in its sliding channel had worn a shiny band across the wood. I removed the thin, splintery wood around the wheel wells, from which the wheels had long since rotted away.

Then I picked up my Magic Graphite Hammer and removed 1/8" - 1/4" of thickness from that scored line downwards.

I have some really great hand tools.

My orbital sander broke last week, so I took a little extra time to smooth things out with the chisel.

I rubbed it well with coconut oil. Two coats on the bottom band. The sun-bleached parts I also rubbed with olive oil, so they'd darken up over the next couple days.

I remounted the door and screwed inthe sill. It slid like a dream, like silk over bare skin. Aaaah.

None of the locking arrangements had worked (1 to lock it open under way, 1 to lock it closed) and the mirror had been too high. I cleaned and oiled the mirror and its frame (a sturdy object which I think will outlast me) and screwed it in at a sensible height. I put a hook on the _back_ edge of the door and attached one eye to the bulkhead in the closed position, and one in the open position. That way, it's harder for any mischeivous friends to pop the lock from the outside (I grew up with two brothers.)

I mounted a handle - at long last. There is finally a hand-friendly way to move this thing.

All that remains is to make a handle for the cabin-side of the door. It will have to slip into the pocket without sticking. There's a hole in the right place from a previous effort; I'll use a bootlace to make a loop. That should do the trick and still look good against the teak.

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Addendum:

I was so impressed with the chisel and hammer that I used them again. I lucked into a cheap bag of teak handles of the inset type, where you stick your fingertips inside a little box, and the box is set into the door. I drilled sinkholes on the cabin side of the door, then, working with fortuitous arrangements of the grain, I slowly and gently chiseled out a pocket to insert the handle into. I checked the fit, applied wood glue (Titebond 3, great stuff), and carefully tapped the handle into place. Looks like it was made that way. Much classier than a leather thong.