Door Hardware

I finally got smart this morning.  Several days ago, when I wanted to trim the opening to the barn, I tried using my jigsaw with a line stretched between two screws as a guide.  The jigsaw blade wasn't long enough, however, to cut through both layers of barn board.

This morning, just as I was waking up, it occurred to me that I could attach a batten across the opening, then use my circular saw to cut through the wood.  The base of the saw would run along the batten, creating a nice straight line.  Why I hadn't thought of this obvious approach before is beyond me.

So, once breakfast and morning drop offs were done, I searched the barn for a piece of thin straight wood to use as a guide.  I affixed this in place with screws, just above my original line, keeping the width between the saw blade and the edge of my saw base in mind.

Cutting took just a few minutes.  I finally have a nice even line above the barn opening.  With that done, I cleaned up the wood scraps and tools, then dug out the old barn door hardware that we salvaged.  A quick set of measurements showed that the door rails were eight feet long, and that our opening is eight feet wide.  Two rails, then, would allow us to have two four-foot doors that will be able to slide to either side.

After a run to town to pick up screws and a few other supplies, I dug out the ladder and attached the door rail.  The next step will be to build some new doors, but that will need to wait for another day.

Cutting guide.

A straight line!

Door hardware.

Ladder's-eye view.

Rail in place!