You ll need to cut a mortise a small shallow recess in the wood of the door and doorjamb for the latchbolt and strike plate to rest.
How to make a mortise lock cut in a door.
Create a perfect mortise for the faceplate of your door latch use a rotary tool to help you make a perfect mortise for the faceplate of a door latch when installing door hardware.
Chiseling a recess called a mortise for a door lock plate is one of those jobs that s very simple in theory but also very easy to mess up.
In some situations a mortise is required for the door to close properly.
Knowing how to cut a mortise is essential for installing a deadbolt lock.
Fit the latch and faceplate into the door.
Using a router attachment remove the wood between the pencil lines drawn on the door edge to create a mortise for the faceplate.
Fortunately cutting out this mortise isn t nearly as difficult as it sounds.
If things don t go well for you the first time your lock will probably work fine after a few adjustments but you ll likely have to view the evidence of sloppy work for the life of the door.
In other cases a mortise is merely cosmetic.
Mortising for a door hinge allows the hinge to install flush with the surface of the door edge or face.
This project guide features step by step instructions to tackle after you have already drilled holes in the door.
Use a bevel edge chisel and hammer to square the corners of the mortise if the faceplate has square corners.