door latch hole needs enlarging.

stator

You could use a hole saw if you take out the center bit and replace it with a really long one. The center bit needs to be long enough to get into new wood at the back of the hole

chezybezy

Head_The_Ball wrote: »

If the latch will fit into place with a hard push, then, unless a moving part of the latch is rubbing against the wood, I don't see why you would have problems. Most of the movement is internal and the wood will only touch at the four corners of the latch body. Only if the fit is so tight that it distorts the latch body would you have a problem. The wood is likely to give a little before the metal latch body, although some cheap latches are very flimsy.

If you have a sharp blade screwdriver of suitable size, a bit of gentle scraping might be enough to ease the fit and save you buying a file or a chisel. You don't need to remove very much material.

Alternatively, if you have an electric drill and a suitable wood drill bit, you should be able to use that to remove enough material from the 4 areas where the corners of the latch body go.

De-select any hammer action, start the drill on its lowest speed, slide the drill bit into empty space and then very gently move it so that it is scraping in the right area, using the sides of the drill bit and not the point to remove material. Apply a minimum of pressure.

Or use the point of the bit and very gently move it to and fro to remove a small amount of wood.

Be very careful and beware of kick backs etc from the drill. Very gentle pressure and very slow movement should prevent any sudden kick backs or jerks.

Wear eye protection.

Some may say that is a bodge job but, as it will be hidden, does that matter much?

GDB2222 wrote: »

I don't know if you do a lot of DIY, but I find that a 13mm belt sander is wonderfully useful. It'll sort this job out in a minute.

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Replacing the latches with ones that fit might be easier.

molerat wrote: »

A file or small rasp, or the electric type above, should do it. The complete hole does not need enlarging, it just needs the 4 points easing where new square shaped latch is binding.

stator wrote: »

You could use a hole saw if you take out the center bit and replace it with a really long one. The center bit needs to be long enough to get into new wood at the back of the hole

oh my, i'm so sorry it did not tell me that there was any more replies, thank you very very much!