Make: Volume 74

DISMANTLE A DOOR

If a hollow-core door is 30"×80", expect to get two

sheets of plywood around 23"×75", plus some

usable pine strips.

The doors are glued together with something

like hot glue, so the cardboard parts come off

fairly easily but if you’re greedy and try to pull the

thin plywood from the wood frame you’ll almost

always wreck it. Cut your losses on the wood

frame around the edge and cut it off (but don’t

worry, we’re still going to use that wood, too).

Start by cutting the long sides off (about 1½"

from the edge is usually enough) (Figure

C

) and

put those aside. I typically use a table saw for this,

and cut through the whole door