Best way to remove stainless steel sandwiched between wood?

[Perky890]

Hi guys,

I have some solid oak doors that i made myself. They were made from warped timber so i clamped them flat, routed out a slot, and glued a 12mm stainless steel square bar in the slot to keep everything square. Please take a look at the pictures attached.

I now need to take 2mm off the bottom of the doors, but due to the metal bar I cant simply cut it.

What would be the best method to remove approximately 3mm from the surfact of the stainless steel bar to reduce its depth?

I initially thought about 3d printing a jig to hold an angle grinder in place, however now im thinking about using a die grinder.

Any other thoughts or better methods to achieve this?

Thanks

 

[tylersteez]

Id go with a cut of wheel. its the bottom of the door and it's not hard to get a straight cut with an angle grinder. a little sanding after and no one will ever think about it. could also get one of those circular saws designed for metal, not sure if the blades are rated for stainless though.

 

[eKretz]

That doesn't look like a very tight glue-up. I think I would first try drilling and tapping the steel bar in several places along its length and trying some u-shaped pullers made up of c-channel with open end just a bit wider than the steel bar. Add some steam heat if it still won't pop. Then use your router to deepen the slot back to full depth after your door is trimmed and glue it back in. This time use a bit more glue. That fit-up needs to be tight or the bar won't do much.

 

[TaperPin]

I do a lot of door work and if the wood has reached the moisture level in the rest of the house I’d suggest just heating the bar up with a propane torch, remove it and fill the slot with a wood plug. With the bar only into the vertical sides a few inches it’s not doing a lot to reinforce the joint there. If the door had so much stress that removing the bar changed the stability of those joint at all, there are bigger problems.

 

[Peter from Holland]

If the bar is hard to remove I would put it on the milling machine and mill off the 2 mm
Wood is not that much of a problem for a metal milling machine A good clean of the milling machine afterwards Oak makes it rust

Peter

 

[memphisjed]

Belt sander? Wood, steel, glue just “plane” off what you need to.
Faster, with less control would be a 36 grit Blaze sanding disc on a grinder. Again, all material as is at once.

 

[Zap921]

I second the two hand size "Makita" belt sander..

 

[john.k]

Stainless is quite abrasion resistant ,and any hand held machine just wont work........since the bar is 12x12mm ,take the advice of removing it from the wood ............Id suggest ,if you attempted to use a milling machine ,the bar would be ripped out of the wood anyway ,to the detriment of your cutters.

 

[rimcanyon]

Removing the bar is the best suggestion. Drill and tap it and pull it out with screws. A few pieces of scrap should make a suitable puller.

 

[stephen thomas]

I have a Milwaukee steel cutting skilsaw, so i'd clamp a batten on for a guide. and saw it off being careful of the minimal blade engagement so as not to chip a tooth or more.

However, combine Rimcanyons suggestion with the propane heat idea, and it will be easy to remove the bar, plane or mill it, and glue it back in with epoxy if you are still inclined to have it as part of the structure.

OTOH if you try to grind it in place, it will probably get hot enough and warp enough to pop loose anyway.

smt