What is a Knuckle Bender and do you need one?

Mail Call this week from Fastcap brings us a very useful tool that makes a complex problem easy to solve

[raymae]

An old Norwegian carpenter named Okie showed me how to do this with a plain old Crescent wrench when installing metal doors 49 yr ago. Glad to see you sharing the craft with this generation. Also tell them to make sure the hinge screws are tight and not to booger up the trim in the process.

[ssan-chez]

19 yr old aspiring finish carpenter here. Finding this channel has been a gem especially with tips like these that are actually useful & straight to the point. picking this tool up for sure thanks ron!

[renegadewa]

I made one of these about 15 years ago by simply taking a crescent it and using a drill press drilling a 3/8's hole through it.
I used it just a couple of days ago and it still works great!

[LTVoyager]

An alternate technique is remove the middle and upper hinge pins and then put a shim in the top of the door to get the gap where you want it (actually just a little more to allow some spring back). You can then bend the hinges t align with each other, insert the hinge pins and voila you are done. No guesswork or trial and error required.

[HerbertAtkinson]

The thing is that the hinge knuckles to bend is the hinge on the door not the hinge on the jamb, thought I would throw that out there being I didn't hear that mentioned in this video.

[SteveMcQuillin]

Watched all these mail call videos but first time I have actually thought "I need that *now*" so went and ordered it. Got 4 or 5 doors that have settled since the house was built and just need some fine tuning. Great video, Ron!

[ronlapierre]

Learned this from Gary Katz long time ago at JLC Live. Thank God for good teachers that help lift up trade professionals. We've got a long history of bad reputation to overcome. Thanks Ron

[jackpinnell]

You are a treasure chest of knowledge Ron! Thank you for taking the time to share "your tricks" to all us that learn so much from you.

[MichaelHall-opsl]

This tool is awesome, no doubt one of the best tools in my toolbox. I would recommend to everyone with this same issue!

[alienproductions]

This is gold. So well explained. All aspects are covered clearly and concisely.

[LJG]

Learn something every day.. doing this for 44 years, never seen a knuckle bender....

[andygullion]

Good job, I just ran into a stain grade door, and I didn't want to risk long screws pulling the jambs and casing apart ...that tool will be ideal. You know, it's so valuable to have a reputation for knowing how to things .

[TonyWadkins]

Excellent tool demonstration ! Bifolds and double sliding doors are the worst for uneven jambs! Every movement is compounded with the other hinged door reveals. This works great as long as the original door hinge jambs were hung somewhat plumb and the jamb headers are level/square. Then you may have to whoop out your planer or in some worst cases remove casing and reset jambs. Occasionally using more than one method including the long hinge screws in jambs which is one of my first go-tos if appropriate. Sometimes cheap hinges are just weak from the get-go and hinge replacement may be necessary. There is some work/strain hardening being done with bending the knuckle/leaf which can help a little but I usually find the same hinge has dropped again months or a year or so later depending on weight of door.
I've been using just a plain crescent since 1984 but it can leave scratches if not careful. I plan on scooping out some crescent jaws today(please buy the tool to support the manufacturer if they hold a patent) . Thanks for all you do for advancing true craftsmanship in our trade!

[Drewstermm]

Just bought one! I hang a lot of doors and I can't wait to try it out!

[chancebeasley]

Great video Ron. I just bought these last month but haven't needed to use them yet. I'd ABSOLUTELY love it if you did a video on hanging and adjusting doors. You are an awesome teacher. Thanks!

[jspallin]

Cool tool! A video that shows all the tips and tricks you alluded to would be fantastic!
Loved your series on crown molding!

[superspecialty]

Focus on the subject matter which is the modified crescent wrench and the bending of the door hinges, I finally figured out why most YouTube videos don’t/can’t do it, it’s because the camera is not on their head, but is narcissistically facing them and “them” aren’t the subject matter!

[peterfritzsche]

It looks great an I can see how it would work great on hinges with knock out pins all the hinges I fit in the uk don't have removable pins though

[frankie]

I have never seen that done.  What a great changer.

[sarcspark]

I didn't know Robert Redford knew so much about doors.