DEWALT D180004 Bi-Metal Door Lock Installation Kit

Reviews of DEWALT D180004 Bi-Metal Door Lock Installation Kit

1.) Satisfaction with a smile.
Reviewed by: Robert A. Meena Fairfield, Connecticut
Rating:
I own another unit that was more costly than this door installation kit; however, it is designed for wooden doors and not bi-metal.

I own plenty of DeWalt tools that I am very happy with, and it was a natural for this selection.

This less-expensive tool allows me to use either unit as required.

2.) Made a tough job easy
Reviewed by: SeaburyDesign.com Downingtown, PA
Rating:
I recently purchased a 1930's home, and the first thing we wanted to do was change the locks. When I removed the old lock from the solid wood door, it was smaller in diameter than the standard locks of today. But since the hole was already existing, it would have been hard if not impossible to center the bit perfectly to enlarge the existing bore.

By using this jig, I was able to line it up perfectly. First, I aligned the small hole on the side of the door (which was the right size) and put the smaller bit in there to align it, clamped it down, and boom! The larger hole was perfectly aligned. All I had to do was drill.

All the parts are solid and well made, and the bit cut through the door like butter. Clearly this tool has limited use - it only does one thing. But the one thing it does, it does very, very well.


3.) Good Product - Read this for Mandrel Removal Instructions
Reviewed by: J. Hetherington St. Louis
Rating:
Solid jig and overall good installation kit. The instructions are lacking.

To remove the mandrel from the large hole saw you need to locate and remove the headless machine screw. Then remove the guide bit from the mandrel. After this you can slide a thin screwdriver completely through the diameter of the slotted hole saw, grip the mandrel with channel locks and separate the two pieces. It is confusing as there is no explanation but I have repeatedly read others labeling this junk and not knowing how to separate the mandrel from the 2-1/8" hole saw.

Other than this burden, it is an excellent jig and the hole saws both cut very well.


4.) Good Quality Homeowner Jig, But with Mandrel Limitation
Reviewed by: A Homeowner Rancho Palos Verdes, CA USA
Rating:
In general, I agree with the previous reviewer.

Our home has older (50+ year old) doors, and I have used this to replace worn-out doorknobs (entire mechanism).

As there was an existing face-bore (in the no longer standard, smaller size of 1 1/2"), some jig was needed to correctly drill the current 2 1/8" standard face bore ... you can't stabilize a hole saw without one if the mandrel is in the air.

That said, I also agree about not getting a perfectly centered latch hole in our doors that are a little under 1 3/4" thick. But, it's certainly more than good enough. The error of perhaps 1/16th inch can be corrected in positioning the strike in the door jamb.

The limitation is in the mandrel: the larger threaded adapter for the 2 1/8" saw is ROUND! It is not hex, so you cannot remove it with a wrench (like you can with a normal mandrel), and ended up using another (better grade) mandrel for the 1" latch bore hole saw. I eventually got the adapter off ... when it was all but welded to the 2 1/8" hole saw, from which I doubt I will ever get it separated.

Other than that, I could not have been able to replace the older hardware (as described above), and so give this a slightly better rating. (Purchase was at a local hardware store, at a slightly better price).

The competing Irwin product looks interesting as the router template has the potential to save a lot of time in chiseling the inset for the latch in the door edge.

5.) Worked well on standard door
Reviewed by: slopedirk Pearland, TX United States
Rating:
I used this today to put a lock in an exterior metal door of standard size and it worked well. It does what you expect it to, although like one of the other reviewers I found the large hole saw near impossible to remove after using it. *&#%! that was on there. I ended up getting some large pipe wrenches and that worked, but that is an issue. Also the standard drill in the tool tends to walk a little bit. Its not HD and if you were contractor would not be the ticket but for a small handyman or homeowner it fills the need and is simple as heck to use.

6.) Plastic Guide - Metal Hole Saws
Reviewed by: VT Contractor Northeast Kingdom, VT
Rating:
This product did a decent job of assisting with the installation of a small number of locks on solid wood doors in my home. The guide is made of plastic and does not really provide a true wiggle-free alignment. Particularly on a 1 3/8 thick door there is probably enough free play to get into trouble if you are not careful aligning the drill.

On the plus side, the hole saws provided are of quite good quality.

Note that this guide will only work properly on doors that are 1 3/8 or 1 3/4" thick. Use in odd size doors will result in a mis-centered latch/side bore. The guide does adjust to appropriately locate the cross bore for backsets of either 2 3/8 or 2 3/4 inches. Conclusion: probably of sufficient durability for a homeowner doing a small number of installations; not going to cut it for a contractor.

7.) Great tool, but DeWalt cheaped out with the mandrel
Reviewed by: Barrie G. Britton Riverside, CA
Rating:
I've used this tool set to install a couple of locksets, including a deadbolt, with great results. Although the alignment device itself is plastic, it worked surprisingly well to hold the cutters in place and centered.

But DeWalt really blew it with the mandrel--they supply only one, which fits the threads in the 2-1/8 inch hole saw. The 1 inch saw takes a different size mandrel, which is not supplied. I was lucky; a friend who was helping me install the doors already had a mandrel of the proper diameter, otherwise I'd have had to stop what I was doing and make a trip to the hardware store to get the missing part. I was very surprised; DeWalt doesn't usually sell incomplete tools; I guess the pressure to make a profit for the parent Black and Decker company has overcome their historic dedication to quality.

The only instructions provided were printed on the box and were about useless; if you don't already know how to install a lockset, you won't learn much by reading the information on the box. DeWalt doesn't mention the mandrel issue, but plan on spending another $8 to $20 for the smaller mandrel to finish the job.

8.) Need separate mandrel for smaller bimetal hole saw
Reviewed by: gourmet cook Bronx, New York
Rating:
I agree with mandrel limitation. I can't separate the adapter from the mandrel and can't use it on the smaller bi-metal hole saw. There is only one mandrel plus adapter. Once I used the adapter plus mandrel on the large bimetal hole saw, I couldn't separate the adapter to fit the mandrel to the smaller bimetal hole saw. To fit the large bimetal hole saw you need the mandrel plus adapter. To fit the small bitmetal hole saw, you need the mandrel without the adapter. There is no hex around the adapter to make it easy to separate. It was also difficult to separate the mandrel from the bimetal hold saw. You will have to buy a second mandrel to use this product without agravation.


9.) Don't waste your money
Reviewed by: jw32878 Southern NH USA
Rating:
I'm a homeowner who has installed a LOT of door locks. When faced with a project to install 7, I thought this tool would at least take away a little of the pain. It didn't. In retrospect, all it did was make the easiest part of door lock installation no easier than it already was. I used it for the first 2 locks, then put it in the yard sale box.

The fit of the hole saws is sloppy, and the tool hides the hole saw so you can't see where you are or where you're headed. It's just as easy and even more accurate to mark the two drilling points and drill the holes without any "guide" to hold your drill straight for you.

The hole saw provided for edge boring is 1". That's fine if your locks call for a 1" hole, but mine were all very popular Schlages that called for a 7/8" hole.

The edge guide assumes your doors are either 2 3/4" or 1 3/8", as almost every door ever built is. Guess what? One of the doors I used this on is a gorgeous custom made panel door that turns out to be a scant 1 1/4"! So of course the edge bored hole isn't in the middle of the door. Who would've thought. Now, if I hadn't been using this gizmo I would have found the center of the door edge, marked and drilled it, and had it properly centered.

If you have a lot of door locks to install, consider buying router templates for routing recesses for the strike plates. Also, buy your locks first to see what diameter hole saws you'll need.

Features of DEWALT D180004 Bi-Metal Door Lock Installation Kit

Make replacing your locks a breeze with the DEWALT D180004 Bi-Metal Door Lock Installation Kit. This door lock installation kit is designed to fit the most common lock sizes in use today. It’s crafted to work with either metal or wood doors and includes hole saw consisting of durable M3 steel. It also includes backing plates that are reinforced to counteract warping and aid in easy disassembly from the mandrel.


Package Height x Length x Width: 10 in. x 10 in. x 7.8 in.
Package Weight: 1.55 lbs.

Accessories for DEWALT D180004 Bi-Metal Door Lock Installation Kit