How To Cut Mortises For Door Hinges With A Router

Repeat at the top edge of the door.

How to cut mortises for door hinges with a router.

Turns out once the door is hung it lacks the 1 8 gap between it and the door jamb making it semi difficult to shut. To carve out the mortise place a chisel into the outline grooves and tap the. Leah demonstrates how to use a router and jig to cut perfect door hinge mortises quickly and easily. The power tool method uses a router and hinge mortising jig.

Make a straight line perpendicular to the spine of the door by resting the set square in line with your mark. It clamps to your workbench and securing the workpieces in place only takes a second with a. Before cutting your door hinge mortise place your hinge on top of the door and outline it with a pencil. To do a good job cutting mortises the chisel needs to be razor sharp.

You can cut a hinge mortise with hand tools or a power tool. I mistakenly assumed that having a mortise about 1 16 too deep would be no big deal. Measure 6 inches from the top of the door with the tape measure and make a mark with your pencil. The jig is clamped to the door and guides the router through the cut.

So i turned to my router to cut flat bottomed mortises. This mortising jig is the way to go. Hinge mortises on a door are often cut by machine with a router and straight bit but you can cut mortises by hand using a hammer and chisel as well. Cut your mortises to a depth that will have the hinge sitting as flush to the edge of the door as possible.

The hinge mortise allows the hinge to be mounted flush with the jamb and door so the door will close properly. In fact for the technique you see here all it takes is a simple two part jig and an inexpensive router bit. Get the door hinge jig shown in this video through our l. Lay the door on its side with the side that will receive the hinges facing upward.

To rout mating mortises in the cabinet clamp the jig s support arm to the face frame s stile see photo. The hand tool method requires just a utility knife a hammer or mallet and a sharp wood chisel. Using a utility knife trace along the outline to create small groves then make a cut on the front or back side of the door indicating the mortise s depth. To cut hinge.

That doesn t mean you need a complicated jig or setup to rout hinge mortises. Mark the door for hinge positioning. The bit i use for mortising is a short top bearing pattern bit.