How To Cut Mortises For Door Hinge With A Router

Once you re happy with the outline remove your hinge from the door.

How to cut mortises for door hinge with a router.

Then align the support arm s bottom edge with the bottom edge of the door clamp it in place and rout the mortise as shown above. I mistakenly assumed that having a mortise about 1 16 too deep would be no big deal. First use a hinge to set the router bit s cutting depth photo below. Cut your mortises to a depth that will have the hinge sitting as flush to the edge of the door as possible.

Leah demonstrates how to use a router and jig to cut perfect door hinge mortises quickly and easily. I use a 1 4 straight bit inside a standard guide collar for this task. Score the outline with a utility knife. Get the door hinge jig shown in this video through our l.

With this setup hinge mortising becomes a standard template routing operation. How to cut mortises accurately with a hand held router a straight bit a template guide and a few scraps. 2 cutting hinge mortises making a door hinge mortise can be done with a chisel but it s more efficient with a standard trim router. There are many ways to make mortises and just about as many tool options.

A plunge router is one of the best choices because you can accurately control the depth of cut and the machine delivers clean and precise results. The power tool method uses a router and hinge mortising jig. 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. The first step in the process of making the hinge mortise is to mark the location of one end of the hinge mortise.

The jig is clamped to the door and guides the router through the cut. The hand tool method requires just a utility knife a hammer or mallet and a sharp wood chisel. You can cut a hinge mortise with hand tools or a power tool. Then grab a utility knife and extend the blade to no more than 25 in 0 64 cm.

Drag the blade along each of the pencil lines creating small grooves you ll use later.