Hinge Morticing

[Derek Cohen]

It is said that the devil lies in the details. That is, a project can be made or broken by the way small details are handled.

I was installing the hinges in the cabinet doors today and it occurred to me that my way of doing so may not be the best way. I think the method works OK, but I do wonder if others do it differently, and if so, how?

So I put together a detailed sequence of photos for the examination of the wise heads here, and await a critical review.

We begin with the doors adjacent to the side frame.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/1Start.jpg

I mark the position on both frame and door with a small knife stroke. This lies in line with the lower edge of the bead.


http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/1aStart.jpg

The work proper begins with knifing both sides of the hinge ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/2Marksides1.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/3Marksides2.jpg

Then the baseline of the hinge is set on a marking gauge. This is the width of the leaf.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/4Markbaseline1.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/5Markbaseline2.jpg

Now I set for the depth of the mortice. This is more critical since too shallow a mortice and the gap between door and frame is too large, and too deep a mortice and the door will not rotate. The full thickness of the hinge (including the joint) is 6mm. I have set the gauge for a depth of 2 ½ mm. That will leave a gap of 1 mm between the door and the frame.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/6Markingthickness.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/7Markingthickness2.jpg

Knife the outline as deeply as possible. Use light strokes at first as a sharp knife will want to follow the grain. Increase pressure as you increase depth.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/8Knifelines.jpg

Now chamfer the inside edges of the mortice. This is to move all chiselling inside the mortice and away from the sidewalls (which you want to preserve at all costs).

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/9Chamfered1.jpg

This is what it should look like …

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/10Chamfered2.jpg

Next, kerf the surface with a chisel (I aim to go about half the depth of the mortice).
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/11Kerfing.jpg

I remove this – carefully! – with a paring chisel ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/12Paringchisel.jpg

It is possible to go directly to a router plane, which I use next, but the chisel is easy enough to use and the aim is to remove the kerfed surface. This defines the area to be cleared.
From here on I use a router plane. It is important that you set the depth at the start, and then work by taking thin shavings until you reach this level. A sharp blade makes this easy.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/13Routerplane.jpg

This is the completed mortice. Not my best work at the rear end – this Tasmanian Oak is interlocked and a bit crumbly.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/14Finishedmortice1.jpg

[Derek Cohen]

With hinge in place and an awl for marking the screw holes. The holes are made slightly forward of centre to pull the hinge against the rear end.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/15Awl.jpg

Drilling the holes – I prefer to use a brace as this provides more control for angle and depth.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/16Drilling.jpg

Here is a hinge with screws in place. Really awful hardware. The hinge is fine but the screws are nasty (slots are off centre).

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/17Hingefit1.jpg

The frame is joined to the door ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/18Hingessetbothleaves.jpg

Here is the full length temporary fit (the frame is still to be joined to the carcase) ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/19Joiningthefaceframetothedoor.jpg

Here are a few tests as to the quality of the fit ..

Firstly, the hinge is centred between the door and the frame, and the gap is the size I wanted ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/20Centred1.jpg

Secondly, the two pieces lie in the same plane ..
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/21Flat.jpg

So this side is now complete ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/22Completed1.jpg

Last shot of WIP ...

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/23Completed2.jpg

So, what would you do differently?

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

So, what would you do differently?

Probably make a mess of the whole thing.

Think I'll try your way next time.

Thanks for the lesson.

jim

[Eric Brown]

Derek, as usual your demo is very good. The only thing you might try is using the pointed blade in the router. This would allow a little bit of a skewed cut and might have cleaned up the corner better.

Eric

PS: Happy New Year!

[Don Dorn]

Just the way I'm doing it, except that I use the Veritas small router plane - until the large one arrives. The only thing different is that you par a bevel before you begin your relief cuts and I'll try that next time as I can see it keeps the back crisper. I have a ways to go to making the mortise bottom as flat as you have them, but I'm gaining on it.

Derek - where is the information you gave on the modification you did to the large router plane, and why you felt it was necessary? Guess I lost track of it since I didn't own one, but now that one is coming, I'd like to look it over again.

[Rick Erickson]

Job well done. Nice story. I would use a Butt Mortise plane instead of the router plane.

[Derek Cohen]

Just the way I'm doing it, except that I use the Veritas small router plane - until the large one arrives. The only thing different is that you par a bevel before you begin your relief cuts and I'll try that next time as I can see it keeps the back crisper. I have a ways to go to making the mortise bottom as flat as you have them, but I'm gaining on it.

Don, The small router plane is too small for this hinge.


Derek - where is the information you gave on the modification you did to the large router plane, and why you felt it was necessary? Guess I lost track of it since I didn't own one, but now that one is coming, I'd like to look it over again.

The mod is to the depth stop. I find the split rings lock well - too well - for my fingers. So I took a cue from LN's and came up with this. Did it for the small router plane as well. This one is a snap to adjust.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/DepthStopsForVeritasRouterPlanes_html_2329a72b.jpg

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/DepthStopsForVeritasRouterPlanes.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Andy Hsieh]

I cannot think of any better approach - the butt mortise might be a little too big for that size hinge.

Looking forward to the full read of your build - your projects are neander inspiring :)

Andy

[Leigh Betsch]

You got the proper amount of blood and bandaids so your technique is at least as good as mine. ;)

[Bob Smalser]

So, what would you do differently?



Not much. Nice job. And special kudos for avoiding Frearson, Phillips or Squaredrive screw heads on a piece whose design predates them by 200 years.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/7534648/380531488.jpg

1) Check your screw fit to your hinge leaf first, and deepen the countersink if necessary with a 45-degree countersink bit. The hardware is often sprayed with lacquer after manufacture that causes the screw heads to stand proud when they didn't in the design and prototype stage. Yours would benefit from a deeper countersink to better hide the miscut and misaligned screw slots that make it appear your pilot holes weren't perfectly perpendicular.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/7534648/380531757.jpg

2) Use self-centering Vix bits to make an easier and more precise job of drilling hinge and other screw pilots. They also work with eggbeaters and breast drills. In difficult-to-work woods with irregular texture like oak and fir, the pilot drill hitting a soft spot and going badly off is a real problem. Vix bits avoid those problems.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/7534648/362234214.jpg

3) Time (line up) your fillister screw slots with the grain. The origins of the practice are safety.... one could look at a critical piece of hardware and tell in an instant if a screw was working itself loose, but over time the practice has evolved into a mark of quality craftsmanship used on all visible hardware. When I look at a boat with the surface details all ahoo, I wonder what it looks like in areas I can't see that are more likely to kill me.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/21878325/361219050.jpg

You don't have to overturn and strip screw threads to time screws either.....if the slot doesn't align, simply back out the screw and redrive, varying the pressure on the Yankee or brace driver as required to alter the bite of the threads in the pilot to align the slot.

[glenn bradley]

Derek, that depth setting method with the wheel gauge is great. That is the one thing that always seems to give me fits on hinges, the depth. Your example will really help me out, thanks. Maybe I should take a class someday ;-))

[Harvey Pascoe]

I cheat. I use the Stewart-McDonald router base for the Dremel and rout the mortise freehand with a 3/16" down cut bit and then square the corners. The only cause for error is letting the router get away from me, but I find that far preferable to chisel slips, of which I am an expert. The end result is identical but I'll get the job done in 1/3rd the time.

I make small decorative boxes and my big bugaboo is centering tiny screws. If they're not perfect, they'll shift the hinge, but the larger the size the less of a problem that is.

[David Dalzell]

What would I do differently? I dunno. I am still learning. But thanks for the great tutorial with pictures. I will follow your steps on the next set of hinges I have to mortice.

[Derek Cohen]

1) Check your screw fit to your hinge leaf first, and deepen the countersink if necessary with a 45-degree countersink bit. The hardware is often sprayed with lacquer after manufacture that causes the screw heads to stand proud when they didn't in the design and prototype stage. Yours would benefit from a deeper countersink to better hide the miscut and misaligned screw slots that make it appear your pilot holes weren't perfectly perpendicular.

Thanks Bob

You are correct with regards the lacquer on these hinges, and the need to countersink a touch more. That isn't the problem here - the screws are the problem. I must get others as these ones are simply shockers - off centre slots and uneven bases.

I must share with you a dislike of Frearson (I don't know these), Phillips and Squaredrive screw heads. It is getting so difficult to find slot heads, which is why I persevered with these .. but they will have to go.

Derek, that depth setting method with the wheel gauge is great. That is the one thing that always seems to give me fits on hinges, the depth. Your example will really help me out, thanks.

Hi Glen

Even better ... if you use a router plane, then set the depth on the router plane and use that. You can also scribe with it.

Keep the ideas coming. I don't you taking shots at my hinge mortices as long as you provide an alternative method or insight. Eventually I will collate all the ideas and put them into an article.

Here is the second door ..

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Furniture/Dovetail%20Cabinet/Hinge%20Morticing/compositeseconddoor.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Sam Babbage]

If you want to get cute you can taper the mortises from nothing to full depth on the carcass and full depth to nothing on the door, this will offset the hinge so that it is more inline with the bead cut on the door. I also believe it lets you get a tighter gap. It's a fair bit of effort, and you have to rely on your chiseling as you can't use a router plane.

[Jim Newman]

Your marking technique is very well thought out and well done as always. However, I picked up a LN Butt Mortise Plane a number of years ago for cabinet door and passage door mortises and have never looked back when it comes to the actual mortise work. I have found it to be easy and safe. It is always such a pleasure to read your work, thanks!