Mortise

[Byron Trantham]

I have to recess four door hinges - mortise them. I have to do it by hand. I've used tape to define the mortise now I need to know if there is any "secret" to controlling the chisel. It is very sharp but I always have a time trying not to cut too deep or go beyond the length. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

[Derek Cohen]

Byron

A router plane, such as either a #71 or #271, excells at cleaning up hinge mortices. It is not necessary - you can just chop a series of even-depth kerfs, and then pare these out - but a router plane does make for a nice, clean finish.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Doug Shepard]

Personally, I think you might get a little better results if you trace the hinge with a sharp knife to define the mortise. I still take a 0.5mm pencil and darken the knife line just so I can see it better. But the knife line cut will act as a guide for your chisel and help make your initial chisel cuts more accurate.

The depth aspect is a little tough to get right. If I'm having trouble, I sometimes take a 6" combo square and a straight edge and set the square's blade to project the thickness of the straight edge plus the thickness of the hardware. Then straddle the straight edge across the notch, set the square on it, and see where the square hits to figure out where to go deeper. You can do the same thing with the depth rod on a dial caliper if it's one of the locking types

[Bob Smalser]

I can do it any way I have to, but generally scribe with a knife then use the router with straight bit for most of it and the paring chisels in the corners.

I freehand the router rather than bother with jigs. With a heavy router and a shallow cut...it's simple, accurate and fast.

[Tim Sproul]

butt mortise plane.

I know Lie Nielsen sells one and I also recall seeing an article in one of the magazines for making your own.

[Mark Singer]

I had a tip on this in the past and the guys that tried it liked it...
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=14319&highlight=hinge

[Joel Moskowitz]

IT's not too hard - just needs a little practice.
1) scribe out the mortise using a marking guage for the depth and a square and knife for the length. also gauge the thickness of the leave using a marking gauge and a knife.

2) with a chisel wider than the width of the hinge make a series of chops the width of the hinge. Stay a little away from the scribed line. Hold the chisel at a slight angle bevel down, and chop a series of cuts one behind another going the length of the hindge. THe cuts should be almost as deep as the thickness of the hinge. THe rows of cuts will waste out most of the materail.
3) With the chisel on the scribe lines chop down - defining the outer shape of the mortise.
4)THen with the chisel on the side in the line representing the thickness of the hinge pare in to clean up the mortise and precisely define the depth.

[Pam Niedermayer]

Sure, use the chisel bevel down, you'll be amazed at the control you gain.

Pam