Is there an easier way to cut hinge mortises?

[Julie Moriarty]

I built a red oak entertainment center in 2005. It has 8 flush doors in 4 cabinet openings. After reading up on mortise cut hinges I took the easy way out and bought no mortise hinges. I have regretted it ever since.

Now I'm replacing those crappy hinges with better quality hinges that require mortising. I made a router jig that cuts the mortise perfectly. All I have to do is clean up the corners. The problem I'm having is matching the mortise cuts on the cabinet to the doors. The first pair of hinges I cut were on the cabinet. Now I have to mark the location on the doors exactly or I'm in for a hack job.

I'm going to try to clamp the door to the cabinet frame so they are spaced evenly top and bottom. Then, using the hinge already mounted to the cabinet, I'll mark the door with a knife where the mortises are to be cut. Then I'll have to set the jig perfectly centered on the knife marks and keep my fingers crossed when I cut the mortise. This the part that's making me nervous. The hinges have zero play in them so if I don't get the jig set perfectly I'll be reaching for the liquor cabinet.

Is there a better way to do this?

[Richard Coers]

I also make a router fixture to cut the mortises, but work on a piece of stock that snuggly fits in the door opening. It has notches cut in it for both hinges. I clamp it on the face frame and rout both mortises. I then take that fixture, being careful to note which end is up, and take it to the door. I center the door on the fixture, and route both mortises in the door. I use a really short pattern router bit, so the fit of the hinge in the fixture is exactly the same on the furniture. You can also start with a door that fits snuggly in the opening. You can then use a knife to transfer the edge of the mortises. Then trim the door after the mortises are cut.

[Peter Quinn]

I also make a router fixture to cut the mortises, but work on a piece of stock that snuggly fits in the door opening. It has notches cut in it for both hinges. I clamp it on the face frame and rout both mortises. I then take that fixture, being careful to note which end is up, and take it to the door. I center the door on the fixture, and route both mortises in the door. I use a really short pattern router bit, so the fit of the hinge in the fixture is exactly the same on the furniture. You can also start with a door that fits snuggly in the opening. You can then use a knife to transfer the edge of the mortises. Then trim the door after the mortises are cut.


I do the same. I use a piece of 1/2" MDF either cut to fit the door opening snugly, or close to it. Be sure to reference the bottom, write it in big letters, and reference all your mortises from the bottom. I usually include a few "t" blocks on the face of the jig that allow a quick reference to the edge of the door or face of the case. I make the slots for the hinges in the fixture with a TS and multiple passes, I usually waste the majority of the scrap with a jig or band saw, because I don't like making more MDF dust than I have to. You make the slots so the hinges fit snugly and set the depth from to back, set the router depth so the gap is correct, the hinge should sit just a few thousands proud of the wood. A test piece is a good idea. Once you hang one or two, its really quite easy. Take your time fitting them, you will be looking at them for a long time. I have yet to find a non mortise hinge that wasn't junk. I've used them, I know other professionals who have used them, but not often twice!

If there were four different sized openings, I'd make four different sized jigs, or start with the longest one and work my way backwards by cutting off one hinge slot each time and relocating it with a new one. Unless there were more than two hinges on a door, that would get its own template.

[John Piwaron]

no mortise fixture here.

The last time I did that I started with clamping the door to the cabinet (correctly located) and laying out where the mortise goes with a marking knife. I route out the waste almost to the line and finish with a chisel. Easy.

It's not so hard to work by eye - if it looks right, it probably is.

OTOH, there was the time I had to hang a pair of doors in a not quite square carcase. That was fun. FWIW, today the doors hang perfectly with a totally even reveal around. but the carcase still isn't quite square. That time took a lot of careful measurement and a layout in Autocad to find where to put the mortises. So long as I got the hinge barrels in line with each other it was all good.

[johnny means]

I use a story stick.

[Julie Moriarty]

I cut the mortises in the first opening on the carcase and installed the hinges on both sides. I then transferred where the mortises needed to be cut on the doors, like I explained in the first post. I eyeballed the spacing (the jig opening is slightly larger), clamped it and routed out the mortises. I had to do a little cleanup with a chisel but the first door went in perfect. Whew! Just seven more doors to go. Ugh! I think the toughest part of this is the fear of messing up.

I don't have any works in progress that have flush doors, but I think next time I'll make some sort of adjustable dual hinge jig. I have plans for an adjustable single hinge jig but I couldn't find all the materials when I went to make it. I think it will be worth the time to build the adjustable jig considering all the time I spent just to get one door installed. :rolleyes:

Thanks for all your help!

[John Piwaron]

Honestly, you're beating yourself up over something that's really not too difficult. I think the business of using a jig is more complicated than simply clamping the parts together in the correct relative locations and marking where you want the mortises.

I routed my hinge mortises into the edges, the doors overlay the carcase. There is no face frame. when I used a router to waste away material, I clamped a bit of scrap to the part (carcase or door) to give the router a bit more surface to rest on.

Eventually I'll make kitchen cabinets. For those my plan is similar - though the cabinets will have face frames but the doors will be inset flush to them. And I'll mortise brass hinges into the face frame and the door. Piece of cake. I like the look and I'm hoping this will discourage a future owner of my home to make any hardware changes. :) hahahahaha when the time comes I should also find the studs and glue the cabinets to them.

[Mark Wooden]

I use pretty much the same method as Peter but with a few variants- 1) I index all hinges from the top of the opening, just as you would any hung door.( Gotta take gravity & sag into account;) ) 2) I mortise the frame first, then set the door in place with shims to get the gaps to where I want them. (I cut and polished a dozen 3/32" x 3/4" x 1-1/4" brass shims for this and they never leave my shop. Have them in 1/16" too.)
3) Once gapped, I transfer the mortise edge to the door by setting a knife into the frame mortise, marking the door.
4) Then I clamp the door in a vise and mortise the door, much easier to see the strike mark on the door edge than the inside of the frame.
I use a sharp 1/2" top bearing flush cutting mortise bit for this. As most of the time the specs call for the hinge or hinge finial to align with the inside of the door rails, sometimes theres not enough room to get the trim router base (I mostly use a PC 3102), I have a few different base plates as well as an offset base.
Like Peter says, first takes for ever, but they go pretty quick after a while.
I'll see if I have a mortise jig around to take pics of.