Hinge mortises by hand / delicate work near edges

[Aaron Liebling]

I am building a credenza using knife mortises which require shallow mortises near the edge (only 1/8"). All the sites I found mention doing it with a router - which is what I ended up doing after a few practice runs with a chisel led to blowing out edges. I had pre-scored the mortise edges and then slowly deepened with the small chisel, but this along wasn't enough.

Just go even slower and more delicately? So special tricks to doing this kind of work by hanbd?

[Jim Koepke]

It may be easier with a chisel almost as wide as the mortise:

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The edges are scored and the chisel is set in to the edge at a depth slightly less than the scored edges. Sometimes it is helpful to press the edge of the chisel in to the scored lines. Do this if the mortise needs to be deeper after the first shavings are removed.

For routing on small work a small router does the job well:

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This little thing takes a little getting used to but it is a great little worker.

jtk

[Aaron Liebling]

Love that mini router!

[Rob Luter]

I've found this kind of work to be extra touchy too. I made sure everything was super sharp, and forced myself to slow way down. Clamping a backer on the side of the board to support the 1/8 wall helps too. I'm kind of liking that tiny router plane as well.

[Tom M King]

Don't start at the edge. Take part of the middle out, so the outside chips have somewhere to go without the chisel pushing the edge out.

[Norman Pirollo]

I assume you are referring to offset knife hinges. A little trickier to install than straight knife hinges. As others have mentioned, patience is key. I score and make light incisions with a chisel and only remove a thin layer at a time to form the hinge recess. Critical to slow right down. I've never done this with a router only using hand tools. It is entirely possible with hand tools and I prefer this method since there are relatively few hinge mortises in a furniture build. Chisels need to be very sharp to avoid tearing wood fibers since there is so little wood in the corners close to the edges. Attached a pic of the wall cabinet I'm currently working on, actually just finished installing the Brusso offset knife hinges :) Norman

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[Jim Koepke]

Love that mini router!

It is also inexpensive:

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The Veritas Small or Medium routers may also be good for the job.

jtk

[David Bassett]

Folks, I know this is the Neanderthal Haven sub-forum, but when you say "router" most people think of the tool with a cord that is obnoxiously loud and probably needs a template for this task. From context I'm pretty sure most, but not necessarily all, references here are to what most people call a "router plane". Please, a little extra typing will remove the ambiguity.

[Jim Koepke]

I am building a credenza using knife mortises which require shallow mortises near the edge (only 1/8"). All the sites I found mention doing it with a router - which is what I ended up doing after a few practice runs with a chisel led to blowing out edges. I had pre-scored the mortise edges and then slowly deepened with the small chisel, but this along wasn't enough.

Just go even slower and more delicately? So special tricks to doing this kind of work by hanbd?


Folks, I know this is the Neanderthal Haven sub-forum, but when you say "router" most people think of the tool with a cord that is obnoxiously loud and probably needs a template for this task. From context I'm pretty sure most, but not necessarily all, references here are to what most people call a "router plane". Please, a little extra typing will remove the ambiguity.

This is a good point David. On my first reading 'router plane' did come to mind. Knife mortises didn't make me think of knife blade hinges like it did with Norman P.

Having not searched on installing this type of hinge, it wouldn't surprise me if most of the instructions on their installation suggested using an electric router.

As is often the case when members ask for advice what is clear in their situation is not made clear in their description of the problem. An image of the problem or a mention of making a mortise in end grain could have made the situation clearer.

jtk

[glenn bradley]

I make multiple cuts across the grain and then pare the spoil out.

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Once the series of crosscuts are made I clamp an additional piece of stock at the depth of the hinge mortise. I use this as a reference surface for the chisel which comes in from the side. If I do it right I am barely slicing off these little fingers of material. This means minimal forward force and minimal chance of blow out.