door hinges

[Patrick Melchior]

hello,

i am looking to replace all the doors in my house and need to know if there is a reasonable priced jig for my router to help me recess the hinges

[Travis Porter]

You can buy a portercable jig with the router bit for about $30 at Lowes or Home Depot. It does one hinge at a time, but works pretty well IMO.

[Mike Cutler]

Patrick

It really is a matter of what's "reasonable".
Are you doing the doors and door frames? How many doors are there? and are they all the same hinge configuration with respect to distance from floor and top and the spacing in between?

If you are doing a lot of doors and the hinge locations are the same. it is very easy to make a template to do them, even if you have to do the jambs.
If you have a few different sizes of installations an "older" Porter Cable jig is worth the $$$ in the time and aggravation saved. This jig has two router router templates attached via a center reference, that is adjustable to set the distance between hinges

With the older PC jig, and the one that Travis indicated, there is a furnished bit. You have to select a compatible door hinge, that is compatible with the radius of the PC bit. I believe it is 5/8" diameter. Make sure your door hinges are compatible with the jigs.

An MDF template is very easy to make if all the hinges are set the same. If they're not, I'd be looking for the PC, or an equivalent door hinge jig.

[Neal Clayton]

also note that the bushings with these kits are designed to fit in a specific router base. porter cable bushing fits porter cable routers, bosch fits bosch routers. so either get the jig to match your router or you're looking at having to buy adapter sets.

[Marlin Williams]

Skil has one that is juts 2 common templates. You supply your own bit and bushing so that way you can use what ever router you like.

Here is 2 eBay auctions... (Not Mine)

http://cgi.ebay.com/DOOR-LOCK-JIG-HINGE-INSTALLATION-KITS-ROUTER-BIT_W0QQitemZ380066867549QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item3 80066867549&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C 240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.com/SKIL-Hinge-Mortising-Template-Set-NEW-Router-Accessory_W0QQitemZ300259429306QQcmdZViewItem?hash =item300259429306&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C 240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[Patrick Melchior]

thank you all for the replies. ill be repalce all the doors in my house.... what I have learned when it comes to tools is that in some cases you get what you pay for... my time, aggravation, to buy the correct tool the first time is well worth it!

[Joe Scharle]

Look for an old Stanley hinge mortising jig. Runs full lenght of the door edge. Set the templates and move it from door to door.

[Peter Quinn]

There are a lot of variables to consider when replacing a house full of doors. If you are buying the doors, it may be easier to buy pre hungs and retrim with the old trim then to buy slabs and mortise all the hinges your self. If you are dealing with old, expensive or delicate trim and/or must buy slab doors (not prehung) it is worth measuring the hinge locations on each door, sometimes they are right on, sometimes they vary considerably. if they are right on a quick shop made template using a strip of 1/2" MDF is the cheapest way to go and works as well as any pricey template system you can buy in conjunction with a top bearing mortising bit. If they are close AND you are replacing the hinges, you may be able to jump up to the next size hinge, remortise the jambs and compensate for any minor variations still using a shop made template.

If they vary considerably, something like the Bosch or PC templates or a single shop made template, some clamps and a lot of patience will be necessary. Another real possibility is a hammer, a marking knife and a sharp chisel. A bit slower at first but less prone to serious mistakes.