Favorite hinge mortising jig?

[Bert McMahan]

I'm looking at replacing 7-8 doors soon, and am not looking forward to chiseling out the hinge mortises on all of them.

It looks like both Milescraft and Ryobi have kits to let me use a router. Have any of you tried these? The Milescraft looks a little more sturdy, but you have to screw it in place each time. The Ryobi one clamps on, but I'm not sure how tight the plastic clamp can hold.

Are there any others that I'm missing? Should I just make my own?

[Paul Girouard]

I'm looking at replacing 7-8 doors soon, and am not looking forward to chiseling out the hinge mortises on all of them.

It looks like both Milescraft and Ryobi have kits to let me use a router. Have any of you tried these? The Milescraft looks a little more sturdy, but you have to screw it in place each time. The Ryobi one clamps on, but I'm not sure how tight the plastic clamp can hold.

Are there any others that I'm missing? Should I just make my own?

Bosch , if they still make them.

The company has a Porta Cable , I’ve never used it but guy I’ve work with , and for over the past 35 years did use it and said the Bosch is a better jig.

[John Gornall]

Lee Valley hinge mortising sysyem

[Paul Girouard]

That being said IF these seven doors are the end of your door hanging days dap then in by hand. It’s good experience on chisel work.

[Derek Cohen]

That being said IF these seven doors are the end of your door hanging days dap then in by hand. It’s good experience on chisel work.

I agree. Chisel, then use a router plane to finish.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...LidHinges.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Ole Anderson]

I have used these Porter Cable guys on about a dozen doors, attach with a small double headed nail, provided. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Porter-C...FYzGwAodjV8IAA Comes with a steel router bit but I lost mine and upgraded to an inexpensive carbide bit for under $10. Frankly, I would probably try the Ryobi kit first.

[Mike Kees]

I own both a Porter cable jig and a Milwaukee jig. Long story ,lost the P.C. and replaced with the Milwaukee only to find the P.C. Anyhow the P.C. is better overall quality,but the Milwaukee is easier to set up and use. For seven doors just do it by hand or make a quick plywood jig for your router. Mike.

[Wojciech Tryc]

I have used these Porter Cable guys on about a dozen doors, attach with a small double headed nail, provided. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Porter-C...FYzGwAodjV8IAA Comes with a steel router bit but I lost mine and upgraded to an inexpensive carbide bit for under $10. Frankly, I would probably try the Ryobi kit first.

i have used the Porter Cable on several doors, but i replaced the router bid with Freud.
The one supplied with the kit, burnt out quicky.

[greg bulman]

Woodhaven makes a cheap and easy to use product. I have use it for several doors.

[Tom M King]

I built one new waterfront spec house a year from 1974 through 2007. I never used a prehung door. Doors and jambs were routed before finishing/painting, and was a pretty quick process.

It's a shame that the Craftsman jig, that stopped production in the 1970's, is not available any more. It's metal, and clamps to the door, and jamb, and leaves no holes. I used it on every house, and it's still in fine shape. It can be used for the jambs too, but I decided to make a plywood one that would work for any width jamb. Sometimes there would be a very wide jamb in a basement that the Craftsman jig wouldn't open wide enough for. I ended up liking the plywood jamb jig better anyway.

The plywood jamb jig screws to the jamb behind where the stops will go, so there were no extra holes left in sight.

I used something like the Milescraft jigs (may have been, but so long ago that I don't remember) to make dedicated jigs for each of the door strike mortises. They clamp to the door, and screw to the jamb behind stop location.

Plywood jigs had their working edges hardened with epoxy, and sanded to perfection size.

My old door jigs have never been adjusted, and I wish that hinge mortise bits, with upper bearings, were available back when I first set them up. But since I kept dedicated routers for each job, they have never been touched, and those routers keep the bushings. I don't remember when, if ever, the Whiteside bits have been changed.

If I were in your position, I'd buy the Milescraft kit, and use that to make a set of plywood jigs, including for the door. Edge stop blocks can also serve to use quick clamps to clamp it to the doors. I can send pictures of mine, if you like, but probably are obvious.

Exterior doors, with their larger hinges, were hung with a chisel because it would take longer to change, or make more jigs, just for a few doors. Butt chisels are called that because they're for hinge butts. It's much easier to do the bottom of the top hinge mortise on a jamb, and the upper part of the lower hinge mortise, with a short chisel. Of the maybe 50 chisels I own, one is a 1-1/2" Stanley no. 60, that's kept just for that job. I don't know why anyone likes them for anything other than their intended purpose.

[Carl Beckett]

I have always wondered about this one:

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/hinge-mate-ii

Mainly because when I do hinge mortises with the router I make a home made version of this for the particular size hinge. Always thought it would be handy to have a fully adjustable.

But as Derek mentions, I end up doing them mostly by hand and the router plane allows a smooth, even bottom surface.

[Wayne Lomman]

Make one. It's simple and you only have a few doors. Make one even if you have 50 doors. You will wear out before your jig. Cheers

[Bob Falk]

I used the Bosch to hang 13 custom doors in my house remodel. Works great. I am done with it and its for sale, BTW. PM me if interested. It's complete with all parts, pins, etc. I also have the PC strike plate template that I will throw in for free.

[Larry Edgerton]

I make all of mine. I use ash usually. I glue it together using 5 pieces then send it through the planer. I have the PC jig but find my shopbuilt one to be more accurate. I use dowels for the stops that fit snug, but can be tapped through to do an opposite handed door.

[Charles Lent]

I use a Pro Grip hinge mortising jig https://www.ptreeusa.com/rtr_jigs_hinge.htm (the second jig shown on this page). It's easy to set up and comes with a top bearing mortising bit. Just adjust it so the hinge fits between one side (either side) of the short center piece and then locate this part of the jig where you want to cut the mortise. All that's left after routing is the rounded corners left by the router bit, but they are easy to clean up with a corner chisel. I've been mortising my hinges with this jig for about 10 years now. It can be adjusted to fit hinges down to about 3/4" length, but it works best if the hinge is being placed on something wide enough for both Pro Grip clamps to attach.

Charley