Lock Mortiser

[Brian Holcombe]

Not sure how well a domino will stand in as a lock mortiser. Sometimes the lock bodies are 4” wide.

[Cameron Wood]

If the stiles are laminated, you can cut the lock mortise with a dado stack. I built 25 9’ tall doors recently and did it this way.

I'm not getting this- can you explain more?

[Jared Sankovich]

Obviously over 70mm you are finishing the mortise by hand, still better than doing it completely by hand, and relatively dust free in a occupied space.

[jack dempsey]

Thanks for all the advice and insights. I plan is to tackle the exterior door first. That being said; I welcome everybody's thoughts on my initial thoughts. Since it is going to be for my son who lives in Maine I am hoping to insulate it in some manner. I'm thinking of using rail and style construction utilizing a mortise and tenon build. At this juncture I have white oak at the top of the list as a lumber choice. I was hoping to use solid lumber for the build and avoid plywood laminate. For the main panels I am thinking of milling white oak down to 1/2" thickness. My plan is to use two panels with some type of insulation between the two panels, possibly 3/4' foam board. The frame will be solid lumber. I realize this is going to make the door somewhere in the area of 2 1/4" thick. One of my concerns is the 1/2" white oak floating panel. I will leave room for expansion but I am looking for insights if this seems a reasonable plan. Keep in mind I have built a 4 panel interior door but this is my first exterior door. Thanks for your insights.

[Tom M King]

No reason 2-1/4 won't work. We have a four foot wide exterior door that's 4-1/4" thick. The lock side of the door needs to be tapered, and the lock side of the jamb also on a bevel to match which leaves clearance for the door to close, but still allows for tight tolerances.

[John TenEyck]

There's no reason you can't use a plunge router to cut the mortises for the M&T joints, and also for the locksets. You make a purpose-built jig for each. You can make mortises at least 2-1/2" deep which is plenty deep enough, especially if you pin them. Or use two mortises in each joint. It's easily possible with a door 2-1/4" thick. Twice the surface area; it's never coming apart. But if you think you really need 3" then switch to a longer bit for the last half inch. Anyway, for a few doors you don't need to spend money on new stuff.

Your approach for adding foam panels between the wood panels often is used. Prefinish the wood panels on all surfaces, and run a bead of caulk around the foam panel during installation to keep air from sneaking through.

John

[Jim Dwight]

I have made mortises at least 6 inches wide with my Domino XL. All you have to do is keep plunging along overlapping the holes. The dust collection may not be as good but otherwise the tool doesn't care. I will make one around this long tomorrow to inlet a airgun action into a block of wood. To center the mortise I will plunge from both sides and the holes will thus overlap in both directions. I already did a mortise this way for the trigger guard - but it was shorter, only a couple inches long and half an inch wide (made with a 10mm cutter).

Thinking of a domino as only capable of making the mortises for the tenons Festool offers is missing getting the best out of the tool. It can make any slot mortise you need, the only limitation is the 70mm depth. That is plenty IMHO for an interior or exterior door. If you really have to have a through mortise you could cut it from both sides.

[Brian Holcombe]

Again if you laminate the stiles, then you can just cut the main mortise with a dado stack. This is a common construction method for doors.

A 4” wide lock means the depth of cut is 4”.

[jack dempsey]

Thanks for all of the advice and pointers. I will digest everything and plan to move forward. Anybody have any doubts about the 1/2" white oak panels? I will make allowances for expansion so I am assuming this should not be an issue? Thanks again, I really appreciate folks taking their time to offer advice. Jack

[Jared Sankovich]

I was installing a door with a mortise lock yesterday and remembered this thread.

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[Mike Wilkins]

For small quantity door making, you should consider making your own hinge jig from scraps lying around the shop. I went this route for door projects at my own home. Easy to make and low out-of-pocket cost. Type in hinge jigs into YouTube and see what you can find.