Mortising with a router

What's the simplest way to make mortises with a router? I've got 24 holes that need to be cut on 2" legs for my current project. I've found several commercial jigs for sale but they're pretty pricey. For a few buck more I could buy a dedicated mortising machine. It's is on my list, but not at the top.

Any pointers to homemade jigs/plans that you've used and work well?

Thanks, Larry

Reply to
Larry
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If you had googled "router mortise jig" before posting this question you would have found plans for quite a lot of them, some with videos showing how to use them.

Reply to
J. Clarke

When I Googled "router mortising jig", the top of the first page had at least four iterations that work great. I've personally used the Shop Notes and Tage Frid versions.

Reply to
B A R R Y

mortices by hand can be a pain because the router gets tippy. On a router table, it's easy - just set the fence, and use stop blocks to control the length of the cut.. You will also have to chisel the corners square, or use rounded tenons. (you could even cut the tenons a little shorter, but it's not a good idea.)

handheld, you can set up a jig to support the router, and clamp stop blocks to it. take light passes! 1/4 inch

you might also want to look at this

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Reply to
sheldon.mandel

Not cheap:

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not dependent on section of work to function. Work holding, size of mortice and complete control of router accounted for.

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Reply to
pat

"Larry" wrote

Another couple of pennies worth: Scroll down to router mortising jigs and check out the second one. It worked well for both mortises in legs and aprons for loose tenon joinery.

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just straight up mortises in face grain, it's hard to beat a good edge guide on your router, with maybe a longer auxiliary fence attached.

Caveat: you must cut in the proper direction so the bit will hold the fence to the stock.

Reply to
Swingman

"J. Clarke" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news4.newsguy.com:

But I didn't ask for a lesson in how to use Google. What I did ask for is personal experience...

Reply to
Larry

snipped-for-privacy@patwarner.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@q26g2000prq.googlegroups.com:

Yours is one of the jigs that I encountered that didn't fit into my current budget. Nice, well thought out jig though...

Larry

Reply to
Larry

"Swingman" wrote in news:0-6dnZqnv_cjKyTVnZ2dnUVZ_t snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

That's where I was headed but I don't have a flat edge on my router to use as a guide. I'd need to build one of those too. I do have a piece of plexiglass sitting in the corner I could use for a base and just leave a square edge on it...

Thanks

Reply to
Larry

I always preferred a plunger with extra support over the table for router mortises, due to the "fun" of lowering the work onto a spinning bit.

I've done lots both ways and never got comfy with the table.

Reply to
B A R R Y

Plywood and hardboard are fine for bases, too. Just make the bit clearance hole big enough to see your marks.

Reply to
B A R R Y

Ok, although you could save some money if you used Google.

I built a rig that not only mortises, but tenons, dovetails, and about any other kind of joinery you might want. It took a couple of months of part-time effort, but seems to work passably well. I have a few photos at the link below. Drawings were posted to news:alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking before I actually started building - and may still be available in one of the archives.

Reply to
Morris Dovey

Sorry, I forgot the link. :-(

Reply to
Morris Dovey

If you put two legs together in a vise, you can use a router edge guide to space your mortise on the second leg while letting your router and edge guide ride on the near leg. After you put mortise in one leg, swap the legs and mortise the second one. You will have to mark the ends of your mortise with a pencil or striking knife. Kelly Mehler demonstrates this method. No jigs are required. I use the mortising fixture that Jeff Miller features in his book on making chairs. It uses the same principle, but uses a fixture instead of a second leg.

Reply to
Lowell Holmes

it's not too bad if you take light passes... I have a Milwaukee 2 1/4 fixed base in the table.. I can actually raise the bit up into the work while the router is on.... not fun to do for a lot of work though!

Reply to
sheldon.mandel

For just a few? Plunger with an edge guide, some way to clamp the board vertically to the edge of your work bench. The router might snipe on your first few tries, but if you're not cutting through mortises, you'll never see them.

Reply to
Father Haskell

Very true, that is much safer and I've done it that way.

However, that takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r compared to a plunger.

Reply to
B A R R Y

I've made several. two flat hardwood boards form an L to place your stock, then a third flat on top of the L to provide a pad to run your router (gusset this one). stops for the upper and lower end of your mortise, (can be adjustable) and an edge piece to run the router against. Bump stop to locate your stock, and clamp the lower end of the stock/jig to a table.

Maybe not so clear, but, think about it, should be intuitive.

I have a mortiser, find this to be quicker and more accurate, just make sure you rotate your stock properly if the mortises are not centered and your putting two mortises per leg.

Frank

Reply to
Frank Boettcher

Reply to
Pat Barber

Pat Barber wrote in news:yTfvk.24081$ snipped-for-privacy@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

You're right, that's as simple as it gets. Seems like it would work well for what I'm trying to do though. It might be a little more stable if the guides were longer, maybe even a couple of sets for different material.

Thanks, Larry

Reply to
Larry

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