Plunge Router Mortise Jig

Sat, Dec 1, 2007, 3:58pm (EST-1) snipped-for-privacy@guardian.com (samson) doth query: Does anyone use this jig? If so, how does it work for you?

Granny Weatherwax says: You'll never get anywhere if you believe what you "hear". What do you "know"?

It's simple enough, so why not just make one, try it, and see if you like it?.

JOAT Even Popeye didn't eat his spinach until he had to.

does with a good edge guide for your plunge router, and with a lot less fuss.

I do, and it works very well and is uncharacteristically simple for that magazine's jigs. It's cheap and easy to make.

Two edge guides on the same rails work just as well.

Not too fond of the design, just because it pinches the work, *not* pinching it would result in slop in the joint. Seems like an edge guide would work just as well, but if you go that route (har!), be sure to route the side of the mortise away from the edge guide, so any slop is routed away in pass #2.

jc

I tried a few different jigs where the jig's baseplate is clamped on top of the wood to be mortised. The challenge is always to get the baseplate either securely clamped to the wood, or have it slide evenly and still remain in tight, square contact. None of these designs worked well (and it did limit the depth of the mortise.

In the end, I chose to clamp a sandwich of the work piece and two boards in my vise. I made sure the two side board were flush with the top of the work piece. This sandwich provided a wide enough base so that I could use the router's edge guide.

I was making loose tenons for the apron of a table, so the design had to allow making mortises in the end of a board.

MB

"MB" wrote

For the OP ... Tage Frid still has one of the most elegant designs for a mortise jig in the face of stock: