Cutting mortises with a router can be a bit fussy. Measuring, marking, and the inclusion of a router guide, can all lead to a process that gets a bit dragged out. If your mortises are centered, however, consider altering your router’s baseplate for quicker mortising.

Fine Woodworking reader Adam Lindsay outfitted his router’s baseplate with two pins, spaced equidistant from the center point. Each pin registers against one side of the work piece, leaving a mortise that’s perfectly centered.

Offset Mortise

But what if you’re after a mortise that’s slightly offset from the face of a table leg? No problem. By adding a shim to one side of the workpiece, you can shift the position of the mortise over. Sure, you could use an edge guide, but why bother with the set-up?