MORTISING WITH A ROUTER- ROUTER JIG
Since I can’t add pics to the existing thread, I thought I’d post these pictures of a router jig made of shop scraps which is extremely accurate. With this setup, I have made 1000’s of accurately routed mortises for chairs, tables, and other furniture. It’s track design doesn’t allow you to bugger up the entrance of the mortise, as it is firmly held in position, and only allows side to side sliding motion. You have to really try hard to lean sideways on the router to get it to tip, which means you shouldn’t be working with dangerous power tools anyway. This jig is an offshoot of Jeff Miller’s jig, which he printed in his chairmaking book, so you can get plans for it there. I want to give credit where credit is due. I saw Jeff using this jig in his shop, and decided it was much cheaper (ha ha ha) than paying $2600 for a multi router. Jeff
Replies
Jeff,
Thanks for posting that. It's a great idea - I have Miller's book and forgot about the jig. I didn't realize that the fence rides in a track - I've never seen that before. That's going on my short-list now.
No problem, Chris. I figured I'd post the pics, as 6 pictures are worth a thousand words! This jig has been my "mortiser" for 10 years now.
Once you have the jig set up for a certain length of mortise, you can batch cut them, one after the next, by simply swapping out the parts. This is especially quick and handy on a specific chair I build, that has 22 mortises for each chair, and a set of 6 chairs has 132 mortises.
Jeff
Jeff,
I'm with Chris, thanks
Jeff,
I'm with Chris, thanks for posting that.
A couple questions, if I may.
In picture 5, the screw holes for the stop blocks are simply holes from previous work? In other words, they don't seem to be pre-measured and pre-drilled. Is that right?
Also, in picture 5, the pieces surrounding the stock to be mortised appear to be just scrap screwed on, and probably not used over again.
That's a pretty good way to do this.
I'm knee-deep in router plates and guide bushings and templates, in an attempt to make my routing easier and more accurate, so this is a timely post.
--jonnieboy
jb
Here's what I do. I
jb
Here's what I do. I layout the mortise on one furniture piece completely. Let's say a 3/8" mortise 2" long. With a 3/8" spiral bit in the router, and the piece of furniture clamped flush to the top of the jig, I find the far left side of the mortise with the bit. With the router's edge guide (shown), you want to locate the correct distance and lock it in place. With the Porter Cable guide, it's as easy as tightening the slide screw. I then attach the stop block for the left side. Then, I slide the router over to the far right side of the mortise, and attach the right stop block. Then, mark the edges of the mortise with pencil on the top of the jig. You now have the setup for all the remaining mortises of that particular size and location of mortise. You don't need to even layout, with marking tools, the location of the mortise on the furniture piece. All you need to do is register all the pieces in the same place against the jig, so all the mortises are created in the same place on the furniture piece.
As far as holding the stock firmly, I have a few pieces of scrap for different thickness furniture parts that I use over and over, and YES, they are simply screwed to the jig. After a decade, there is still plenty of good wood left in the jig for more screwholes. Someday, I suppose, I'll have to rebuild it with fresh wood, but that day is a long ways away. I only use the screws when clamping aprons vertically. Otherwise, clamps will do nicely.
Jeff
Jeff,
Great! Thanks! I started putting one of these together this morning. I have the same P-C guide shown in your picture. I think what's going to be really nice about this is the channel for the guide block to ride in. It seems nice and secure.
I'm also working on a jig made from shallow angle iron. The angle iron has holes up and down its length, so it should be hyper-easy to adjust. We'll see. Fingers crossed.
--jonnieboy
Make the track guide quite snug, and wax it for easy gliding. You can always take a swipe off with a plane if it's too snug.
Jeff
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