A fellow carpenter and former coworker of mine used to joke about hardware being aptly named, because "there is nothing easy about installing it." The fitting of hinges and lock sets happens near the end of a project and making a mistake at that stage is especially annoying.
However, there is a way that takes the Russian roulette out of hardware installations, particularly when it comes to replacing or hanging interior doors.The hinge mortise jig (sometimes called a hinge mortise template), is one jig that every carpenter should consider having in their arsenal of woodworking jigs, because this jig increases the speed and accuracy of butt hinge installation on a door. And we all know that better efficiency equals better profit.
This particular hinge mortising jig is fastened to a door's edge with double headed nails. Once set-up, this jig guides the router (which has a guide bushing attached to its base), to accurately cut the hinge mortise into a door, then the corresponding doorjamb so that the hinge fits snug into the mortise. Cutting these mortises with a router is undoubtedly the best technique, especially when hanging many doors. Even if one is very proficient with a chisel.
The router is fitted with a guide bushing to prevent damaging the jig with the router bit. The jig determines the mortise cut boundaries.Use a hinge mortise jig when a new door has to be installed into an old door frame.
Pre-Hung Doors Are Not Always Practical
The thickness of plaster walls will not accommodate a standard pre-hung split-door jamb, because 2x4 walls normally are 4.5" thick when sheeted with 1/2" drywall, the same wall, finished with plaster will measure 5".
So a choice must be made. Do you modify the pre-hung door jamb, custom order one 5", build our own jamb or buy a door slab and hang it on the existing door jamb... Best answer in most cases is to hang a new door on an existing frame. Why, you ask? Because it is less time and money for one who has the tools and know-how to hang a door.
More over, the existing trim on your old door frame that matches the rest of the house could very well be difficult to find and expensive to replace.
As in the situation mentioned above, a Porter-Cable hinge mortise jig kit was used, because there were many doors to hang (7-8). The kit had everything needed (except the router itself), a template for each hinge, rods to connect the templates together, router bits, pins, etc. This mortising jig is built for everyday use.
Once the mortising jig was setup, there was no need to measure hinge locations, hinge back set or the offset required on hinge locations from the door top and the doorjamb top (1/8") to allow for door clearance. The hinge's back set and locations are automatically accounted for by the apparatus. The Porter Cable kit paid for itself in one day. It would have taken a couple of days to layout and mortise all the hinges with a chisel. Where as with this jig, cutting hinge mortises only took a couple hours. Retrofitting new doors in old jambs is a cakewalk as you can easily match the template to the old hinge cut-out for perfect mortises that fit the first time.
A pitfall that should be mentioned about installing the hinge screws is drilling the pilot holes off center. Using a Vix bit will prevent this from happening. Vix bits consist of a guide tube surrounding the drill bit, the end of the tube is chamfered to perfectly center in the countersunk screw holes in the hinge leaves.
Another hinge mortise jig for occasional use is the Hinge Mate HM-1100W Door Hinge Template II, this is a single hinge mortise jig, which works well but this jig is specifically meant for use in door replacement only. Where hinge mortises are cut on the door to match an existing door frame. Also, since there is only one template, the template has to be reset for each hinge cutout.
As you can see, manufactured jigs come in a variety of styles and prices, because of many different manufacturers. Your intended use should be considered before purchasing a hinge mortise jig, assuming you already have a router.
There are also handy door lock installation jigs available such as the Kwikset 138 INSTL KIT and the Irwin Carbon Door Lock Installation Kit. Any one of these jigs will have a beneficial use when you're faced with replacing or hanging door slabs.
Cutting these mortises with a router is undoubtedly the best technique, especially when hanging many doors. Even if one is very proficient with a chisel.carlocksmithinthecolonytx.com
ReplyDeletewoodworking jigs,porter-cable hinge mortise jig/image.jpg However, there is a way that takes the Russian roulette out of hardware installations, particularly when it comes to replacing or hanging interior doors. indianapolis car locksmith
ReplyDelete