Router morticing

[marcros]

I have some mortises to do and I was going to use my router. Having looked at simple jigs, there is the one that basically widens the support surface and you set your fence against it, a variation that adds some stops for length of motive, one that is basically a replacement router base with 2 adjustable fences on, or I guess I could make a quick template and use a guide bush. I don't want to spend a day making the jig unless I can avoid it!

Any suggestions of how to do it, as simply as possible?

 

[carlb40]

I think the quickest would be a piece of mdf. Drill a hole each end the length of your mortice. Route out the waste in between using a straight edge. So you have basically a mini worktop jig so to speak. The width of the cut out could either suit a guide bush or pattern bit.

So you end up with something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trend-MT-JIG- ... 5aefa1ab6f

but none adjustable

 

[xy mosian]

I have used a workmate as the basis for a quick morticing jig in the past. Set up the wood in the jaws with the face flush, if it will fit around the workmate frame, and clamp boundary fences to the top. This does not work if the table moves out of flat when clamping wood. Clamp fences, 'L' shape if you like, to the fixed workmate jaw of course.
xy

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Get a piece of 3" x 2" cls or something, drill it near to the same size and centres as the rods on your existing fence and jam it on - set your fence up on the other side, so you've effectively got two fences. As long as one side's adjustable, it doesn't matter that one's fixed.

 

[marcros]

Get a piece of 3" x 2" cls or something, drill it near to the same size and centres as the rods on your existing fence and jam it on - set your fence up on the other side, so you've effectively got two fences. As long as one side's adjustable, it doesn't matter that one's fixed.

I think that this is probably the easiest way possible to try first. easy also to add some L shaped stops and clamp them below the fence height.

cheers

 

[coot]

I bought a Leigh Super FMT last month as I had a set of stools to make with lots of mortice and tenon joints.
Would normally take me all week to do them, but using the FMT I had them done in a couple of hours which was nice, apart from I then had to spend time with the Mrs rather than hiding in the shed all week...

Will be up for sale if you didnt want to build a jig, then I can go back to mooching about the shed in peace

Pete

 

[marcros]

Pete,

I might be interested. My reservation with these things, however is that short of buying a tower scaffold, or attaching it to the loft hatch, the tenon function is limited to approx bed height, so no use for bed rails, table rails, breadboard ends on tables etc. (I know that I only mentioned morticing on the jig). I remeber looking at the youtube videos of them though and they look impressive for what they do do.

Mark

 

[marcros]

next related question...

extended moricing bits. The wealdon listing warns that the may poke through the base of the router when not plunged due to the length. How do I safely use them?

 

[carlb40]

Depends how far they protude? Don't forget you will have the router in place before starting it up, so the jig materials adds extra thickness.

 

[marcros]

i guess then that to be safe the jig needs to be thick enough so that it effectively doesnt petrude.

I was going to look at an HSS slot drill as recommended once by Pete Maddox. I have the standard 1/2" one and see that they do a longer one. They cut really cleanly, are (should be anyway) sharpenable, cheap and have a spiral pattern so clear the chips well. I will have to look at exactly how long the standard and the extended one are.

 

[siggy_7]

Be aware that HSS will dull quickly, especially if cutting engineered materials. I prefer carbide end mills for morticing.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[marcros]

i bought it because i got an excellent finish on it, but I cant remember what I was doing at the time. I do keep it well away from man made boards/material though.

I might try a carbide one. Is the end mill a 4 flute cutter? does it matter?

 

[Steve Maskery]

In my experience, you need a range of ways to cut mortices and tenons, if your principal tool is the router.
I have a router morticing jig that slips over the jaws of my vice. It has a registration stop that can be fixed in a number of different positions, and travel stops to limit the length of the mortice. The jaws are faced with formica so I can mark on them with a pencil for pieces too long to register against the stop. It does not rely on having a base for the router, so there is no loss of cutting depth. It is superb, and I'll often reach for it in preference to my "proper" mortiser.
But if I need to rout a mortice across the grain, I need a different setup. So I have a guided which can be clamped across my board, again with travel stops. I don't think there is any one machine that does everything. But the point is that solutions like these are easy to make and perform very well indeed, without having to spend a lot of money.

As far as the matching tenon goes, I don't use the router now, becasue I have the Ultimate Tenon Jig, but when the router was my main power tool I had one jig that worked well on the router table, suitable for smallish workpieces, another which cut vertically (like the Leigh) which was great for angled tenons (but limited by how high off the floor I could work) and yet another for routing big tenons on long lengths like bed rails.

Horses for courses. The may not be as fast as a tenoner, but for us hobbyists, speed is rarely an important concern, is it? We are more interested in enjoying the process and not having to spend very much!

S

 

[Racers]

i guess then that to be safe the jig needs to be thick enough so that it effectively doesnt petrude.

I was going to look at an HSS slot drill as recommended once by Pete Maddox. I have the standard 1/2" one and see that they do a longer one. They cut really cleanly, are (should be anyway) sharpenable, cheap and have a spiral pattern so clear the chips well. I will have to look at exactly how long the standard and the extended one are.

Hi, marcros

They work well don't they, try a carbide (or cobalt and they say for metalworking) one they seen to last forever.

Pete

 

[siggy_7]

i bought it because i got an excellent finish on it, but I cant remember what I was doing at the time. I do keep it well away from man made boards/material though.

I might try a carbide one. Is the end mill a 4 flute cutter? does it matter?

End mills, like slot drills, don't have a defined single number of flutes. Usually though end mills are four flute and slot drills two. I think the greater spacing in the flutes means slot drills clear chips out quicker (though end mills are perfectly capable in this regard), the flip side is the geometry and increased sectional area of the end mill makes it stiffer, so particularly with small diameters and long cutters they should offer advantages. If you decide to buy another cutter be aware that not all end mills are centre cutting - for morticing you obviously want something that will cut right to the centre so you can plunge. My experience is that the majority are centre cutting, but you don't want to invest in something not fit for purpose.