I’m making a template tonight, for routing the recesses for flush hinges (for rule-joint-hinged boards). Don’t mind making the template, because there are 4 hinges, and more in the future with any kind of luck. But sure would like to be quick at chiseling out this kind of thing when there 2 and only 2 to do. What’s the secret (secrets) to getting clean, but quickly done, recesses?? My chisel chops are fairly rudimentary at this point.
forestgirl — you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can’t take the forest out of the girl 😉
Replies
Hi FG,
I use one marking gauge set to mark the width, one to mark the depth. I use a marking knife to scribe the ends. I score a series of shallow cuts with the chisel, typically bevel down.
I chop with light blows the ends of the hinge's mortise and lightly press a chisel along the line created by the marking gauge for the width. I then use the chisel bevel down to remove the waste. This brings me to nearly the depth of the mortise.
Then I place a chisel on the depth's scored line and pare the waste the remainder of the depth. The edges usually need lightly cleaned up, which only takes a chisel being pressed with the palm.
You do need to have a sharp chisel or two. You also need to control the last paring cuts to keep them from over shooting the back edge. I usually have the edge of my left hand, which holds the shank of the chisel, resting on the stile or carcass while paring the final depth. The tension between the guiding hand and the pushing hand can keep the chisel from going in too far.
A lot of words for something which goes quicker than writing it.
Take care, Mike
You do need to have a sharp chisel or two. You also need to control the last paring cuts to keep them from over shooting the back edge. I usually have the edge of my left hand, which holds the shank of the chisel, resting on the stile or carcass while paring the final depth. The tension between the guiding hand and the pushing hand can keep the chisel from going in too far.
Mike's suggestions are on the money in my book, but I will add two ideas that may further improve matters.
The first is to avoid overshooting your line and damaging the back edge (as described above). What I do is pare out a V all the way around the waste. This means that one does not actually pare up against the back edge (or side edges), thus safe guarding the edges. (This is not demonstrated in the example below, but I now do this for each hinge mortice).
The other recommendations are, firstly, to tap a series of parallel and vertical cuts into the waste with your chisel and mallet. These will help you remove the waste more easily (and without the danger of break out). Secondly, use a router plane to skim and level the result to the desired depth. The Stanley #271 is terrific, and the LV router plane is sublime.
The following is an exerpt from my review of the LV router plane:
http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/dCohen/z_art/LVRouterPlane/index.asp
1. For the example, let us fit this hinge...
2. …here
View Image3. Mark out and chisel the waste as demonstrated before
View Image4. Now is the time to set the depth stop for the exact thickness of the hinge.
5. Now remove the waste…
6. ...which leaves behind a clean and even mortise.
7. The final fit is good.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Thanks for the details and the pics, Derek. (What's the pink picture?). The V around the edges seems like a winner. I have (or had) a router plane -- seems to have disappeared from its cupboard though. Not sure which model it is.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
"A lot of words for something which goes quicker than writing it." And I really appreciate your taking the time to write it! The kind of detail you and others have provided gives me plenty of direction to develop a good, efficient technique.
"Bevel down" -- gotta get good at knowing when this is the choice to make.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hi FG,You've gotten some very thoughtful and informative responses, so I'm somewhat hesitant to get involved at this late date. But, I think there are a couple of things which are still worth considering.One fairly critical thing which has been implied, but not explicitly stated (unless I missed it), is that since the the location/placement of the hinges is determined relative to the lower surfaces of the table top and leaves, then it is best that the layout of the rule joint, itself, be done using those lower surfaces as your reference surfaces. At first, this may seem backwards, but it allows any slight thicknessing discrepancies to be dealt with (by planing and/or scraping the upper surfaces) after the hinges are installed and everything working, rather than having to deal with them as part of installing the hinges and fine tuning the operation of the rule joint. The Mac Campbell article on the Taunton site completely ignores this principle, first by eschewing all layout because he's going to use a "routah," then proceeding to register the "routah" off the upper surface of the table top to run the roundover, followed by registering it off the lower surface of the leaf to run the cove. Though accurate and careful layout would help, this actually underscores an intrinsic difficulty of using that particular power tool for creating the rule joint.Another wrinkle which may arise is that, traditionally, the flap/leaf of rule joint hinges taper in thickness from the knuckle/barrel to their ends. In other words, the flaps are thickest at the knuckle and thinnest at their outer ends. I suspect the steel versions of these hinges, today, are not tapered, but some of the better brass versions still are. This needs to be taken into account if you are going to install them flush into gains, and one consequence of this is that a small router plane cannot be used for final leveling of the floors of the gains. At most, it can be used to establish the floor at the shallowest level. The rest will require careful chisel work.As has been suggested, rule joint hinges can be surface mounted by letting the knuckles up into accurately placed mortises, and there certainly are examples of this practice from the past. Charles Hayward (_Woodwork Joints_, 1970) acknowledges this, but proceeds to point out that this would not have been acceptable in the best class of work, as it leaves open the possibility that a gap might show when the leaf is down. Especially when pushed inward or if it tends to hang slightly inward. In this context, it has also been mentioned that surface mounting allows for the roundover and cove to be true quadrants ending at the lower surfaces. This is only true if the center of the pin is in line with the upper surface of the hinge flaps. In an example of a Horton Brasses rule joint hinge I have in front of me, this is not the case by 1/32". It would be best if this were taken into account during layout.It has also been suggested that the center line for the knuckle (pin) can be moved outboard by about 1/32". This certainly can be done (though I like to keep it less than 1/32"), but, simply as a counterpoint, I thought I'd mention that Hayward does not recommend this and opines that, in the best class of (London) work, one could aim for a clearance, throughout the joint, of about the thickness of a sheet of paper.Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR
"Another wrinkle which may arise is that, traditionally, the flap/leaf of rule joint hinges taper in thickness from the knuckle/barrel to their ends. In other words, the flaps are thickest at the knuckle and thinnest at their outer ends." I have discovered this!! I bought Horton Brasses hinges for this project, and they are indeed tapered. You've answered the question I came here to post, actually, whether this is common.
Any thoughts as to why they're designed this way? Geometrically speaking, what the consequence if one does not taper the mortise correspondingly? In this particular application, I'm not concerned that a bit of the hinge is not flush with the surface (I realize on a table, that could be a concern).
I have not seen the Hayward book, will have to find a copy to peruse. I have no desire to surface-mount the hinges, hope this is an indication of character in some way, LOL!
Moving the center of the knuckle: I was following the instructions in the Woodsmith article, which directs placing 2 playing cards (~.002) between the two edges to space the joint. Does moving the center essentially do the same thing, or is that to accomplish something else?
Thanks so much, Don, for your input!!!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Fg,
Getting very interesting...this is fun (when your the spectator, especially)..lol.
I suspect that as you move the center of the barrel toward the leaf (article=1/64, Ray and Don=less than a 1/32"), when in the up position, puts leaf past level with the rest of the table. The taper on the hinge may offset the effect of moving the barrel over a bit. Hopefully some who knows will reply
BG,
If the top and leaf are the same thickness, and the hinge is inletted to the same depth on both, moving the hinge toward, or away from, the leaf joint does not affect whether the leaf and top are flush.
The old dropleaf hinges that I've seen which are tapered on thickness, are generally hand forged from sheet iron. The leaves of the hinge are of thin metal, doubled (wrapped around the pin) and the doubled area forge welded. I suspect that the process of hammer welding is what thins out the leaves towards their outer ends, but not being a blacksmith, this is only surmise. The inletting on old work is sometimes surprisingly crudely done, on pieces with otherwise workmanlike quality. Standard shop procedure was frequently to sawkerf the extremities of the hinge inletting, and to taper the recess down from: nothing 3 or 4" from the edge of the top (or leaf), to: the thickness of the hinge leaf, at the edge of the top. The taper of the depth of the inletting thus matches the taper of the hinge's leaf, but extends for an inch or two beyond the ending of the hinge leaf.
Incidentally, this extending of a sawkerf beyond the perimeter of a mortise or recess, is often seen on the insides of drawers, in the inletting of locks, and the sawing of dovetail pins. Git 'er done! seems to have been the motto of the day.
Ray
joinerswork,
"If the top and leaf are the same thickness, and the hinge is inletted to the same depth on both, moving the hinge toward, or away from, the leaf joint does not affect whether the leaf and top are flush."
Yes, I can see that. I was speculating that if the center of the hinge was moved(to far) from right under the quirk toward the leaf side...that a gap would appear up where the quirk meets the duohickie from the cove side, when the leaf is raised level. I realize now I had it backwards and they don't make it that complicated to begin with....thanks
"But sure would like to be quick at chiseling out this kind of thing when there 2 and only 2 to do. What's the secret (secrets) to getting clean, but quickly done, recesses?"
Just mark out as Mike describes, then use your router freehand, with a smallish cutter e.g 1/4" . This gives you the depth and a nice flat bottom (sorry, bad English).If you chop the ends first there will be no break out at the end of the cut.Then all you have to do with chisels is to chop to the lines and clean the corners-it is a breeze.
I don't think much of templates for hinge housings. Possibly they would come into their own if one had a large number to do. Also brass extruded hinges never seem to be consistent sizes or symetrical, no matter hoe illustrious they are.
Hi, Philip. I gotta tell you, the image of hefting a PC890 around freehand for such a small recess is nerveracking to me. Can't see where the cutter is very well, for one thing. I know people do it every day, frustrating. I tried the PC laminate trimmer, vision a problem there too. Was able to use a Dremel rotary tool pretty successfully, but the poor thing labors somethin' awful, it's just too small.
Templates are a big time investment, hence this query as to doing them with hand tools. I'm willing to make a template, though, because I might be make several more of these over the next 6 months or so. I'm using the Horton Brasses drop-leaf hinges, don't know yet how consistent they are, but will soon find out.
I can see ("feel") using your technique of knocking out the edges, and then use the laminate trimmer to hog out the material. Thanks!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Well, I can't say I'm super-speedy, but I got pretty efficient by the 8th one, thanks to help from y'all. Philip, I am using the router. first cutting a v-notch per Derek's suggestion, to provide myself with a border. Then, to help the faulty eyesight (age, ya know), I marked a blue Sharpie border around the outside of the field to be routered. Pics below! Thanks! Now if I could just make the knuckle recess such that it didn't look like it was chewed by a rat, LOL!
NOTE: Yes, the hinge is barrel-up, just for this mortising stuff.
View Image View Image
View Imageforestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Jamie, the advantage of the router is mainly that it gives the flat bottom and the correct depth, plus some speed in removing that waste.
Looking at your pictures it strikes me that you may be complicating things with your "border" approach.
If you use a smallish router with 1/4" bit, with a base extension , then you merely rout from left to right, ie with the grain, stopping just short of your marked/gauged lines, not forgetting that you will have nicked the right hand side with a chisel to stop break out at the end of the first pass. You don't have to get very close to those lines until you have gained practice/confidence-stop say 4 or 5 mm's off. Then once all the waste is gone you can go around the three edges to get close enough to leave a minimal amount to chop with chisels. A base extension with a smallish router means very easy control basically by fingers rather than all arm movement-you can climb cut no problem. A big router requires a different technique for this sort of thing- one of the reasons why my big router works far less than the smaller ones.
That explanation sounds ridiculous-but it is an example of where a demonstration would put the point across in a few minutes.....Philip Marcou
Hi, Philip. The only router I have that's smaller than the 690 is my laminate trimmer, which has two drawbacks -- the depth setting mechanism is junk, and visibility of the cutter sucks. That aside, "stopping just short of [my] marked/gauged lines" is difficult for me since I can't really see them, even with the 690, which has far better visibility than the laminate trimmer. Vision problems are something I struggle with every day when it comes to really fine tuning, knife marks and such. The marks with the Sharpie pen don't take but three seconds to dab on there, and they make the periphery extremely easy for me to see.
If I can find a marker that doesn't "bleed", I could leave out the step of putting a groove around the periphery, and just make a deep line with a chisel on each side. Might be able to simply use a very fine marker and place the line just off the cut lines.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Forestgirl
As Philip notes, a "border" is not needed if you are using a power router (my emphasis). I suggested a "V" (more like a lopsided "L") around the inside of the perimeter if you are using a chisel/router plane to pare out the waste so as to avoid damaging the side wall.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Derek, as it turns out, the "V" comes in very handy for me with the power option also. See my post to Philip above. Thanks for the help. Perhaps with a sharper, and better ironed, chisel I may someday go to all hand work on these. The Blue Marple chisels I use have lived up to their reputation of dinging and dulling quite easily when used for such a task.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 6/17/2007 11:49 am by forestgirl
FG,
With all due respect, wrong question. Rule joints are a steep learning curve, while you've got the attention of Mike, Derek and Phillip..go for a brain dump. :)
OK, BG: Mike, Derek and Phillip -- is there anything beyond this article I need to know about making a perfect rule joint??
"Rule joints are a steep learning curve...." Glad I didn't know this when I made the first "cubbie." Turned out pretty OK, but a bit of binding -- which may or may not have to do with any rule-joint geormetry, since I made other mistakes too.
Then I saw two articles on the internet about how "difficult" they are. Uh oh!
I made the fillet a bit smaller on this (these) than the first one, will see if it makes a difference, but I suspect that because the joint is being used upside-down, and perfect alignment of the tip of the fillet and the mating surface isn't necessary (or even perceivable, maybe) any improvement will be just a woodworker's treasure, not noticed by the customer. As long as I can avoid binding (should be easy), it's a success.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hi FG,The Whitechapel page seems fine. For spacing when having machined the joints I use a few sheets of printer paper between the top and leaves.If there's a bind once assembled, I use graphite (carpenter's pencil rubbed along the leaf joint) to find where it transfers and scrape those areas (using a purpose made scratch stock) lightly to free it up--and I scrape the leaf side because one doesn't see it. Once the pencil doesn't transfer I usually lightly scrape the length of the leaf side to ensure free movement and blend any wobbles in removing the locally scraped areas.Using planes for the joint, I almost always get a too tight of fit over a larger area compared to using the shaper the first go-'round. Same thing, though. A bit of scraping with a scratch stock cures most ills. I go for a tighter fit at the stop-point (the up position of the leaves) using hand planes.I wouldn't call any of the table rule joints I have made as "perfect." But they turn out well enough.Take care, Mike
I just checked out the alignment on the first set. Might have a problem, not sure -- early to bed due to helping step-son and his wife move tomorrow. Anywhoo, I used real drop-leaf hinges on this one, and I think the unequal hinge leafs might have thrown me off. Won't know until I get back to it on Saturday. Will try not to have nightmares, LOL!
Thanks for the graphite tip, that's helpful.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hi Forestgirl,I've checked in for the first time in a week - looks as though Mike, Derek, Ray and others have answered.My way is to hold the hinge in place and **lightly** scribe across the grain with a sharp olfa or disposable knife to layout the position. I then set the depth of the hinge mortice with a marking gauge (depth depends on the hinge mounting technique) and the width of the mortise (from the outside of the hinge to the centre of the pivot pin, give or take a bit for clearance if needed.)Use a sharp marking knife and a square to mark the ends of the mortice accurately and deeply.Hold the frame vertically in the vice and chop out the hinge as per a regular mortice, once again, as Ray does, leaving the final 1/16" to the end when you pare in all four sides of the mortice. If done correctly, it should be a watertight fit.This is the same way that inlay is cut in.YOu don't need a plane, but a small router plane gives a more repeatable result until you've chopped in 20 or 30 of the blighters and you have a good understanding of touch.Trust that this helps and forgive the repetition if the information's in post 21->Cheers,eddieps: Current FWW has this question answered in their chisel article as well, I believe.
Edited 6/19/2007 6:47 am by eddiefromAustralia
Thanks, Eddie, for stopping in and adding to the wisdom. Times like this, I thank my lucky stars for the internet! and the hand-tool pros at Knots.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FGIf you don't have Lonnie Bird's video on dovetails, I highly recommend it. He give excellent instruction on chisel use and chiseling to a line, which is exactly what you are trying to accomplish. For marking the cut depth, Lonnie uses old Stanley 65 marking gauges with a piece of drill rod sharpened to a double bevel for the marking pin. You can buy the video directly from Lonnie via Amazon. Hope you are having some success. Practice will be your best friend. Tom"Notice that at no time do my fingers leave my hand"
Thanks, Tom, I'll check it out!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
mike, and FG,
One thing that I have found in setting the hinges for drop-leaf rule joints, is to set the hinge just a little outboard (toward the edge of the top) from where you'd think they ought to be. Intuitively, you want to align the pivot point of the hinge with the center of the radius of the quarter round of the joint. That is directly under the quirk or fillet on the edge of the top. The directions in some of the how-to books, show setting a marking guage to this , and aligning the hinge barrel over top the mark. However, this often results in a binding leaf when the leaf is dropped.
Most often, the knuckle portion of the rule joint is worked as a quarter round; this puts the point of the radius right at the surface level of the underside of the top. To put the pivot (pin) of the hinge right there means you can't inlet the leaves of the hinge, only the barrel. I've worked in a shop where this was the standard procedure; it is easier to surface mount the hinges, there's less chance of running a screw or pilot hole thru the top, and it eliminates the unsightly notch in the underside of the top, where the hinge inletting is exposed. But the surface mounted hinges interfere with the operation of a swing leg, or flap support, and just make for an unfinished appearance to the underside of the leaves, less than a "nice" job. But simply inletting the hinge flush to the underside of the top puts the pivot point of the hinge too near the tabletop. The distance from the hingepin to the surface of the knuckle is less "up and down" than it is "side to side", looking at the end of the joint. That is often what causes a newly hung leaf to bind.
The solution is to either make the knuckle just slightly more than a quarter of a circle, (as is seen sometimes on old work,) which increases the height of the knuckle, or to inlet the hinge so that its barrel is closer to the edge of the knuckle of the rule joint (seen more often in old work). Moving the hinge slightly outboard is my preference, as it does two things: First, it eliminates the binding. And as a bonus, the leaf, when dropped, hangs high enough to cover the notch in the underside of the top (where the hinge leaf resides when the leaf is up). The further the hinge pin is from the edge of the top, the lower the leaf hangs when it is in its dropped position.
Finally, (but firstly, really) when cutting the joint itself, I like to cut the cove or female side of the joint, slightly deeper than a "perfect" fit, so there is a slight (1/32" )gap between the knuckle and the cove, when the leaf is tight against to the top, and their top surfaces flush. This is a matter of taste, of course, some like the joint to be practically air-tight. I prefer a little breathing room, to the squawking and abraded finish of a too-tight fit, after the leaf springs a little, as they always seem to do in a year or two.
Ray
Which goes to show that any time spent on test pieces is very well worth it....Philip Marcou
Ray, thanks for the additional details -- as usual, there's more than one way to skin this particular catfish! The fact that I can half-way understand your points at first glance means that my reading of the aforementioned articles actually sank in to some extent (I have trouble visualizing such things, but getting better at it).
I am so glad this project came along before I try a drop-leaf table. There's some wiggle room since it's oriented upside-down, and perfect matching isn't needed. All of the info presented will be of great help when the time comes to make a table. Thanks! I will no doubt make a bunch of practice joints before laying tool to fine lumber for a drop-leaf table.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG,
I've only attempted one rule joint and it came out kinda okay...but that wasn't until I had made several mistakes. One of the first mistakes was how deep to make the hinge mortice..so that the radius of the hinge matches the wood. Also making sure the center of the barrel hinge is directly under the fillet of both pieces. The problem arrises in that the center of the barrel needs to align with the edge of leaf..and yet the leaf needs to be high enough to hide the joint. Anyhow, it's tricky
Edited 6/14/2007 6:37 pm ET by BG
BG, I have a feeling I'm gonna wish I'd read your post before I hogged out those insets. :-0 Had to quite in mid-stream tonight, a couple hours earlier than usual. Back at it on Saturday, with your note in hand, to see how far off things are. I haven't dug the "trench" for the barrel yet, so that's a plus. forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Don't know if this linky will be of any further help, FG, but here it is. This is how I was taught to set out the rule joints when making them by hand. I have some clearer illustrations in some of my books, but cannot get to them.It's at the bottom of...
http://sawdustmaking.com/woodjoints/hinged.htmThis create a very tight joint which will in all likelihood need caressed to work smoothly.Take care, Mike
Mike, thanks for the links! I had not found them in my cursory search, and they're very helpful. The $$ spent for on-line access is well worth it, no??forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
There are special rule joint hinges I have used them several times in tables for my daughter and her friends they work very well I will search out some more information for you .It probably doesn't help I am a fair way away.
Regards John BoltonYou can make it fool proof but not idiot proof
John, the hinges I'm using from Horton Brasses are specifically rule joint hinges (see my link in a slighly earlier post). Are you referring to something different from those?forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Argh, I was going to add both links from two different browser tabs--that's what I get for being in a hurry.There is also an excellent article from our hosts here. Need the paid subscription to access the PDF though. It is, however, well done...http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/ProjectsAndDesign/ProjectsAndDesignPDF.aspx?id=2210Take care, Mike
Hi FG. I didn't read all the replies but if someone was smart they would copy and publish. The secret I use is to place the hinge and predrill for the screws. Then screw the hinge in place before morticing. Anyone getting it? you can use the hinge plate as a scribe and use whatever method you like to bring the interior down to whatever level you want. Makes for a perfect mortice without a degree in chemistry (which I have!)
I used the hinge as a scribe-guide, but didn't screw it down. Making the mortise has gotten relatively easy (by the 8th one), but the whole geometry of situating them bears some continuing education, LOL!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
OK, bein' as it's you, I'll let you in on my secret for setting hinges without plugging in. You don't chisel. You cheat -- and use a plane.
It's the Stanley #271 -- the little brother (or in your case, little sister perhaps?) to the #71 (see photo below). Perfect for mortising hinges & similar hardware. Define the edges with a sharp chisel, and simply rout away the waste in the center of the mortise. The plane takes care of the depth and ensures a perfectly set hinge. Sadly, no longer made, but you should be able to pick one up on the old tool market.
View Image
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Hi, Mike. I have a router plane -- not sure which model, as all of sudden, I can't find it! It was residing in the cupboard my routers, dado set, biscuit joiner and other stuff lives in, and now it's not there. Don't know if I moved it in my sleep or what, really ticks me off. Is the 271 significantly easier to use for this purpose than the 71??forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
"Is the 271 significantly easier to use for this purpose than the 71??"
Oh, yeah. Like using a thumb plane vs. a 4-1/2 to carve out a fiddle back. The 271 is only about 2-1/2" wide with a blade only about 1/4" wide, so it's a better fit for hinge mortises and the like. The 71 is so big, you'd have a hard time keeping it flat on the edge of the piece.
I've also seen planes (like the L-N butt mortise plane) that are larger & have a huge mouth that are supposed to be used for this task, but I never used one, so I can't comment on how good they are or aren't. Anyone tried one of these? See here:
http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=40
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Mike,
<<I've also seen planes (like the L-N butt mortise plane) that are larger & have a huge mouth that are supposed to be used for this task, but I never used one, so I can't comment on how good they are or aren't. Anyone tried one of these? See here:>>
The LN butt mortise plane works really fast and really well to cut out uniform-depth, side-/middle-of-the-board-type mortises, BUT, it is a rather specialised tool. If one is going to be making a LOT of hinge mortises, then it might be worth the $99.--; otherwise, there are considerably more economical approaches (several of which have already been mentioned).
(FWIW, I bought mine to remove wood down to a uniform depth for larger-scale inlay work; IME, it works better/faster than a router plane when trying to do things like hog out, say, a 4" X 4" area to a uniform 1/8" depth.)
Since FG already has a router plane, my recommendation would be to just use a chisel and the router plane...
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<!----><!---->James<!----><!---->
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"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that...."
-- A.C. Clarke
Mike, I found my #71!!! It's a 71-P, open-throat. Turned out I had tossed it in the box o' stuff I took to Tom's pig roast, to show an "enthusiastic" newbie who was "so excited" about the party -- and then never showed. Sheesh.
You're right, it's pretty hard to use in these little areas. Fun to play around with though. I'll start a search for the 271 and let my California tool-show hound know I'm looking for one. Thanks!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG,
Mike's procedure and mine are very similar. The only difference is that I like to stay away from the knifed ends of the recess by a half a sixteenth or so, til the final cleanup. My experience is that chopping the ends initially tends to enlarge the opening very slightly, due to the wedging action of the chisel as it's driven into he scribed line. When cleaning up the "rags" after paring to depth, pushing the chisel down using simple hand pressure or a light tap of the mallet cleans out the ends of the recess.
Ray
"My experience is that chopping the ends initially tends to enlarge the opening very slightly...." Especially in a softish wood like poplar! (guess how I know, LOL)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I cheat and score with a layout knife then use my Stanley 71 1/2 router. Used to do them totally with a paring chisel but the hand router is a snap and gives a very consistently flat bottom. The 71 1/2 was another $15 flea market find.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Edited 6/14/2007 12:16 pm ET by BruceS
This jig works well for me.
Thanks for the pic, Blade. I made a Masonite template, specific to this hinge, but got cold feet when I realized how perfectly it would need to be located. It began to feel like I was putting way too much time into this particuclar set of mortises (8 of them), and I want to get these unit done by Monday or Tuesday, LOL.
I am, however, still interested in your jig. Looking at the picture, it seems the left-right edges are adjustable, the upper edge is set? Does that upper board extend below the plane of the stock to give you an edge that registers against the stock?
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
It's from Shopnotes # 74.
I set it up for mortices from 1" to 4".
L/R and depth is adjustable in those ranges.
Joe
Thanks, I'll see if I have that issue.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Use a forstner bit to get the depth, then cleaning the excess from the corners is easy.You can do this without using a drillpress, many times depending on the location of the mortise it's not practical.Mark the depth on the bit and proceed slowly.
mike
Forget about all of the chisle work!!
Afew years ago I built an endtable with drop leaves on each side and a drawer in the center. I used rule joints to attach tne leaves to the top as described in Simon Watt's article "Drop leaf and gate leg tables" from F.W.W. October 1979.
The drop leaf hinges were flush mounted on the underside of the table top and the leaves.
Construction was 3/4" walnut. I used 1/2"radius roundover and cove bits from M.L.C.S for the rule joints and followed the assembly directions as outlined in the free MLCS "Technical Manual". Only the hinge knuckles were recessed in the bottom of the table top.
I used tissue paper to separate the joints when I assembled the hinges, removed the tissue after assembly and the joints are flush when the leaves are up - the action is smooth and the hinges are hidden when the leaves are down.--"Perfect fit first time - both leaves"
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