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Thread: Designing my own mortise Jig...
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5th January 2009, 12:31 AM #1Senior Member
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Designing my own mortise Jig...
I know there are hundreds of different mortise jigs about between home made and shop built but I dont like any of them.
The good ones (Leigh FMT and a few others like Mortise Pal) are too expensive and the shop built ones seem either too fiddly to make or too fiddly to use or too limiting in their use.
I've come up with an initial design for a mortise jig that works on table-saw mounted routers using the table-saw fence. I figured this method will be quick and square and safe.
I'm designing wit loose tenon joinery in mind and my project at the moment is a loft bed that needs 4x3 Blackbutt M&T joined to 4x4 blackbutt for the main frame and then there are millions of slats to be mortised into the rails
SO
I want to be able to safely support 1.3m 4x4 hardwood posts on their ends and mortise them and be able to make smaller mortises for the 42x19 slats all using the one jig.
I'll post my sketches and details in the next post as this one is getting too busy.
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5th January 2009, 01:03 AM #2Senior Member
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Sketches
The jig sits over the top of the ripping fence and slides along its plane to make the mortise slots, it has a pair of stop blocks mounted to the fence using the T-Slot & t-slot bolts.
There is a backward/forward reading tape adhered to the front bottom edge of the jig, use this to set the the stop block positions from the scribe line on the router table which indicates the cutter's centre position, use the other axes scribe line on the table to measure distance from the cutter
The centre of the jig fence is 210mm high and reinforced to allow clamping for longer pieces up high so they stay straight, there is plenty of supports screwed to the jig to keep it rigid and square and it's to be made from 19mm MDF
All work pieces are simply clamped on, I'm trying to keep costs down but if I want it to be a bit more user friendly I could recess some t-tracks in and use t-track hold down clamps
I'd appreciate people's thoughts and criticisms, it's not built yet it's just a concept - I have replicated the idea using the fence and blocks clamped in the right places and it worked well.
I don't have a router lift but plan on using the Triton router which has a very good height adjustment feature, in my test mule set up this was what I used and it worked well - also had very efficient dust extraction using the machines in-built system.
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6th January 2009, 07:52 PM #3Skwair2rownd
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To me that is a neat and cunningly simple design.
Hooking the Jig over the fence will help immensely with stability and accuracy. The fact that you can use stops on your fence is an added bonus.
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6th January 2009, 08:15 PM #4
I would comment that that jig doesn't utilize the router's plunging feature and is not micro-adjustable. You might like to download free plans for a micro-adjustable morticing jig here: http://www.mediafire.com/?7k0ihwm2ymd
Rocker
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6th January 2009, 09:41 PM #5Template Tom
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Morticing Jig
A lot of effort has gone into designing the jig.
I have one question to ask, Why is that so many router users seem to think that all the routing processes are to be done with the router in the router table, there is a simplier jig that can be made, when using the router in the plunge mode with the aid of the template guides.
TomLast edited by Template Tom; 6th January 2009 at 09:43 PM. Reason: add pics
Learn new Routing skills with the use of the template guides
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8th January 2009, 07:22 AM #6Senior Member
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What if I only had one router and didn't want to take it out of the table and change all my setting every time I wanted to cut a mortise?
What if I wanted to cut a mortise 300mm long for a reinforced face glued joint - I would need to make a jig with 300mm of router movement built into it?
What if I needed to re-make a mortise on an assembled piece of furniture that I was repairing that's a long way away from the fence? This way I can use the whole table-saw bed for support.
I also mentioned that I'm making a bed so I need to cut mortises into the ends of long rails so in order to use a free-standing router jig I would have to either clamp the jig to the timber 1500mm off the ground and stand on a step stool or use the router vertically and clamp the piece horizontally.
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8th January 2009, 07:25 AM #7Senior Member
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Thanks Rocker - I've looked at that jig before and like so many shop made mortise jigs you need a very expensive dial guage and a master's degree to build it.
My jig has micro adjustment in one plane because my table saw fence is micro adjustable and I actually plunge the bit in from underneath using the Triton router's rack & pinion plunge action, without a Triton router this jig is not much good
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8th January 2009, 07:45 AM #8
Missionaryman,
Actually the dial gauge is not an essential feature of my jig; you can achieve the same accuracy by measuring the movement of the jig's fence with a caliper. I did in fact use my jig to rout mortices in bed rails by clamping the jig to the rail, clamping the rail vertically in a vice, and then standing on my workbench to rout the mortice - easy peasy. My jig takes about a day to make, but, if you intend routing a lot of mortices, it is well worth it.
By the way, I would not recommend using a single mortice 300 mm long; two shorter mortices would be much better.
Rocker
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8th January 2009, 07:49 AM #9Senior Member
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Do you have any plans I can look at for your jig, if I can make it with stick on tape measure I would give it a go for sure.
I think I will still build my jig but I can see that yours would be more accurate and easier to use because you can easily use the plunge action of the router.
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8th January 2009, 08:28 AM #10Template Tom
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Morticing Jig
I appreciate the effort you have made in designing your jig and I would be interested in the results when you begin to use it, especially when you come to rout the mortice's in the rail.
Do you really only have one router? and is it permanently placed in the router table? The reason why I submitted the question was really to see if you had considered using the router in the plunge mode for certain processes.
Making a mortice on an assembled piece of furniture would be easier to move the router by hand within the jig than move a large piece of assembled material.
With an larger Jig you can make mortice's any size you wish then when you wish to make a smaller mortice insert two stops to regulate the size you require, I would suggest using a 40mm template guide. Do you use the guides for any of your projects or is the router permanently in the table.
Routing in the ends of a 1500mm piece is no great problem when it is secure in the vice and yes by elevating yourself to make the cut.
I have only made these comments to assist you in the construction of your project as there are other methods of using the router that you may not have considered. Since I developed the use of the router with the aid of template guides I have been able to introduce greater safety awareness with the use of the router. The Jig I have proposed for consideration was the one I used when I was teaching Blind people how to use the router. I was only thinking of safety with the router and illustrating alternative methods.
I had some feed back from a router user who recently had an accident with the router in the router table and I suppose what he said was the reason I was prompted to answer this post. He said "when entering the forum he did not go into the thread on the use of template guides" I suppose he was like 90% of router users and never used them. This is the reason for me producing articles on the use of the guides to try and get others to see the advantages of using them.
I did not set out to criticise your jig making, but only to offer an alternative solution if by chance you had not given any consideration to the use of the guides.
All the best in your venture and I hope your projects turn out well thank you for taking time to read my reply
TomLearn new Routing skills with the use of the template guides
Log on to You Tube for a collection of videos 'Routing with Tom O'Donnell'
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8th January 2009, 08:30 AM #11
Missionaryman,
Click on the link I gave in post #4 above and hit the download button there.
Rocker
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8th January 2009, 12:44 PM #12Senior Member
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Thanks Tom, appreciate your comments and criticism, we're good.
I think that I'll need to get a second router - it looks like it will be inevitable, I'm having so much trouble trying to find a reasonably priced unit that's not a piece of crap and has the following:
Soft start
Variable speed
Dust extraction
Spindle Lock
1/2" collet
If I can find one with all of the above for under $200 I'll get it. There was a green Bosch at Bunnings that had it all on display but it had no price and there wasn't a shelf label for it anywhere
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8th January 2009, 04:17 PM #13Template Tom
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I doubt if you will find one for the price you are looking at. Not all routers are suitable for use in the plunge mode and finding template guides for them is a problem.
I am prepared to give you my reason for the routers I use for this method should you care to email me
tomodon(at)bigpond(dot)net(dot)au
TomLearn new Routing skills with the use of the template guides
Log on to You Tube for a collection of videos 'Routing with Tom O'Donnell'
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9th January 2009, 11:21 PM #14
Why not buy the big ryobi. I have one in my table very please with it.
Cheers Jerry
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10th January 2009, 06:48 AM #15Senior Member
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Carbatec used to sell 2 Archer routers and both had everything on the list (except the smaller one only had a 1/4 & 8mm collet) and one was $200 the other $100
what model number is the Ryobi you speak of?
the Bosch I saw at bunnings had everything and was about $200 but they don't have them anymore.
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