Thread: Cutting mortices for Brusso quadrant hinges

I afraid I would have to be a turncoat for this task. I reckon I'd use Rockers morticing jig. A test cut or two to make sure it is going to cut perzactly as you want, and away you go.


Of course if Rob wished to supply a tail free roter, then I'd be more than happy to give it a spin. (Get it, tail free router, spin.......... OK I'm sorry.)

Originally Posted by Rocker

Dan,
...my jig does more or less the same thing, but you have to set the stops and fence accurately, and clamp the workpiece to it with a spacer; so it is a bit time consuming to get it right, but is more or less foolproof, once set up. Rocker

Rocker, I've been trying to imagine just how you clamp the piece you show at the outset of this thread in your jig. Whilst on the subject of using your mortising jig, how do you rout a mortise across the width of a long piece, say 50mm x 500mm? And is there any way to place this mortise across the middle of a piece this long?

Sorry for the dumb question - I expect I'm just having a mental block on this.

Rocker,

I used this style of hinge in my boxes ( http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=29653 ) but they were smaller thinner versions. I used a straight router bit on the router table, with appropriate stops for the hinge housing (with lots of trial cuts on scrap), I couldn't think of an easier way of getting rounded ends. Clean the rest up with a small chisel.
The deeper cuts for the stay, I drilled out both ends of the mortice and what I could of the rest, then used a Dremel lookalike to clean up the waste. With my hinges the motice had to be undercut a lot due to the stay design, not sure if the Brusso is the same. I assume that was your basic plan?

As for dark side methods, I didn't have a chisel small enough for my stay's mortice (would need to be 2mm?), and I would have thought these hinges would have come with square ends to suit a chisel if they were made in the days when the dark side was the only way?

Chris

Originally Posted by Rocker

Good point about the Makita trimmer; it is a tool I would like to own, but don't. Rocker

Rocker Do your self a favour and get one. They are the ducks nuts to have in the workshop. If i had the cash id love six or seven with different cutters permently in. They excell for hinges and locks and little chamfers

Don,

It was easy enough to clamp the box lid to the jig, using a piece of 3 mm MDF as a spacer, so that the bit would clear the edge of the window, as shown in the pic below. Clamping the box itself to the jig was a bit trickier, but perfectly possible.

The short answer to your second query is that you wouldn't cut a mortice across the width of your workpiece, because you would be cutting the mortice across the grain - you would cut two mortices parallel to the grain instead. But if you were determined to cut the mortice across the grain, you could easily do so by closing the stops together on either side of the router so that it could only move perpendicularly to the micro-adjustable fence.

Hmm, can't attach the pic for some reason. I just used two 2" clamps to clamp the box lid to the horizontal platform of the jig.

Rocker

Don,
I will try again with the pic.

Rocker

The attached scanned pic is from Tauntons Complete Illustrated Guide to Box Making by Doug Stowe. ISBN 1-56158-593-9

Originally Posted by Rocker

Don,
I will try again with the pic.

Rocker

Thanks, Rocker. What are those two Perspex pieces with the black plastic knobs on your jig?

Originally Posted by Groggy

The attached scanned pic is from Tauntons Complete Illustrated Guide to Box Making by Doug Stowe. ISBN 1-56158-593-9

Thanks for the reminder, Groggy. I have that book - I'd better have a look at it again.

Don,

Not perspex -wood. It is a support fence to assist in clamping the workpiece, based on an idea suggested by Al B. See http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...t=28732&page=4 , post #54.

Rocker

From the "Have you built the Rocker Mortising Jig" post.

Originally Posted by Rocker

Al,

Here is my quick and dirty version of your workpiece support fence, using tee-nuts to engage the knobs, rather than T-track. I eventually came to the conclusion that it is not really worthwhile to build a workpiece stop into the jig, since it is easy enough to just clamp on a temporary stop if needed.

Rocker

I agree with your conclusion, David. I've frequently clamped temporary stops when mortising short pieces. (Strange - it sure looked like Perspex until you stated otherwise. )

I purchased a Beall Hinge Wizard from www.bealltool.com.
It is an ingenious invention that is designed for this job, can use a number of different templates and is fast to set up and use. It is a great gadget

regards Snowy

Snowy,

Thanks for that link; but I doubt if I shall be making enough boxes to justify getting that jig.

Rocker