Mortising jig for router table

[lrogers]

Very nice indeed!

[atgcpaul]

Cool jig. Would like to see the movie, too.


Paul

[niki]

Very, very nice design, jig and work (not like my jigs that all of them look like a prototype).

Looking at the pics, I'm sure that it gives you very accurate and consistent results.

You did not mention (or I missed it), how do you lift the bit gradually for deep mortise.

I would recommend that you make a hold-down clamp, something simple (although, looking at your jig I know that you will make it "super") please have a look at this post (roll down the pics and you will see what I mean)
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=31630

I have only one comment...your ring...I've seen too many "movies" with the bit catching the ring......

Best regards
niki

[cgallery]

You did not mention (or I missed it), how do you lift the bit gradually for deep mortise.

...

I have only one comment...your ring...I've seen too many "movies" with the bit catching the ring......

Best regards
niki

My router table has a lift, so I can "crank up" the bit as I work.

But I actually rarely do this. Instead, I raise the bit as high as I'd like the final mortise to be deep, say 3/4". Then I use a set of spacers (one 1/2", one 1/4") between the wood and the table to keep the bit from cutting too much in a single pass. Each pass removes 1/4" of wood this way.

In terms of the ring, I consider it body armor.

[cgallery]

Here is a rather long (16 minute) movie that covers construction and use.

I can't believe it ran so long. Must be all the times I said "uh." Not really my strong suit, but better than drawing-up plans.

As long as the movie is, I really only scratched the surface. So if you have any questions or just want to mock my movie-making skills, feel free to post back.

http://www.cgallery.com/mortise.wmv

[Ken Massingale]

A very informative video. You ought to get that jig submitted to some WW mags before someone rips your idea off.

[footprintsinconc]

your video is very informative! very nice job on the video and the time element is perfectly fine for what you have to show. all in all, great job.

i will second ken's suggestion that you send your idea to a ww magazine, maybe like fww or something. i truely believe that your jig will be featured.

MODS: i believe you should definately consider putting this thread or have cgallery to do a new thread and put that video in the "tutorial" section of this site.

thanks once again for your help!

regards,

[cgallery]

Thanks Ken and Omar. But I kinda doubt that it would distill down into a size that could be included in one of those "reader suggestions" sections of a magazine. It took sixteen minutes to describe the operation and I didn't even get a chance to discuss some of the other operations you can do with it. Maybe if I edit-out the "uhs" and "ums."

I did send a link to the video to ShopNotes. But I'm not holding my breath.

[dlminehart]

I like the jig, and suspect it could prove very useful. One question, though. It appears that the technique of removing one side guide for doing the mortise would guarantee the same hole size and position on the rail as on the stile, but what if your rails and stiles are of different sizes? For instance, say you have a 6/4" chair leg into which you want to put 2 3/4" rails at right angles. It appears that, so long as you kept the spacing stops untouched at the top of the fence, you could move the fence relative to the router bit without causing a problem with fit, correct?

[cgallery]

I like the jig, and suspect it could prove very useful. One question, though. It appears that the technique of removing one side guide for doing the mortise would guarantee the same hole size and position on the rail as on the stile, but what if your rails and stiles are of different sizes? For instance, say you have a 6/4" chair leg into which you want to put 2 3/4" rails at right angles. It appears that, so long as you kept the spacing stops untouched at the top of the fence, you could move the fence relative to the router bit without causing a problem with fit, correct?

Yes, you are correct. The width of the mortise is dictated by the stops on the top of the fence. As long as you don't touch those, you can adjust the front alignment blocks to accomodate stock of differing widths.

[cgallery]

A very informative video. You ought to get that jig submitted to some WW mags before someone rips your idea off.

After Niki's news broke that Wood is publishing some of his tips, I noticed one of his contributions was sent this morning and looked just like mine. But then I noticed he had posted his rolling mortise jig elsewhere for several months.

So Niki is truly the first on this. He should get some credit and $$$ by getting someone to write it up.

[niki]

Come on Cgallery

You did a very nice job and your jig is different than mine...ok, some similarities but let's face it, most of the jigs for the same purpose has "some similarities"...

I give you all the credit for your jig, very nicely thought out and executed.

Wish you many, many happy, easy and accurate mortises with it.

Best Regards
niki

[footprintsinconc]

niki, where did you post your setup for mortising? is it still online?

edit: i found it, thanks

[sparkeyjames]

cgallery, excellent video of the construction and use of your jig. I struggled mightily and resisted the temptation to count your umm's and ahh's.