# Deep Mortise Question



## mbg (Jun 10, 2009)

I'm going to build a new entrance door. I was wondering if there are any slick jigs or methods to produce 2" to 2-1/2" deep mortises in the stiles besides drilling and cleaning up with a chisel or router?

(sad to say I had a mortiser but never used it so I sold it to purchase other toys about two years ago)


Mike


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

If you have a drill press you could make a fence to square it up, bore out most of the mat and fine tune it with hand chisels and a hammer, or do it all by hand and learn to appreciate the horror our ancestors put up with.

I've been in the construction trade since 1978, too often I came across the need to drill perfect straight and square holes to align whatever, too often I failed.

Years ago I made up a bunch of drill blocks off my drill press to take to the job. Simple squares with a series of holes equal to all the bits I carried, nearly absolute perfect holes every time.


You could do something similar, a jig that is square to and fits over the stile, clampit to the stile and drill through it to remove most of the stock.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Mike

I would suggest you pickup the kit below from Grizzy/HF 
The entrance door is a big deal,it will be in place for a long time, it's worth getting the right tool to make it,then you can use it for other projects after the door..not just for mortises.. it's a great hold down device for the drill press.

Mortising Attachment Kit 
H7789 Mortising Attachment Kit

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mbg said:


> I'm going to build a new entrance door. I was wondering if there are any slick jigs or methods to produce 2" to 2-1/2" deep mortises in the stiles besides drilling and cleaning up with a chisel or router?
> 
> (sad to say I had a mortiser but never used it so I sold it to purchase other toys about two years ago)
> 
> ...


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## dustmaker (May 18, 2009)

Mike,

You could take a look at my Mr Mortise gizmo:
Mr Mortise Thread Link

...but for a deep mortise this approach would take quite a few passes to complete, maybe not an option if you are making a lot of mortises. Perhaps you could start the mortises on the drill press and use the jig to clean them out. If done this way, I would think the clean out pass could be done in a pass or two with a good spiral bit.


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

I have used a Forstner bit in a powered 700 watt hand drill to remove most of the waste, then to trim up with a chisel and mallet.


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## Ghidrah (Oct 21, 2008)

Bob3j
There are limitations with everything.
I've had the Delta version for close to 20 yrs. and while it is better than a wooden jig the limitations are in the drill press and aligning the assembly with it. If I don't have lots of work, I get the same results boring with a drill bit, don't have to square the chisel, don't get hung up in the hole and don't worry about flex.

Add to that the set up for and or balancing a 2X6X6'8'' or 6'10" stile on a 12x12 DP table is daunting when working with help and rollers let all alone. The drill press does flex when pushing against itself.

If MBG is going to continue with lots of mortising I'd suggest the Delta mortiser, it's the least expensive model I know of out there. More stable than a DP and can be mounted on a work bench for better leverage.

Dustmakers jig could get him started and then MBG could dig out the rest to increase depth. My longest bit is a 1/2" by 4 3/8 with a 2 7/16" cutter. When set properly in the router including my shortest guide I end up with 2 3/8" of effective cut. I've made a couple entry doors, I'd want as much cross lap as I could get


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

Supporting long heavy stock is a problem. My Startrite mortiser at school has one end up against a higher bench!


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Ron

They work great..you do need to add longer handles,I use some 18" bolts to make them..
If the bits and chisels are sharp they get the job done easy..with a quick made stand for support for long stock stock..

I have two of them ,one for the old Jet DP and one for the newer Craftsman.. the newer set came with one drii that I didn't have and the chisel for it..

I use it all the time to make sq.dowel pin holes I just hate round dowel pins, the sq. ones lock the joints..plus they are real easy to setup..and are real quick and no hammer needed 

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Ghidrah said:


> Bob3j
> There are limitations with everything.
> I've had the Delta version for close to 20 yrs. and while it is better than a wooden jig the limitations are in the drill press and aligning the assembly with it. If I don't have lots of work, I get the same results boring with a drill bit, don't have to square the chisel, don't get hung up in the hole and don't worry about flex.
> 
> ...


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## mbg (Jun 10, 2009)

Wow my first post. I appreciate all of the positive responses and great ideas. Last year I bought a nice set of chisels so maybe I should just hog most of the material out with my DP and chisel away. I only need to make eight deep mortises. Another alternative I was thinking of with the current tools I have would be to use my router attachment that I have for my rail-guided circular saw system. It has X - Y stops I could setup with my plunge router.

Also, I have a router table with a nice Incra lift. Oops - never mind it's probably too heavy of a workpiece to handle safety on a RT.

Mike


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## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

Take the tool to the work when its bulky like a door. If you have a couple small vises ( or one large vise ) clamp a 2x4 in the vise ( or in between the vises ) and then clamp the door to the board between the vises with another good and straight 2x4 to the opposite edge of the door ( cut to fit between the vises ) to widen the work surface the router will ride on. Of course this assumes your vise ('s) hang off the work bench or mount on the edge. OR.. you could do the same thing with with a work table, two 2x4's and a nice table edge mounted wood vise. Clamp on one 2x4 on either side just short so it fits in the vise on one end. Then use the edge of the table and press towards it while routing ? You could also buy or make an off set router base to get the bit that much closer on narrow work pieces.
I think you could do it with your router and a straight edge guide if you ask me. Just measure twice and go slow. Maybe practice on a scrap 4x4 or 2x before hand.
Center it up, place stop blocks ahead and behind and go to town about 1/4" deep or so per a pass. I know I have seen a video some where where a fella did the same thing on a door.
I'll see if I can find it for you.


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## hcim (Sep 13, 2009)

dustmaker said:


> Mike,
> 
> You could take a look at my Mr Mortise gizmo:
> Mr Mortise Thread Link
> ...


Which router bit would be ideal??
I don't have drill press, so my best option is router with similar jig as Mr.Mortise :big_boss: .


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## dustmaker (May 18, 2009)

Mich,

I needed a half inch wide mortise, so I used a 1/2" solid carbide spiral upcut. Got it at MLCS:
MLCS solid carbide router bits

If I recall, I used a 3/4" guide bushing with the jig. It really worked well for me.


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## hcim (Sep 13, 2009)

dustmaker said:


> Mich,
> 
> I needed a half inch wide mortise, so I used a 1/2" solid carbide spiral upcut. Got it at MLCS:
> MLCS solid carbide router bits
> ...


As I guest... it's spiral upcut/downcut router bit. :bad: Unfortunately I can't found it anywhere here. (When I ask about this type of bit, most of them never realized that it does exist :sarcastic: )

Anyway, I'll just use the common straight bit which is commonly less than 10cm. 
When making _ through mortise_ (10 cm depth) with above jig, I route half from the top then flip the workpiece for the other half.
Can you suggest any other method (or jig) without flipping the piece ?? 

Thank you,
Mich :help:


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## dustmaker (May 18, 2009)

hcim said:


> As I guest... it's spiral upcut/downcut router bit. :bad: Unfortunately I can't found it anywhere here. (When I ask about this type of bit, most of them never realized that it does exist :sarcastic: )
> 
> Anyway, I'll just use the common straight bit which is commonly less than 10cm.
> When making _ through mortise_ (10 cm depth) with above jig, I route half from the top then flip the workpiece for the other half.
> ...


Mich,

I had a similar experience with local hardware stores...most don't even supply 1/2" collet bits. :haha:

I can be a bit metric challenged, but I guess that's about 4 inches, so that's pretty deep. They may make bits that long, but I would probably do as you say and go at it from both sides. If you have a drill press, you can reduce the work for the router by hogging out most of the material before routing.


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