# Using a "dremel" style router



## GerryAttrick (Jan 14, 2015)

I need to use a router to clean up some hinge pockets in a door jamb. Obviously waving a router around freehand on a door jamb is not the best of ideas if I want to retain all my appendages. I know I could use a chisel but my chisels are rubbish and my chiseling skills are untested:fie:

It occurs to me that maybe a small router attachment on a dremel might do the trick. What is the general view?

Also does anyone know if the accessories such as the Dremel Router attachment fit on the chinese "knockoffs? We have several of those that my wife uses for carving ceramic greenware and if the dremel accessory fits I thought I could buy one and give it a try. 

If it works it gives me the excuse to get myself a Dremel handset:dance3: - I could then maybe try my hand at some more delicate projects further down the track


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## herrwood (Apr 19, 2014)

If you are looking for a smaller handheld router. I would buy a trim router before I purchased the dremel attachment. Yes the trim router would be more money but also more useful


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## GerryAttrick (Jan 14, 2015)

herrwood said:


> If you are looking for a smaller handheld router. I would buy a trim router before I purchased the dremel attachment. Yes the trim router would be more money but also more useful


But how safe would it be for the intended use of working on a door jamb freehand. If it would do the job I would certainly consider it.


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## RMIGHTY1 (Nov 5, 2014)

Alan, I have the same ask before me. My trim router is up in Chicago. My wife bought me a Dremel set for Christmas. I bought jigs for hinge and lock cutouts. I only have to enlarge the cutouts a tiny bit. Have not attempted it yet. Will keep an eye on this post. I think the dremel will do fine.

Because of my disability, I need a gopher with me at all times whenever I attempt something like this (or anything for that matter).


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## GerryAttrick (Jan 14, 2015)

Rmighty1 I'll be interested in how things go. I wondered if the Dremel might be OK because I would just need to buy an attachment and I could hopefully use the knock off handset. The if it works I could upgrade to a Dremel. If it fails then I am not out of pocket too much.

The weight and power of even a light trimmer might be too unwieldy/dangerous to use freehand on a door jamb (as opposed to the door that I can take off).

I would like a trimmer but at the moment I cant afford one although there is the MAKTEC(Makita) range that has a trimmer under $100 that I might consider in due course.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

The Maktec is the lower cost version of the Makita and is a first class tool. With a Dremel you are limited to the small size of bits available.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Alan; sharpen your chisels. Way cheaper and just as fast...once they're sharpened.
If they're totally destroyed ...hard to believe...buy a new set. Chisels are basic to woodworking, not to mention home repairs.
I'm not the one to dissuade folks from buying new power toys, but sometimes the obvious needs to be stated.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

herrwood said:


> If you are looking for a smaller handheld router. I would buy a trim router before I purchased the dremel attachment. Yes the trim router would be more money but also more useful


agreed...


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

GerryAttrick said:


> But how safe would it be for the intended use of working on a door jamb freehand. If it would do the job I would certainly consider it.


use a set up like this and it'd be no worries...

Door Installation - Milescraft


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

The Stanley ButtHinge Marker and a sharp chisel was the only way to do it before routers became popular. Stanley Butt Markers for 512, 513, 514 Hinges | Lowe's Canada. You laid the marker where you wanted the hinge and gave it a whack or 2 with a hammer to incise the outline then a sharp chisel to slice away the waste. It fell out of favour because few can or want to sharpen chisels. With a little practice they are a lot faster than a router.


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

GerryAttrick said:


> But how safe would it be for the intended use of working on a door jamb freehand. If it would do the job I would certainly consider it.


I just finished replacing a door in my laundry room and needed to cut the jamb for the hinges in place - the door is hinged directly to the framing (long story) so I had no option. I have one of the Milescraft templates but couldn't use that because of the radius on the edge of the 2 x 4 so I made my own as shown. A little overkill for just three hinges but I knew that I needed enough support for the router. The jig is screwed to the jamb and the recess cut with a bearing-top bit - I used a PC 690 with one of Pat Warner's extended bases and was amazed how simple and easy it was. The opening in the jig is large enough so that I can start the router off the edge of the jamb, cut the recess and move it back off the surface while letting it come to a stop. The jig worked so well that I wound up using it instead of the Milescraft to cut the doors as it's so much easier to set up - just line up the inside edge of the jig with the scribe line on the part and screw in place. It may be too that the D-handle helped with giving me more control of the router, although the 690 is not a very heavy tool.

Tom


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## mark greenbaum (Sep 26, 2010)

Use sharp chisels and hammer - the way it was done for centuries. I have roadkill chisels (found while bicycling) that I have sharpened to razor edge, and I use them frequently. Old school rules.


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## richjh (Jan 14, 2013)

I used my Dremel with router attachment to cut the hinge mortises for a set of french doors I put in my basement. I did it without making a template and do not recommend that approach. The Dremel wanted to wander as I tried to keep it on the marked line I made using the hinge. Otherwise. it worked just fine. You definitely need to keep a tight grip of the tool to prevent the wandering issue.


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## GerryAttrick (Jan 14, 2015)

Stick486 said:


> use a set up like this and it'd be no worries...
> 
> Door Installation - Milescraft


Hi Stick,

I have made a jig for that and it works fine. My problem is the mortise in the jamb - not the door. I like the idea of the trim router but holding it against the jamb while it is operating at 30,000rpm seems a bit fraught. Its the sort of thing I might have tried BEFORE I found this site. The jamb is already installed so I have to route it in place

I figure a small tool like the Dremel would be the way to go - easy to hold up and I could probably make a suitable jig to attach to the jamb


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## GerryAttrick (Jan 14, 2015)

@Tomp913. I have a very similar jig I used for the door mortise and I can now see how to make it work with the one on the jamb. I'll have a look for a cheap trim router this weekend - I have a Bunnings (like Home depot?) voucher I need to use up soon so that will just about cover the cost.

Hmm now I have to find another way to get a small rotary tool. After a bit more Googling I think I favour the Proxxon rather than the Dremel and I can get one of those out of Australia for less than the cost of a Dremel 4200 in New Zealand.

Gotta love the way you can always find another "toy" to spend money on


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## tomp913 (Mar 7, 2014)

GerryAttrick said:


> @Tomp913. I have a very similar jig I used for the door mortise and I can now see how to make it work with the one on the jamb. I'll have a look for a cheap trim router this weekend - I have a Bunnings (like Home depot?) voucher I need to use up soon so that will just about cover the cost.
> 
> Hmm now I have to find another way to get a small rotary tool. After a bit more Googling I think I favour the Proxxon rather than the Dremel and I can get one of those out of Australia for less than the cost of a Dremel 4200 in New Zealand.
> 
> Gotta love the way you can always find another "toy" to spend money on


Alan,

I have a trim router, an old Ryobi, and modified a Bosch baseplate to fit as I wanted a larger area to help support it. It worked OK, but I actually felt that I had more control with the PC because of the extended baseplate plus being able to comfortably hold it with two hands - by the D-handle and the knob on the baseplate. 

Tom


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Alan I think most of us look at using a Dremel for a router like we would at someone using a steak knife to cut firewood. It seems unnecessarily small for most jobs. I've used a 3 1/2 hp plunge for mortising hinges before which is overkill the other way but a small router like the DeWalt 611 should be small enough to handle and so much more versatile in the long run.


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## RÖENTGEEP (Feb 18, 2014)

Stick486 said:


> use a set up like this and it'd be no worries...
> 
> Door Installation - Milescraft


Any way you will need your chisels, so fix them or buy some. because in that link in some part is written this:

Some chiseling required on templates with square corners.


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## otto g (Aug 2, 2014)

I'm with the chisel group. Easier and faster and you get nice square corners right away.

Otto


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

http://www.amazon.com/Marples-M444-SB6-6-Piece-Chisel/dp/B0000224EV


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## GerryAttrick (Jan 14, 2015)

otto g said:


> I'm with the chisel group. Easier and faster and you get nice square corners right away.
> 
> Otto


Ha..but my hinges have round corners which is why I favour the router. I guess a decent set of chisels might be something to put on the birthday list. I'll have a go at getting the ones I have sharpened.

At the moment my garage has been taken over by my wife as a store for her ceramics moulds. They will all be moving in to the studio we are including in the new house but until then access to my sharpening wheel, and most other stuff, is almost non-existant.

I am lucky to have been able to grab enough tools for me to handle house renovation but chisels were not on my list.


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## timbertailor (Oct 4, 2009)

Stewart McDonald makes a host of accessories for the Dremel that you may find interesting. Check it out. Very popular with guitar makers.

Search Results for dremel | stewmac.com


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> The Stanley ButtHinge Marker and a sharp chisel was the only way to do it before routers became popular. Stanley Butt Markers for 512, 513, 514 Hinges | Lowe's Canada. You laid the marker where you wanted the hinge and gave it a whack or 2 with a hammer to incise the outline then a sharp chisel to slice away the waste. It fell out of favour because few can or want to sharpen chisels. With a little practice they are a lot faster than a router.


I own the PC hinge template jig If I am doing one door I use my chisels Key word in OP "clean up" key word "disability" buy a chisel and sharpen it


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

You might consider the right size flat tipped wood drill bit to do the corners...then chisels for the rest. For the door jams I've even used a sharpened old screwdriver and hammer. All it takes is a flat file to put an edge on one side of an old screwdriver.

There...no tools to buy, no rummaging past the better half's stuff...you don't want to break any of her things... 

...but shopping for more tools is much more fun...


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## timbertailor (Oct 4, 2009)

One of these come in real handy too! Makes clean corners.

Whiteside Corner Chisel


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