door lock & hinge jigs

[jim44]

hello all,
I need some help. I'm looking at buying door & hinge jigs & want to know which are good & easy to use. Do they speed the job up alot. What output power of router is best to use with them. I have a Bosch 1100w 1/4 coll at mo but looking at getting a dewalt dw624 1600w or Ryobi ert1500v that comes with a router table, or are there any better for the job in that price range.

Thanks, Jim

 

[Shultzy]

Welcome to the forum jim44 - when you make a post its helpful if you can give as much info as possible. How often are you going to use this jig or would it be cheaper to make your own. This info will also help in deciding which router is best for you.

 

[Scrit]

Hi Jim and welcome to UKWS

As Shultzy says, volume is important. If you are going to do a lot of them, then take a good look at the Trend jigs. I've had recommendations for the H/JIG/A from several guys in the trade, but just look at the price. Simillarly I'm told by people with them that Trend's lock jig is a good quality product, with a price.

If you are only doing a few hinges/doors why not consider making your own jigs. There's a good section on the Trend website about this, here (Page 13 for himge recessing, page 15 for lock recessing).

Scrit

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi jim

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Waka]

Jim

Welcome to the forum.

 

[wrightclan]

Hi Jim,

Welcome to the forum.

As Scrit suggested, why not try making your own? Not very difficult.

For hinges, your bosch 1/4" would be fine. For deep morticing, such as locks, a 1/2" router is really much better.

Brad

 

[DomValente]

Hi Jim, welcome.

As mentioned it depends on how many you are going to install.
My experience was that I started out making my own and once the correct format for my purposes was found took them to a local metal worker who made them out of aluminium.Cheaper than buying or in my case bartered.
Good luck

 

[jim44]

Thanks for the replies, think i'll buy the lock jig & make hinge jig. Hope to use them lots as I'm starting up on my own doing joinery after having enough of working in steel fabrication for 6yrs.

 

[Scrit]

Jim

If you were going to do a lot (such as door hanging in site work) there's a couple of other tools to consider, the Virutex FR29M Hinge Recessor (there's a video clip and more detailed description here) and the Virutex FC16I lock mortiser (see here for more detailed description)

Scrit

 

[Anonymous]

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[Scrit]

Agreed, it's expensive, but I saw a guy hanging doors at the rate of 2 to 3 per hour with this stuff last year - albeit new build with nice square frames. Horses for courses I'd say.

Personally I have some home-made jigs which work like the Trend ones

Scrit

 

[scooby]

Looks like expensive kit - you'd have to hang a lot of doors to get your money back.
I've always done them by hand - is quickest way for hinges but lock mortices a bit tedious I admit - but think of the money I've saved and another bit of kit I don't have to cart around.
Brace and bit very quick and clean cutting for all round holes.

cheers
Jacob

I'd agree. I've never used a router for morticing hinges and find it easy and quick enough using hammer & chisel.

On one job I worked on the company had a lock morticer. After initially looking forward to using it, we found that setting the thing up and getting it cramped to the door was a right pain. Everyone found it quicker and easier to continue just drilling and chiselling the lock mortice.

 

[mel]

in the words of our illustrious leader "newbie neil"


hi jim

welcome to the forum


cheers
mel {name changed for obvious reasons } :wink:

jim.
the only one ive seen in use is a trend jig
and the bloke using it was sweating trying to keep up with another bloke using a hammer and chisel
ive made my own jigs in the past out md fluff , these are particulaly good for the cheaper doors , ie wickes/ b+q , in the £20 range , you know the sort .
the timber is extremly dry and brittle and even the sharpest chisel still seems to tear the grain , so a jig and small router works very well
auger bit ,hammer and chisel for locks

regards
mel

 

[Anonymous]

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[mel]

mr G
when youve got 15 doors to change in a void council house , 3 to 4 times a week . you need to try and speed things up a bit
must say that im happy to cut them out with a hammer and SHARP chisel
we tried home made jigs which worked well , after we got them set up
also had the benefit of those "rounded off corner hinges" so they sat straight in

 

[JFC]

The only time i've made a door jig is when i've had 60 fire doors to hang and it made sense to make a ply plate for the hinges and lock face cut out . The lock mortice was quicker with a drill bit and finish off with a sharp chisel .
The only jig i have bought is the worktop jig and thats not big enough to get clamps onto without fouling the router .
Make your own IMHO .

 

[scooby]

The only time I've ever used a router on a door was for cutting the hole for the letter plate.

 

[scooby]

mr G
when youve got 15 doors to change in a void council house , 3 to 4 times a week

I spent 6 months of my apprenticeship doing exactly the same. Thats why if theres doors to do on a job, it always me who has to do them. Luckily, door hanging is one of my favourite jobs