shop made router mortising jig

[Zahid Naqvi]

Well Dennis Peacock finally dragged me into woodworking, so if I ask any stupid questions you can blame Dennis for it.
I am working on a Shoji divider screen (3 pannel) these days, and since I will be making plenty of joints between 2"X3/4" strips I have decided to go with mortise and tennon joints. I was able to make a tennoning jig for my bench saw, combining the design of a jig I saw at Dennis's shop and a design I saw on the net. Cutting out tennons after that was no sweat. I cut the first mortise by hand, took me about an hour, enlightining experience (as this was my first mortise). But I have to make about 18 of these and cutting them by hand may not be very efficient.
So if you guys have any ideas about a shop made mortising jig I can use with my Porter Cable router it would be great help. The router is a non_plunge/fixed type. I have seen pictures of a horizontal router setup, which seems interesting but haven't found one with detailed plans or multiple pictures.
Any help is appreciated.

Zahid

[Dennis Peacock]

Well Dennis Peacock finally dragged me into woodworking, so if I ask any stupid questions you can blame Dennis for it.
I am working on a Shoji divider screen (3 pannel) these days, and since I will be making plenty of joints between 2"X3/4" strips I have decided to go with mortise and tennon joints. I was able to make a tennoning jig for my bench saw, combining the design of a jig I saw at Dennis's shop and a design I saw on the net. Cutting out tennons after that was no sweat. I cut the first mortise by hand, took me about an hour, enlightining experience (as this was my first mortise). But I have to make about 18 of these and cutting them by hand may not be very efficient.
So if you guys have any ideas about a shop made mortising jig I can use with my Porter Cable router it would be great help. The router is a non_plunge/fixed type. I have seen pictures of a horizontal router setup, which seems interesting but haven't found one with detailed plans or multiple pictures.
Any help is appreciated.

Zahid

Zahid.....

Welcome to SMC..!!! The Old Rebel (Ken) has a jig that can do mortises via router AND can make tenons as well.
<font size +1><b> Hey Old Rebel....Step on in here..!!</b></font>

[Mark Singer]

Using small dowels would probably be the easist a doweling jig or doweling "centers" would help. The dividers are not structural. You can shoot a small brad thru to pin the dividers together on both sides of the paper. Dowels are also probably fine for the frame use 2 per joint

[Zahid Naqvi]

Using small dowels would probably be the easist a doweling jig or doweling "centers" would help. The dividers are not structural. You can shoot a small brad thru to pin the dividers together on both sides of the paper. Dowels are also probably fine for the frame use 2 per joint

Mark, I am afraid I am already half way down the path, all the tennons have been cut. Besides I figure I might be needing a mortising jig for other projects as well so this might be a good time/excuse to get one built.

Zahid

[Ken Salisbury]

Zahid.....

Welcome to SMC..!!! The Old Rebel (Ken) has a jig that can do mortises via router AND can make tenons as well.
Hey Old Rebel....Step on in here..!!

Here ya go:
http://www.oldrebelworkshop.com/tenon%20jig.htm

[Lewis Lamb]

The newest issue of PW has detailed plans for a very interesting looking router jig that will do mortises, tenons, and more. I'd never seen Old Rebel's jig until a minute ago, but the PW one is similar - kind of like a second generation version of Old Rebel's. Anyway, you may want to look at it before you commit to a different version.

[Jim Becker]

One small hint Zahid as you get into more projects that use M&T...it's a good idea to cut the mortises first (regardless of the method) and then size the tenons to match. The other way around can sometimes make for too loose of a fit..."boo boos happen".

In addition to the references already provided, most, if not all, of the router books have mortising jigs of various types for cutting mortises easily. It's also fairly straight forward to quickly assemble one from scraps to fit a particular project. I did that for a table base projects I made a couple of years ago as it called for loose tenons in end-grain and my mortiser was neither convenient or appropriate. Off to the scrap pile and a few fasteners later I had a jig that fit over the material and allowed the use of a guide bushing to keep the router on-track. Several passes with increasing depth did the job quickly and easily. Elapsed time to make the temporary jig...about 10 minutes.

[Chris Padilla]

Elapsed time to make the temporary jig...about 10 minutes.

Well, for those of use who are mere mortals, take Mr. Becker's time and 10x it!

Of course, I'd need to sort through my scrap pile, drag out various fixtues/machines to place them , hook them up, and then stand there for a few minutes blinking like a rabbett caught in headlights until I figured out how to get it working....

[Jim Becker]

Well, for those of use who are mere mortals, take Mr. Becker's time and 10x it!

My appologies...I didn't mean to trivialize this in any way. I took two pieces of 8/4 scrap and some small pieces of 1/4" plywood to make the jig. The two larger piece were to "surround" the stock being mortised and were the same thickness in that respect. Two small pieces of plywood were tacked to hold the runners together with the workpiece sandwiched between...they also act as stops for the ends of the mortise to be cut. Two other scraps that fit between the stops served to set the width of the mortise and position it properly on the workpiece. All of the plywood scraps were positioned to allow for the extra width of the guide bushing just as you would for any inlay process.

A really crappy picture is shown below...quick and dirty, but I think that you can see what I meant.