Mortise lock jig

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by Jackson88, Nov 4, 2018.

  1. Dan Parkinson

    Dan Parkinson Active Member

    I tried the souber with my cordless. Not up to the job in my opinion. Just buy a cheap cordless for about £40. You're basically using router cutters when using the souber so the more rpms the better.

    I use jigtech in 90% of doors I fit. Forget the round keep and chop in the square ones.
     
  2. SoManyUserNames

    SoManyUserNames Active Member

    Guess these must have moved on a bit in design. last time I saw one by the time the guy using had centred it and set it up, I had the lock and furniture fitted.
    That was 40 years ago and I was hanging 16 doors a day, mortice gauge to mark them out, auger bit and chisels to chop them out, trim tool freehanded to recess in the faceplate and hinges.
    Now I hate hanging doors, guaranteed to chop the hinges out from the wrong face or upside down.
     
  3. jimoz

    jimoz Screwfix Select

    16 in a day fair play. I reckon I could swing 8 or 9 maybe 10 at a push. Without handles and latch though.
    I mainly fancy one for the accuracy and neat cut. How many times has your auger for the latch gone slightly wide or off piste. Drilling some oak doors it's proper squeaky bum time
     
  4. SoManyUserNames

    SoManyUserNames Active Member

    Never really had squeaky bum time but always worked on the principle of it can be replaced if you go wrong, use to make my own doors so if I mess one up just make another one. Without fear of a mess up, the mess up doesn't often happen, certainly helps when fitting handrail and one piece could be two days work to remake.
     
    Jord86 likes this.
  5. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    I looked up your stairs website the other day and had a proper sit down couple of beers read of it as before I'd just scanned it briefly, I know it's still a work in progress but I was impressed from several perspectives, first that you have gone to a lot of trouble to document and make accessible the grey areas of staircase and handrail building that the textbook answers don't cover i.e. Diminishing handrail sections, spiral layout and geometry, cut string moulding details, second that you have done it for no immediate financial recompense, thirdly the level of detail in your sketch ups and drawings, and fourthly you appear to have paid your dues to the craft a few times over, yet when lots have bought a pipe and slippers and start tending to the begonias you're still grafting away. Good man.
     
  6. SoManyUserNames

    SoManyUserNames Active Member

    Thank you, very much appreciated, I love the work and want to share this with others, there is so little information out there for such a widely used product. Think I will be working on this till the day they plant me, good thing is, one of my sons is learning the trade and can make this stuff too. I do still do the occasional job as this gives me inspiration for write ups. Hope I am off some use here, thank you for your guidance at the start.
     
    Mr Rusty and Jord86 like this.
  7. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    Guidance, surely you mean abuse? ;) I agree, without buying specialist staircase books from the 1900's which would confuse lots as it'd be in imperial anyway there's precious little info out there that's broken down in simple terms from the start. It's good your son is carrying on with it, will keep you going and keep you young. I take it you've looked up Gary Katz's website ThisisCarpentry? Some very good articles on there throughout, but specifically by Jed Dixon.
     
  8. SoManyUserNames

    SoManyUserNames Active Member

    Yes, I have spotted that one, I want to do some of the workshop side, just finding the time at present and trying to cover the stuff that is not already shown.
    I am simple so that is why I am trying to keep it simple! well at least easy to understand, hopefully. I think the 3D models help; as you can look at each item from any angle, unlike photo's.
    The amount I am learning about stairs still surprises me but keeps me interested, Just a hobby for my retirement, far better than Begonias and may even last longer.
     
    Jord86 likes this.
  9. jimoz

    jimoz Screwfix Select

    Well I used one today on this job. Glad I got a try before you buy another lad on the job had one. I know what you all mean about RPM now. Don't get me wrong my cordless did the job but I can see how an extra 1000 rpm would help. I found it didn't like plunging into the material like a drill. To the extent that on the bathroom lock bodies I put the auger in top and bottom and just noticed between. Took me all day to do 14 doors, chopping in latches, keeps and cutting and fitting door stops. They were already swinging which wouldn't of been my preference but it wasn't my plot so just rolled with it. So 30 mins per door give or take, doesn't sound great but felt like I was grafting seemed to be all over the shop.

    As to a toss up between this and the trend jig I'm still no closer to knowing which is best. I dare say it's the trend but at a cost and also a bit more complexity.
     
  10. TheAllRounder

    TheAllRounder New Member

    Just read through this thread as I’ve been contemplating a jig system. Trend has always been my first port of call but with a jig for every aspect of hanging doors, I’d be spending hundreds. I do a lot of oak veneer doors using chisels & groove auger bits. I find a lot when chiselling the hinges that the wood can almost split deeper than what I’m chiselling. And when chiselling for the latch faceplate, the veneer can split. Sometimes I even think it’s the drill bits I use.
    Would changing to normal auger bits/forstner bits be better? Or just going down the jig route?
     
  11. Mr Rusty

    Mr Rusty Screwfix Select

    For locks I use a souber. If I'm doing a few doors, for hinges I knock up a simple jig using a piece of MDF/ply and a batten to suit the hinges I'm cutting and use a little router to cut the hinge pockets. It takes 10 minutes at most to make the jig.
     
  12. TheAllRounder

    TheAllRounder New Member

    Have you used the jig tech for latches? Looks very quick and simple? If I were to use that but then use a normal latch with a faceplate, I’d just need to chisel that out I guess?
     
  13. Jord86

    Jord86 Screwfix Select


    Forget the jigs, use a small trimming router freehand for the hinges and faceplate, and yes it is the drill bits you use, as I discovered a few years ago. Get yourself a 25 and an 18mm Fisch Forstner bits from Axminster power tools and you will be enlightened. They are about thirty five quid each so not cheap but they absolutely piddle through oak and chipboard with a top finish, no more clenching of bum cheeks drilling panelled or glazed doors as the tip doesn't protrude past the head of the bit so you can also drill overlapping holes. They can also be resharpened so they are actually a good investment once you get over the shock of the initial cost.
     
  14. GrahamTaylor

    GrahamTaylor Active Member

    I've used the DBB mortiser for several years but found that the bits cut a lot better if I drill a 10 - 12mm hole in the centre of the rebate first so the mortise cutter is always cutting into a void. This is especially true in softwoods which tend to clog the cutter otherwise. If I'm doing a lock mortice rather than a tubular latch I do several holes first. They don't need to be precise and there's no risk of going through the door face.
     
    WillyEckerslike likes this.

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