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Hi,

I can not resist anymore the Hitachi router

What router bit would I use to recess a door for lift off hinges Any pointers at FFX please (as there are more things I need to order) mortice recess cutters

The hinges are like so lft off hinges.

Do I have to get a cutter than matches the width of the arm of the hinge or can I use a narrower cutter and go up and down twice (or more times)?

TIA

If you have a few to do it is worth making up a jig out of scraps. The router probably comes with a guide bush so with careful measurement you can make the jig track to give a perfect cut every time. You can also make a nice wide platform for the router base to sit on square and some 'legs' to pinch clamp it in place on the door. Alternatively you can screw it on the edge temporarily. With this particular hinge I feel it would be best to match the cutter width to the hinge arm.

DWD

That size hinge is one off and I cannot recess the frame at all. (I might have to recess the door to accept part of the frame hinge). Only to find the hinges now ... they are somewhere in here ... :-(

I intended to widen the door by clamping a couple of pieces of wood either side of the hinge area and try free hand (well try on other wood than the door first).

If you can, can you give me a couple of pointers (websites) of what a home made jig looks like?

Later (if I am brave enough) 5 more doors & frames, i.e. 10 pairs of hinges using one size smaller hinge.

OchAye wrote:and try free hand (well try on other wood than the door first).

If you can, can you give me a couple of pointers (websites) of what a home made jig looks like?

Freehand is not going to work well - you might be lucky but I doubt it, if you at least put a fence on the router and it will give you a better chance.

A jig: assuming a 30mm guide bush and a 12mm cutter your jig will be a piece of say 12mm thick mdf (for light usage) with a hole in the middle which is exactly 9mm larger all round than the cut-out required.

I free hand all of my hinges by using chisels to cut the outline pretty deep and then using a 10 mm router bit to cut the thickness + .2mm of a hinge ... (use the depth stop and make sure the hinge slides in and out easy) ... take your time... sometimes I clamps a piece of timber to the edge of the door to give a bigger base support.

slpower01 wrote:I free hand all of my hinges by using chisels to cut the outline .

I've done it too, chop the top and bottom of the hinge and use the fence to set the width, (I've also got home made templates), BUT,

1) have you seen the hinges the OP is using? - they're not a standard butt hinge
2) From what the OP said I took it that they've not used a router before - freehand cutting of those hinges is only to going to end badly.

ayjay wrote:1) have you seen the hinges the OP is using? - they're not a standard butt hinge
2) From what the OP said I took it that they've not used a router before - freehand cutting of those hinges is only to going to end badly.

Ha ha ... Correct I have never used a router before. All I can tell is it is a much bigger beast than it looks on photos. I have used chisels with varying success. When I said free hand I was thinking of using a guide BUT I did not know if one would come with the toy. Yes it has a guide. If I was using the standard butt hinges I would do it all by hand (chisel job). The thing is for that door I need parliament style hinges to clear the frame as it has been tiled right to the edge where the door fits.

Other parts of the house (bedroom in particular), living room etc. would have been better with lift off hinges. Looking at the frames I got I need the knuckle to be a bit passed the edge of the door opening otherwise the door won't lift by catching the architrave above it.

I must find a book my neighbour lend me and see if I can figure out what bushes are for (and jigs)

PS. A 25mm trend gadget bit (same size as the arm of the hinge) has been ordered. At least I can destroy the door in one pass. (I think a new door would not be much different in price than the cutter).

OchAye wrote:

ayjay wrote:1) have you seen the hinges the OP is using? - they're not a standard butt hinge
2) From what the OP said I took it that they've not used a router before - freehand cutting of those hinges is only to going to end badly.

Ha ha ... Correct I have never used a router before. All I can tell is it is a much bigger beast than it looks on photos. I have used chisels with varying success. When I said free hand I was thinking of using a guide BUT I did not know if one would come with the toy. Yes it has a guide. If I was using the standard butt hinges I would do it all by hand (chisel job). The thing is for that door I need parliament style hinges to clear the frame as it has been tiled right to the edge where the door fits.

Other parts of the house (bedroom in particular), living room etc. would have been better with lift off hinges. Looking at the frames I got I need the knuckle to be a bit passed the edge of the door opening otherwise the door won't lift by catching the architrave above it.

I must find a book my neighbour lend me and see if I can figure out what bushes are for (and jigs)

PS. A 25mm trend gadget bit (same size as the arm of the hinge) has been ordered. At least I can destroy the door in one pass. (I think a new door would not be much different in price than the cutter).

Practice on a bit of scrap timber first, and work out which way to run the router, if you go the wrong way it will want to veer off.

Using this pic below - the "edge guide" is the router fence, arrow at centre is the direction of travel of the router

Ha ... I got the first tip ... which way will the router want to run off

on that diagram on a freehand cut without baton or fence the router will pull at between between 2-15 and 2-30 pm on a deep cut [6mm]
on a 2mm cut it will be nearer 2-40 to 2-50