Hinge mortising jigs can improve a
carpenter's door-hanging speed almost
as much as switching from a chisel to
a router.
But not all hinge-mortising jigs are
right for all situations. Once set up,
they will all cut the time it takes to rout
an accurate mortise. But differences in
the amount of set-up time needed make
some jigs more effective for doing one
door at a time and others better for
doing a run of 500 doors. I tested three
types of hinge-mortising jigs: a singlehinge
template, full-door templates,
and a production-style template.
One Hinge at a Time
The Hinge Mate-1100 is a one-piece,
single-hinge template that adjusts for 2-
to 5-inch hinges (D.C. Precision Tools,
Inc., 11 Mathews