Page 45 - Router Boss Manual

Making a Paneled Door
To show the versatility of the mortising table, we’ll
construct a rail and stile paneled door with mortise and
tenon joints where the rails and stiles meet, similar to
the one on page 39. The mortises will be cut in the ver-
tical stiles and the tenons cut on the ends of the rails.
Because this is a paneled door, both the rails and stiles
will also have a 1/4” X 1/4” groove along the inside
edges to accept the panel. All stock is 3/4” X 1 1/2”
wide.

Laying Out the Mortises
Start by laying out the mortises on the stiles. First
mark the location of the edge of the rail, 1 1/2” from
the end. Then mark the location of the mortise, 1/4” in
from this mark and from the end of the stile. You can
save time by laying out both stiles at once. Also, mark
an “X” index mark on one face of each rail and stile.
Always place this “X” mark toward the vertical spine
of the mortising table to keep pieces properly oriented.

Cutting the Grooves and Mortises
With mortises laid out on each end of both stiles,
you can cut the 1/4” grooves that receive the panel in
the edges of the rails and stiles. Mount one stile on the
mortising table with the marked edge facing up. Turn
the hand feed crank handle so the mortising table is
extended to the left side. Position the table clamping
blocks in the appropriate T-slot so the pad of the clamp
can be snugged against the stile, then tighten down the
knobs. Use a screwdriver to tighten the pads against the
workpiece so it won’t slip during the machining steps.

With the stile clamped to the table, turn the crank
so the stile is positioned under the base plate, loosen the
spine knobs and push the table up so that the top edge
of the stile is butted squarely against the bottom face
of the base plate. Tighten the knobs, then use an Allen
wrench to tighten the flange-head screws.

With a 1/4” diameter bit still installed in the router,
turn the crank handle to position the mortise under the
bit, align the edge of the bit with the edge of the layout
line that represents one end of the mortise. Set the depth
stop on the router for slightly deeper than the length of
the tenon, in our case 3/4”.

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