Page 58 - Router Boss Manual

Cut the Mortises
Using the mortising table setup found on pages
44-45, mount a stile in the mortising table. Mount a
1/4” diameter bit in the router and position the bit so
it aligns with the groove you cut earlier with the stick-
ing bit. With the bit aligned, tighten the router plate
locking knob. To allow room for glue and ensure the
tenon doesn’t bottom out, set the bit depth for 1/16”
inch deeper than the length of the tenon. In our case, the
tenon was 1” long so we use gauge bars that are equal
to 1 1/16”.

Mark a location 1/4” from the end of the stile to
represent the end of the mortise. The other end is where
the mitered sticking intersects the flat part of the stile.
Turn the router on, make full plunge cuts at each end,
then cut the rest of the mortise in a series of incremental
cuts with the plunge assist bar and the hand crank to
feed the stock back and forth past the bit in progres-
sively deeper cuts. Once the mortises are routed in both
ends of each stile, use a chisel to square up the ends.

Dry-fit the frame together and trim the tenons if
necessary. When fitting the panel (see the next page for
more on panels) to fit the frame, cut the panel slightly
undersized to allow for expansion, especially if your
panel is solid wood instead of plywood. When you as-
semble the door, glue the two rails to one of the stiles,
slide the panel in place — but don’t glue it — then
apply glue to the remaining mortises and tenons and
clamp the door together.

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