In my last post, I described how to layout the open-faced mortises for the top rails by drawing them directly onto the leg blanks. This will provide me with guidelines when I set up my router table to make the cuts. The stretcher and drawer divider mortises, however, are blind, so I will need to use a hand-held router. I built a simple jig to ensure that every blind mortise is cut in exactly the same spot and to the exact same size on each leg blank.
The jig is made from a piece of scrap 3/8″ baltic birch ply. It has three fences that make it easy to secure a leg blank in the correct position quickly. The mortise holes are cut oversize to accommodate my 5/8″ diameter router bushing. The bushing fits snugly in the guide holes, which makes it easy to cut repeatable mortises. The jig itself is 6″ wide which provides solid support for the router base. This jig is simple to construct, but care must be taken to ensure that the mortise holes are cut in the correct position.
The main body of the jig fits into dados that I cut in the fence material (scrap 3/4″ ply). The two perpendicular fences are glued and brad nailed to the jig’s body. Notice how the fences extend an equal distance above and below. This is because the jig is reversible; I need to be able to cut mortises from either side of the jig, depending on the orientation of the leg blank that I am working on.
The third fence is removable. It is used to initially position the leg blank. Once the blank is secured to the jig with a clamp, this fence piece must be removed to avoid interfering with the router.
With this jig, a plunge router, a 5/8″ bushing, and a 1/2″ straight bit, I’ll be able to quickly and accurately cut all of the blind mortises in the leg blanks.
To view the entire Nightstand Project series, please visit my project page.
Hmm, interesting . . .