[Alansmith]

Hi,

Am very much a router beginner. Have a simple fixed-base Porter Cable.
I will be setting a number of door hinges this w/e and bought the Carey 300-2
to make life easier. Am hoping the thing isn't as confusing as their instructions! With the template I was sold a router bit - flat "top", 1/4" radius with a 3/4" bearing plus another (5/8") bearing. I didn't ask a whole lot of questions as I believed that the "handbook" would tell me everything I needed to know but I think they presume a much higher level of router experience than I have.
Has anyone had experience with a Carey 300-2 - and do I have a reason to be nervous? I can usually work things out eventually but I'll be out in the boonies with no-one to ask for help.

Thanks very much!

AMS

 

[Mike]

Alan, I have never heard of the Carey 300-2 hinge template, but, this is template routing plain and simple. You will fasten the template to the door, perhaps with clamps or double sided carpet tape? The cut out section is designed to work with 2 hinge sizes, and here is how you figure out what they are: Starting from the center point of the router a 1/4" bit will make a cut 1/8" on each side of center, a 1/2" bit would make a 1/4" cut on each side of center. With me so far? A 3/4" bearing will ride 3/8" from center, the 5/8" bearing would ride 5/16" from center. Since we know these two dimensions and you have a template of a set size it will be easy to figure out what size hinge fits the mortise cut. Since your bearing will ride 3/8" from center, and only 1/8" of that will be cut, we get a difference of 2/8" or 1/4". Remember this 1/4" will happen on both sides of the center point, so the length of the hinge will be the size of your opening minus 1/2". Using the 5/8" bearing will give different results. This time your bearing will ride 5/16" from center and 1/8" of that will be cut. This means you will have 3/16" difference on each side of center, or an opening 3/8" longer than the hinge length. Knowing this will allow you to build your own templates for other hinges, or figure out the distance a rabbet will be cut into the edge of a board.
Routing the mortise is straight forward. You set the bit depth to match the thickness of the hinge plate, and follow the opening in the jig in a counter clockwise direction. Once you have made the outside cut you slide back and forth to remove the rest of the wood. If you have round cornered hinges you are done. If you have square cornered hinges you will need to take a chisel and remove the wood in the corners. There is also an inexpensive tool called a corner chisel which will mark a perfect corner with one tap. All this sounds a lot worse than it is, you should have no problems. Just by way of reference Porter Cable also makes a hinge template.

 

[alain simard]

my son and i used this tool last year jully 2008 and it is a very good tool cheap to buy comparing to pro tools like delta bosch milwaikee and others all you have to do is add support under the templates where needed we have paid about $72.00 cdn at Lee Valley simple and precise tool