Cutting in door hinges with a manual milling machine - how to make a template for cutting hinges into a frame and a door

How to make the simplest template for cutting door hinges with a milling machine with your own hands.

Cutting door hinges with a chisel and a hammer is still used today, but it takes a lot of time.

When doing this job by hand, the precision of the job, the sharp edge lines and the depth of the groove sometimes leave a lot to be desired.
 
And if the chisel on the wood goes well and as expected, then when working with MDF, for example, it is much better to use a milling machine.

For quick insertion of hinges, I decided to make a so-called template, with which you can quickly and accurately make a groove for the hinge both in the door leaf and in the box.
For my own purposes, for work, I use a universal manual milling machine with a copying sleeve installed on it.

To make the template, I used plywood and wooden blocks.

The first thing I did was calculate the internal dimensions of the template window for a specific milling machine - taking into account the diameter of the cutter used, the external diameter of the copying sleeve and the size of the loop.

Calculation of the template

To do this, I determined that it is more convenient for me to milling the grooves for the hinges with a not very narrow cutter, I took a cutter with a diameter of 10 mm as a standard, since a wide cutter still needs to make fewer passes, and unselected corners are much easier for me, after, choose a chisel.

Then, having installed a copy sleeve on the milling machine, I measure the distance from the cutter to the working edge of the copy sleeve, in my case the distance was 5 mm.
Now, it became clear that when calculating the dimensions of the inner window of the template, I need to add 5 mm to each side, and with a loop size of 100 * 30 mm, I must make a window of 110 by 40 mm.

I must say right away that the size of the copying sleeve may differ on different models of milling cutters, so blindly following my guide is wrong, check your dimensions and make the correct calculations.
Having marked out a 110 by 40 mm rectangle on a sheet of plywood, I cut out the window using an electric jigsaw.
Then, from the underside of the template, along the window with an offset of 5 mm (as if going with a bar to the window), I screw this bar to the plywood. The block will serve as a side stop when installed on a door or frame.

We cut in the door hinges

From the narrow sides of the window, along the bar, I fasten strips of plywood, they are needed for the stable position of the template on the door frame.

As a matter of fact, that's all, a simple template for milling loops is ready.

 Now all that remains is to attach it to the door frame, set the milling depth, and make several passes back and forth.
The groove turns out to be even and clean, it remains only with the help of a chisel, to choose the corners in those places where the cutter did not reach.
Thus, by spending 30 minutes on making a template, you can save time on inserting loops.

Immediately I will make a reservation, I ask you not to bother aesthetics lovers, since the task was only in one thing, to quickly make a working, and not a beautiful template ..

Watch a more detailed video about making a template and inserting loops on the channel CleverBill DIY

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