mfs for routing door hinge mortises?

[fsrxcsteve]

How well does it work? 

 

[Matthew Schenker]

fsrxcsteve,
Welcome to the forum!  You are starting out strong, with a poll and all!

I don't have the MFS, and I route hinges fairly often.  The MFS might work for this operation, but I've had good experiences using a trim router (Ridgid).  I just set up my cuts with blocks, set the depth, and do it.

Let's see what other people say who own the MFS.

Stay in touch,
Matthew

 

[fsrxcsteve]

Yeah I use that method quite a bit.  Works well, you are right.  My question applies more to replacing interior doors that have a 3 1/2" 5/8"r hinge.  I use a diy set up now and am just looking for something that is of higher quality and adjustable.  I use a "story" stick to lay it out, so I am looking for a set up that does 1 hinge at a time.  The MFS is tempting to try out, but its a lot of money for something I may not use all the time.  What else does the mfs give me, keeping in mind that I am pretty nicely festool equipped already?

Thanks for the welcome,  I am surprised I didn't do this a long time ago!  Great resource!

 

[Brice Burrell]

Try this link for more info on the MFS. It's a link to the Festool USA site.

I don't have the MFS, yet. I don't think it would be a good investment for just routing hinges. You may be better served with a commercially made jig for hinges. If you happen to do a lot of doors, try a jig that will space three or more hinges, not just a one at a time type. I have the Bosch 83038. Here is a jig for one hinge, it's a little less money. Good luck.

 

[Warrior]

The Templaco templates work well.

I have been thinking about getting an MFS set-up for doors and jambs routing three or four hinges at a time using an MFS 2000 or two with the shorter profiles. I just haven't figured out a good method to attach the set up to the jambs especialy with casing installed.

Anyone hve any thoughts on this?

I would love the infinite adjustabilty and versatility.

Or just get the Virutex hinge router. No templates necessary.

Eiji Fuller

 

[fsrxcsteve]

Thanks Everyone for your input so far.  I really don't do that many interior doors.  Most of my work is built-in cabinetry and furniture.  But these handy man jobs come up from time to time and I would love a versatile jig that could do the mortising and much more.  That is why I asked about the MFS.  I'm just not sure on how simple it really would be to set up and how well i can mount it on the door.  The Hinge-mate II was something else I was looking at.  I have also looked at that Bosch set up and i just can't justify the $$ for the amount i would use it.

Maybe I'm just looking for validation to buy an MFS system!  and see what happens.

 

[Dan Lyke]

So, for position and holding to the door remember that the Festool clamps slide in the grooves on the MFS from the back side. So you can clamp to the edge of the door with no protrusions from the top. If you set up the stops on the back of the MFS, this should let you knock out cutouts only having to worry about position along the edge, not depth in from the edge.

 

[Eli]

I have the 400 and two 1000 rails, I have not used it for this application. I had Templaco's they worked well, and some plastic cheapies that did the job if you were careful before this, but this has added function. It sounds like you might do a couple of door hinge mortises, but if you could figure out one or two other jobs for it, it looks a lot cheaper than the hinge only templates.