The last time I made legs like these with mortises for the rails, I made up a custom jig for my router to cut the mortises. I used a 3/8 spiral bit and a template guide in the router. The jig worked well but was time-consuming to make and to use. Each mortise had to be cut in three steps - each cut deeper than the last. In between cuts I had to manually vacuum out the mortise as the dust collection attachment did not work with the template guide in my router. When switching legs I had to clamp and unclamp the template to each leg.
This time I decided to try using the router table and two stops to cut the mortises. By using the router table I could save the time of creating the jig, clamping the jig and cleaning out the mortises by hand.
I installed a 3/8" spiral bit in the router, then set the distance from the fence with a test piece to get the mortise centered in the 1 3/4" leg. I then clamped two stops on the fence to set the start and end of the mortise. After checking on a test piece I was ready to go.
First, I carefully marked all the legs to make sure I cut the mortises in the right place. With the router turned on I lowered each leg onto the bit, keeping the leg pressed tight against the fence, then moved the leg back and forth between the stops.
After cutting all four legs at the first depth I moved the router up to cut deeper and repeated the operation three more times until I had all legs cut to the full 1 1/4" depth.
This time I decided to try using the router table and two stops to cut the mortises. By using the router table I could save the time of creating the jig, clamping the jig and cleaning out the mortises by hand.
I installed a 3/8" spiral bit in the router, then set the distance from the fence with a test piece to get the mortise centered in the 1 3/4" leg. I then clamped two stops on the fence to set the start and end of the mortise. After checking on a test piece I was ready to go.
First, I carefully marked all the legs to make sure I cut the mortises in the right place. With the router turned on I lowered each leg onto the bit, keeping the leg pressed tight against the fence, then moved the leg back and forth between the stops.
After cutting all four legs at the first depth I moved the router up to cut deeper and repeated the operation three more times until I had all legs cut to the full 1 1/4" depth.
This 3/8" Up Spiral Router Bit
has cut a lot of wood and needs to be replaced or sharpened.
The first mortises I cut were for the bottom rails, 1 1/4" in length.
Each leg got three mortises cut. I was all four legs after about 45 minutes. It was much easier to cut the mortises on the router table than to make a custom jig.
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