# Mortising Jig for Bed Hardware



## Phil277 (Jan 15, 2012)

The design of this came about when we decided to update our mattress for out bed. We've had a water bed for a long time and decided to buy a standard mattress. We didn't want to change the headboard and foot board that I made a few years ago as it matches out bedroom furniture nicely. The waterboard had box frame that couldn't be used with the new mattress I had to make standard bed rails. I bought steel bed rail fasteners to attach the rails to the headboard and footboard. 
Now the fun begins. How do I mortise the ends of the rails and the legs of the head and foot boards to accept the hardware?








I decided the best way was to make a router jig to control the movement of the router. I could have bought bushings but like a lot of woodworkers I know I don't like to buy things I may only use once. I decided to make a base with stops that will limit the movement of the router.








The block on the bottom is located to center the jig on the thickness of the material and provide a way to clamp the jig to the material.
I did the drawing in Sketchup which I am still learning because it helps me think through a project before cutting any wood. My next step is to build the jig.


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

You don't need to go very deep and if you use a router, you will still have to square up the corners.

If I had to do this (and I will have to do it shortly), I would just use a sharp chisel and a mallet.

I suggest you practice a little with some scrap wood before you decide to build a jig.


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## Phil277 (Jan 15, 2012)

I hope someone can point me in the right direction. I though I was starting a blog when I posted this. What should I have done. I'm sure I clicked on the start a blog button.

Phil


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