Synopsis: This article discusses a half-dozen templates for cutting hinge mortises with a router, a time-saving device. (Note: there’s no guarantee that every model the author mentions is currently available.)

The sweet smell of ponderosa pine filled the room as Howard, my boss and teacher, deftly routed the mortises for door hinges. He was using an old router and an ancient-looking device tacked to the door jamb, a contraption of metal rods and plates with lots of thumbscrews. I was watching, for the first time, a hinge butt template in use.

As we moved from doorway to doorway through the custom home we were building and I carried a door to each opening, Howard set the template nails, quickly routed the jamb and door, and offered advice to me every so often in his own quiet way. Soon the mortises were cut for doors throughout the house, and Howard left as I began screwing in hinge leaves. I remember being surprised at the speed with which he worked, particularly since it had taken me what seemed like days to set all the jambs.

That happened years ago. Now, as a building contractor, I have to hang all sorts of doors, and usually within strict time constraints. Once I hung 8-ft.-tall oak church doors in the morning and spent that afternoon hanging a number of interior residential doors. On a day like that, a hinge butt template can make the difference between getting home in time for supper or snarling at the dog when you finally arrive home around midnight.

A good template will give you a dependable and versatile way to do the trickiest part of hanging a door: cutting the mortises. Templates will work for most interior and exterior doors, and I’ve found mine to be an invaluable aid for saving time and ensuring accuracy. Just as important, it gives me the confidence to tackle a demanding job without balking. In fact, I don’t hesitate to use the template even if I have only one door to hang.

Basic template anatomy

A hinge butt template (some manufacturers use the term “butt hinge template”) is a tool for spacing, sizing, and guiding the cutting of hinge mortises in doors and door jambs. Since the templates are basically router accessories, it’s no surprise that the major manufacturers of hinge butt templates also make routers. These companies each make one version of the tool except for Bosch, which offers two.

All the templates I’ve seen are similar. They consist of three metal template bodies arranged along adjustable extension rails. A separate one or two-piece collar (usually called a template guide or guide bushing) attaches to the base of the router and guides the router bit within a space in the template body.

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