"George E. Cawthon" writes:
Right you are, and I did. I've never seen a mortise lock in a newer
home. But, it sounded like the OP simply meant a standard lock with a
plate around the plunger mortised into edge of the door. On rereading
it, he probably did mean a true mortise lock. He ought to have
someone else do it for him if he isn't skilled with hand tools and be
prepared to pay a lot.

Yes I did mean a true mortise lock and our home is by no means new (at
least by U.S. standards) since parts of it were built back in the
1700's and the rest in 1870.

Even so, true mortise locks, like the Baldwin Estate series, are used
commonly today in many high end homes.

Personally, I love the solid feel of the hardware and the ability to
have both a standard plunger and a dead bolt in the same mechanism.

Still debating though whether to do it myself or pay the several
hundred dollars the local locksmith wants for the installation (plus
his marckup on the lock itself).



DanG wrote:
You, sir, need to find out what a mortise lock is.
Here is a definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortise_lock
Here is an example:
http://www.sargentlock.com/products/...duct_group.php
______________________________
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in
message
...
blueman wrote:
Robert Allison writes:
blueman wrote:
I need to mortise out a door to accept a Baldwin mortise lock.
I know that the tolerances are really tight (with errors being
pretty
disasterous) and that locksmiths typically use a router with a
fancy
mortising jig.
However, I have not been able to find the jig in the local tool
rental
shops, so I was wondering whether there are any reliable
alternative
approaches or sources for a good jig?
Thanks
What is really tight is the mortise for the plate that the plunger
passes thru (the one that you see when you have installed the
mortise
lock). For the interior, it is not that critical. You can do it
with
a drill and a good chisel.

First lay out the two areas to be mortised. There will be one
for the
plate and one for the lock (a rectangle within a
rectangle). Select
the proper size drill bit and drill a series of holes within the
layout marks for the lock. Use the chisel to clean out the rest.
Then, use the chisel to mortise for the plate.

You should drill the handle holes after doing this, and from both
sides, rather than straight through the whole door.

My concern is that I need to keep the drilling & chiselling
"plumb" or
otherwise I will "poke" through the door. My understanding is that
there is not much wood left standing between the mortise hole and
the
door faces.

I guess I could always just be careful, but this is not a mistake
you
want to make (and maybe I should just dig into my pockets and get a
locksmith to come out to my house...)
I'm not sure what the Baldwin lock is, but normally any lock has a
big hole in the side of the door (key part) and a small hole in the
edge (plunger part). Some also require the edge around the small
hole to be chiseled for a plate.

If it is a normal lock then both Lowe's and HD carry a jig plus
hole drills for locating and drilling the holes accurately (about
$12 for a wood door and a bit more for a steel door). Chiseling for
the flat plate (plunger end) is usually done freehand.

The jig is nailed or screwed to the edge of the door and the
nail/screw holes are filled after use.