Customer Reviews for Milescraft HingeMate300 - Complete Jig for Mortising Door & Jamb Hinges and Latch & Strike Plates. Router Bit Included

Opened package, plastic edge guide fell off. Steel Allen screw and plastic don't work together. Renders product useless. Returning.

There are two problems with this kit. First, all of the templates are larger than the final size of the cut out. This makes for needless difficulty when trying to duplicate or modify an existing installment. Secondly, the bit provided has an offset too small for the templates. As a result, the cutout ends up being too large allowing the hinge to move inside (at least 1/16" inch up and down) which decreases the strength of the hinge and invites problems with doors getting out of adjustment or sagging. This probably isn't an issue with a narrow 1 3/8" hollow door but is a major problem with a wide 1 3/4" thick solid door which weighs SUBSTANTIALLY more (hence my altering existing 3.5" hinges to 4" hinges which required me to enlarge the existing hinge mortise.)

This set consists of steel template frame which needs to be screwed onto the doors with two screws which are a part of this set. The frame has two knobs which allow the jig to be used with 1-3/4 and 1-3/8 thickness doors. There are 8 plates for different size and types of hinges as well as latches. Plates are made of a plastic which appears to be of a good quality. After selecting the plate matching your hinges and/or your latch you push it into the frame. This creates a template. In this set you will also find a router bit with 1/4" shank. Bit has a ball bearing which rides on the template. All you have to do is to set the depth of cut with a router and route the groove in the doors. Template can be removed now and hinge or a latch placed in the groove. This set also contains a #8 (9/64") drill bit which allows you to pre-drill holes for the screws which will hold the hinges or a latch on the doors. There is one more useful tool in this set - corner chisel. If you are using square hinges you need to use it to cut the round corners made by the router bit. Very useful addition! All parts are made of adequate materials (mostly metal except for plates) and seems to be able to last for many projects. The manuals are written in easy to follow matter in English, French and Spanish. There are also numerous drawings which illustrate what to do step by step. This set makes hanging doors quite an easy task even for someone who never have done it before.

The hingemate 300 kit is well made and works as described.

Overall, I was very pleased with this jig kit. It has multiple templates for the related tasks. If you are attempting to use it on a trimmed door jam, you will need to remove the cams. The instructions for removal could have been more detailed, indicating what size Allen wrench is required. That seems easy enough to figure out, but the set is pretty deep and small, and I could not tell what type or size of tool was needed. I do recommend this jig set.

A quality product that met all my expectations

Very nice and ez fit multipul doors and jambs simple

I have for years avoided anything to do with doors that were not pre-hung. And then recently we picked up a used door that did not come with a door jamb. At this point i was forced to go outside my comfort zone. Before i bought the HingeMate 300, i watched their demonstration video. It looked easy so I bought it to give it a try. I found using it easier than it looked on the video. I was able to router perfectly three hinges and a strike plate in no time at all. This kit is quite a find.

Worked fantastically. Easy to use a correct results on the first use fitting a door latch.

These templates work exactly as stated. Precise measurement will put them perfectly in place for a correct symmetrical cut. The provided bit is dimensioned to cut right on the marks.

Very easy to use and very versatile for various size hinges and strike plates. Much less expensive than replacing with pre-hung doors and frames and less mess. As long as you measure your location accurately, it works very well; that is the operator, not the jig.

This works great and is a big time saver.

replacing doors in our house from flat panel to 6 panel. Needed an easy way to mortise a lot doors. This template system made it super easy.

As part of our bathroom remodel we purchased this fan to help eliminate excess air moisture. Within a few seconds of turning on the fan the mirrors become clear and dry. It was relatively simple to install. The fan noise is very quiet, and its slim streamline appearance is barely noticeable on our ceiling. So far....this is a great product!

So I bought this tool finally getting tired of mortising these manually. Arrived and it looked like it would work so I was ready to go. Prior to that I had this difficult sized door that required me to drive 250miles round trip to purchase and I really didn’t want to get this wrong. So I almost started to mortise the door when a voice in my head said try it on some scrap wood first. So, I did on a 2x4 simply to calibrate the depth if nothing else. As I gazed at my perfectly cut hinge mortise I noticed that is was crooked, or turned by say 15 degrees. I thought I screwed up so I tried it again on the other side and crooked again. Huh? So, I stared at the tool and finally noticed that the stamped metal square hole that the black plastic templates fit into was stamped out crooked relative to the bracket and the door edge guides (red plastic knobs). I have to say, that would have absolutely destroyed my day if I started cutting on that door and ruined it. I am not buying anymore Chinese made scrap. I haven’t even contacted home depot about this yet but I post this to say watch out. Make trial runs on scrap wood first.

The tool was easy to use and I got great results from the first. The reason I did not rate excellent was it was hard to determine the placement.

Hard to get accurate measurements for mounting templates.

The hingemate 300 works great but you must make sure the outer metal bracket is mounted flat with the door frame and the red adjustment tabs are secure against the face of the door but do not distort the springs by pushing it in too tight against the door face. Experiment on a piece of scrape board to get the depth of the router correct, so the hinge fits flush in the door frame. Used it on 6 doors, 3 hinges per door with no problems.

This product was easy to use and provided all the needed templates for my needs

if something happens to the plastic template, you can't get a replacement without purchasing a whole new kit.

Easy to use, hinges fit perfectly.

Easy to use and many combinations

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

It worked very well. Did the job perfect. I wouldn’t say it lines up perfectly but it’s just as easy to line it up by eye.

Tried it out and used different thickness of woods . Worked excellent.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser