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

I purchased this tool as a way to efficiently replace all my interior doors without installing new pre-hung doors and replacing trim. The tool is easy to use and has made the job of installing new slab doors a breeze.

Lower than I expected excellent quality with great instructions OK

I would buy it again it work really great easy to use on hinges strike plates an door jams.

I’d have purchased the next kit up with the screw center hole alignment tool included The product needs to come in a heavy duty storage box that can be used in the shop or taken with you .Currently,you open the packaging and you can loose parts

Worked exactly as described

Made the job easy.

Worked like a charm. This is a great tool with everything you need included. Highly recommend

Took about 10 min to figure out how this worked. After that hinge mortiseing is a snap. Highly recommend!!

works well, be aware that you have to screw the plates down to use and that will leave 2 small screw holes in the wood after you remove the tool.

After reading other reviews, I thought this was a great choice for a door mortise template set. While it is true that the template bracket requires screw holes to anchor it to the door and jam, these screws make the template sturdy enough to not worry while routing that the template might shift. I used all types (hinge, strike and latch) of templates and they are perfectly accurate. A very good choice even if you only have one door to do!

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Everything you need to install mortise hinges in any door

Excellent tool for mortising lock recesses

This kit was great. I had fifteen doors with no latch or strike plates. Mounted the template with screws provided. Used the included router bit on the installed prejudge doors and everything looks great. Well worth it.

Sets up quickly, works better then expected for the price.

This product is another Example of how it is a complete waste of time to shop at Home Depot. The online product description read as follows: Route matching mortises for hinges, strike plates and latch plates into your door frame and jamb with the Milescraft Complete Door Mortising Kit for Routers. It enables you to accurately hang a new or replacement door with minimal extra work. This kit includes an easy drop-in template design and everything you need for most hinges, strike plates and latch plates for 1-3/4 in. and 1-3/8 in. thick doors. When I tried to use the kit, I found it was anything but complete. The kit only allowed the mortising of the door, not the jamb. This does not meet the claims of the description. So I was stuck carving out the recesses with a knife. I bought the kit because I am using composite frames, which do not chisel out like wood. We have come to expect the crappy, foreign sourced products that Home Depot fills it's stores with. But you should vet the products better to ensure that they at least come close to doing what you claim they do. As a further note, I had already written this review once, it disappeared when I tried to add a picture. Ironically, a bad review about a product could not be submitted due to the failings of the associated web page.

Worked perfectly for what I needed it for

The item worked as designed, but the centerline mark should be put on the template holder for easier lineup on door edge instead of template.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

I have only used this a handful of times, but so far it exceeds my expectations. I used to chisel out mortise for strike plates and hinges. Now I just set up the template and route it out. It gets the job done much faster and I don't have to work as hard.

I recased an exterior door and routered out the hinges and strike plate and everything fit perfect. Only suggestion I have is that it would come with some kind of case. Other than that its a great product.

The templates didn't seat well in the jig frame. They would rock from front to back when applying a trim router causing an uneven cut.

Worked quite well and did the job. My only complaint is that you need to attach the tool to the door edge with two screws. Some type of clamping mechanism would be better. First, it is difficult to install the screw without the tool moving. Even an eighth of an inch will throw off the alignment making it difficult to match the existing hinge on the frame. I was installing new doors on the existing frame. If you're replacing doors, I would recommend practicing on the old door first. Attach the tool to the door and with a pencil, mark the tool edges on the door (left and right). Make the cut, then measure from the mortise edge to the marks. This will help you to position the tool where it needs to go for the mortise to be in the right spot.

Worked as advertised on a trial 2x4. This is great in new construction but I discovered a limitation for my application not apparent in the description that casual DIY's and homeowners like myself should consider. The frame of the device seats on the edge of the jamb, which is a great reference point if the door frame molding hasn't yet been installed or you don't want to take it out. That was my issue - I have one door I want to reverse from opening out to opening in and a finished door frame minus doors and stop that I want to hang French doors on. Problem is the device sticks down and interferes with molding around both of these, so I fabricated a simple wooden frame to hold the templates and replace it. It has locating stops that pick up on the jamb edge (and molding for stability) and duplicates the hinge mortise in use. Happy with the results but I wish the description was more clear on restrictions.

I definitely found this product to be extremely helpful. It contains not only all of the templates needed to complete the mortissing but also complete instructions.

Simple instructions, easy to use even for first time users

I would buy everything Milescraft makes if I could. I've used the door kit a bunch since I bought it as I'm a carpenter and we build a lot of custom doors. the only drawback is you have to screw the jig in place. If you could clamp it somehow that would make it even greater but this kit is awesome.

You get a poor rating because the product is not as described in the photos on your web site. Your pictures show red templates with clearly visible white text for the sizes. The templates that were delivered are black with the text also in black that is difficult to read. I would recommend the product based on functionality, but I would not recommend it based on not being as described in the photos.

Template is good, screws holding fixture on are cheap, there should be stainless screws.