Old guy at the lumber yard in Tulsa showed me a chisel trick that saved my cabinet doors

Ivan Hayes · 2026-10-14T07:45:05.044604+00:00

Truth be told I was messing up hinge mortises on a set of oak cabinet doors last month and cost myself two doors on the first batch. A guy named Walt who's been at the yard over on 11th street for like 30 years watched me cuss at one and asked if I was cutting the mortise before or after the door was finished. Before, I told him. He said try scribing the outline with a sharp knife first and just take tiny passes with a sharp chisel instead of hogging it out with a router. I tried it on the next four doors and every hinge sat flush with almost no cleanup, where before I was fighting tear out and shimming gaps. Curious if anybody else does the knife wall thing or if most of you are still routing them out.

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Old guy at the lumber yard in Tulsa showed me a chisel trick that saved my cabinet doors | Carpenters - HW Forums