Bed hardware mortises

BTDT.
This is the same process as linked above - in fact, the other "half" of the process.

The bottom of the pic is the router base. The brass bushing and a 1/2" straight bit can be seen poking up from the base. The rectangular 'hole' is a window template, and the little race track inside is the cut that results from that brass bushing following the rectangular template window.

Setting the depth of cut: the hardware is rested on either side of the window, and the router is set on top. The cutter is lowered until it makes contact with the work (thru the window). That makes the cutter projection = the height of the window + the height of the hardware. When the hardware is removed and the routing commences, the depth of cut will be equal to the height of the hardware, so the hardware will sit in the resulting mortise flush.


The mortises have round ends because they were cut with a round bit. They're squared up with a chisel.


The hardware is fit to mark the holes. Notice that there are more mortises underneath the cut-outs. These mortises accept the metal fingers on the mating hardware.