Knife Holder    4                    1-2016

 

 

Using a Router Table

 

I want to put a radius around the perimeter on almost every surface so I bought some router bits to help me with that.
I could have bought just one bit but I might do another project in the future so the kit was the way to go dollar wise. I'll be using the 3/16" corner round bit (I know it's called a 'roundover' bit in the woodworking world, I'm just use to the lingo in the machinist world) which should look nice.
 

 

 

Now I thought about using the new router bit in my milling machine but that won't produce the high RPM that a router can so I bought a table to mount a router in. Now this will be the first time I've ever used a router table so this will be an experience for me.

I borrowed a router table made out of wood from a friend at work but when I got it home I noticed the table had a big sag in it. I'm guessing the sag was from the router being left in it over a long period of time so I bought one with a cast aluminum table that shouldn't do that. It's made to except all kinds of different routers which is why there are so many holes near the center. I also don't know if this is a good, bad or middle of the road table but if it works for what I want then it's all good.
 

 

 

The electrical switch controls two things, the router and whatever you want to plug into the other receptacle, like a vacuum system for instance.
 

 

 

If you look close you'll notice the box is worn, like it's been sitting around for years... seven I believe...damn...has it been that long?. Well that's exactly what's going on here so let me explain: my daughter Angela, bought this for my birthday and I thought it was a great gift. But for some reason I've never used it....till now that is. Won't she be surprised to know that I've finally used her gift to make her a gift. Now I don't know if this is a good or a bad unit, all I know is that it's a 'router' and I'm going to have fun with it!!
 

 

 

After doing some reading about how the router works, the don't do this and don't do that section, I made a couple of cuts on a scrap piece till I had it adjusted like I wanted. After that I started on the base and put a nice 3/16" radius on both sides.

The one thing I didn't want to do was climb cut with this router table. Climb cutting is something I know about in the machinist world and if you aren't careful, the piece you're cutting can get away from you.
 

 

 

This router made short work of all the pieces and I'm pretty happy with it so far. BTW, can you tell what I'm making yet?
 

 

 

I did have a small problem though, I had the cutter dig in a small amount here and there and I think it's due to the fact that I had a couple of pieces of maple that were warped. I knew about this earlier but didn't expect this to happen. Well now I know and I won't make that mistake again. On the plus side, this will sand out with no problem.
 

 

 

The next thing I'll be doing is milling a mortise and tenon. The tenon will be on the upper part of the guys body which I rough sawed out awhile ago. This will go into a mortise on the shield.
 

 

 

The other tenons will be on the bottom of our guy, for his feet you might say. These will go into a mortise in the base. Again these were rough sawed earlier.
 

 

 

I clamped an angle plate to my mill table and then clamped the sandwich to the angle plate. I know it looks busy but this setup worked great for cutting the tenons. Note the clamps are not in direct contact with the wood. I placed shims between the two so the clamps wouldn't make any marks in my work piece.
 

 

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