Thread: Routing with the aid of template guides

Hi Tom, I know that you've long been an advocate of template routing and of "thinking outside the square" in terms of router use and it's full functions.

Your expertise is without question with the making and use of templates a most admirable trait that leaves most of us in no doubt to your excellence in woodcraft.

I dont intend to be a wet blanket here, however most folk think that by using the Gifkins or Leigh Jigs or other router jigs they are already using router templates with guides.

Getting folk interested in any template work that you have worked long and hard towards is not easy unless they can use it in a production set-up and therefore they cannot always dedicate their time to production of templates.

I know that on numerous occasions you have endorsed this approach in router woodworking and I wish you every success if it could only come to fruition, but I don't have the ready answers to get some forward thinking in some accommodation along this track.

Perhaps some education from router manufacturers would enhance their product for REAL employment not just the limited scope that a lot of the cheaper brands get away with.

Cheers

This may help others to see what can be achieved with the use of the router and the aid of the template guides


Tom
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2zyIMStFpU]YouTube - Routing with Tom O'Donnell Routing Diningroom chairs[/ame]

Tom,

As a mug amateur, I have always struggled to understand what are the benefits of using template guides that make them so attractive such that you devote so much passion to the topic.

The reason that I say this is that it always seems to me that except for certain applications, most template-following tasks are more easily done using a straight bit with a ball bearing and using a template made in the exact shape of the article being produced. Certainly, in my limited range of projects this has been the case for me.

It always seems to me that the creation of the "negative image" templates needed for use of template guides is really complicated and time consuming compared with just making a template in the final shape of the finished product and routing to that template with a ball bearing straight cutter.

It also seems to me that the templates required for using template guides are much larger, thus requiring much more material, a greater cost thereof, and more workshop space to do the job.

This latter issue seems to be exemplified in the video that you have shown above where it seems that you require a whole table on which to mount the complicated looking template and for which you are doing the project outside where there is probably more room than in a home workshop.

Like, I said, I am a mug amateur on this stuff. Am I missing something obvious that makes the use of template guides better than just using a ball bearing straight cutter, please?



.

[COLOR="blue"][QUOTE=Charleville;1058302]
Tom, As a mug amateur, I have always struggled to understand what are the benefits of using template guides that make them so attractive such that you devote so much passion to the topic.

You are not alone on this matter; 90% of all router users do not use the template guides

The reason that I say this is that it always seems to me that except for certain applications, most template-following tasks are more easily done using a straight bit with a ball bearing and using a template made in the exact shape of the article being produced. Certainly, in my limited range of projects this has been the case for me.

This is exactly the case in question we all make the full size template then produce the article as you mentioned. That was the way I used to do it until I developed a better method and a safer method.

It always seems to me that the creation of the "negative image" templates needed for use of template guides is really complicated and time consuming compared with just making a template in the final shape of the finished product and routing to that template with a ball bearing straight cutter.

[B]I do not use the word 'Negative' what I produce are 'Female' templates they may seem complicated and time consuming but are not. We are also able to produce a better finish to the article by taking small cuts at any one time. Designing the templates is not a breeze for a number of people who do not have access to a computer so for many of the projects I produce I can run off a full size drawing of an object ready for cutting out. [/B]

It also seems to me that the templates required for using template guides are much larger, thus requiring much more material, a greater cost thereof, and more workshop space to do the job.

They are obviously larger as they are 'female' templates but Safer and easier to use for certain projects. The work space in most cases is no greater than the space taken up by a router table when the trimming cutter is used

This latter issue seems to be exemplified in the video that you have shown above where it seems that you require a whole table on which to mount the complicated looking template and for which you are doing the project outside where there is probably more room than in a home workshop.

[B]This was an exceptional instance where the leg was 1000 mm long the jig could have been mounted on a small table. "Complicated" template? once you have a firm understanding of the method I use with the aid of the guides it is no longer complicated. The project was completed in my shed extension but could easily be produced in a home workshop.[/B] [/COLOR]

Like, I said, I am a mug amateur on this stuff. Am I missing something obvious that makes the use of template guides better than just using a ball bearing straight cutter, please?

[COLOR="blue"]The answer is simply YES

P.M me with your email address and I will forward a small version of a leg with the necessary full size drawings for you to consider Tom 0d [/COLOR]

I think the best application for templates is for making large holes in a workpiece.


Make a template using 6mm masonite or ply. Just cut a large circle with a circle cutting tool equal in diameter to the size you want plus the offset distance = difference between the router bit diameter and the diameter of the outside edge of the guide.

Using this template and the same bit, the router will deliver a nice neat cut in any workpiece to the exact diameter.

regards,
Jill

The template routing I have done in the past was to make cavities (holes with a bottom in them). It is much easier to do this with a template than with a follower bit.

Peter

Originally Posted by JillB

I think the best application for templates is for making large holes in a workpiece.

Jill. With the use of template guides you can produce more than circles. It is possible to use a greater variety of cutters rather than the straight cutter.

Make a template using 6mm masonite or ply. Just cut a large circle with a circle cutting tool equal in diameter to the size you want plus the offset distance = difference between the router bit diameter and the diameter of the outside edge of the guide.

Using this template and the same bit, the router will deliver a nice neat cut in any workpiece to the exact diameter.

I have enclosed some pics of some of the projects I produce to illustrate the versatility of the template guides.

regards,
Jill

Tom

Many thanks for showing us these magnificent items, Tom. Congratulations. But I must admit the templates for some of them defy my limited imagination.

regards,
Jill

Interesting discussion, thanks for starting it, Tom.
Would you say that, for a one off job, a template is a bit over the top, or put another way, templates are most suited for multiple use jobs (ie ability to easily duplicate components)?
TM

Originally Posted by TermiMonster

Interesting discussion, thanks for starting it, Tom.
Would you say that, for a one off job, a template is a bit over the top, or put another way, templates are most suited for multiple use jobs (ie ability to easily duplicate components)?
TM

Depending on what you call a 'one-off' job. Or depending on what is the safest method of producing the item. Take a small table leg as an example to start with you have four or maybe just three; is that what you call a one-off job??

When I was working in my cabinetmaking business refurbishing executive jet aircraft I was continually presented with many 'one-off' jobs, and yes it did pay me to construct the jig and template required to produce the item with safety as there was no information around to do it any other way.

Enclosed is a sample of one of those 'one-off' jobs
Tom

Originally Posted by JillB

Many thanks for showing us these magnificent items, Tom. Congratulations. But I must admit the templates for some of them defy my limited imagination.

regards,
Jill

Come on Jill, all that is required is to have a firm understanding of the use of the guides. Here is my Introduction to the use of the guides part 1

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ6ClCCx8Ho]YouTube - Rectangular Picture frame Part 1 Routing with Tom O'Donnell[/ame]

This is all new to me that I can submit video of the method I have been using for years
Tom

Thanks Tom, this template technique is all new to me too, but if it helps do a more accurate workpiece and makes working safer, then I am keen to have a go.

If it means butchering a 6mm piece of masonite or ply rather than an expensive workpiece trying to get the right shape, then I am all for it.

My first effort will be the template for an insert for my table saw, and then cutting out a hole for inserting the router Phenolic Router Plate for a router table I need to build. I already have the top, but have so far put off the recessing and cutting out until I am comfortable it will be accurate and a good job. This might be the way to go.

In the meantime, please keep these videos coming, or provide a link so that we can see them elsewhere.

regards,
Jill

Part 2 of the video completing the frame



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M80IsCijW-4]YouTube - Rectangular Picture frame Part 2 Routing with Tom O'Donnell[/ame]

Originally Posted by JillB

Thanks Tom, this template technique is all new to me too, but if it helps do a more accurate workpiece and makes working safer, then I am keen to have a go.

If it means butchering a 6mm piece of masonite or ply rather than an expensive workpiece trying to get the right shape, then I am all for it.

My first effort will be the template for an insert for my table saw, and then cutting out a hole for inserting the router Phenolic Router Plate for a router table I need to build. I already have the top, but have so far put off the recessing and cutting out until I am comfortable it will be accurate and a good job. This might be the way to go.

In the meantime, please keep these videos coming, or provide a link so that we can see them elsewhere.

regards,
Jill

Jill post details of the size of the insert and the template guides you have as well as the straight cutters you have and I will post the details of the cut-out you will need
Tom