Thread: Ski routing - move the router or the workpiece?

Hi Ian, Personally I have more control moving the router by the cheeks.

The smaller pieces do have to be held on a larger piece. Very simple use waste pieces to hold the small pieces in place.

If you are worried about your sky rods flexing use blocks of wood the same thickness as your work piece under the rods.

Regards

Harold

Originally Posted by Ian Smith

Folks,
I have a couple of small projects that need the ski type setup to do some freehand routing ( signs, leveling, etc) and I got to thinking whether it's better/safer to move the router or the workpiece.

Do you have more control by moving the router rather than the workpiece?

I have given some consideration to the following:

Safety:
1. Small workpieces would have to be attached to a larger holding piece
2. Moving the router, rather than the workpiece, keeps your hands well away from the "bitey bits" - but a guard ought to rectify this.
3. Dust collection should be easier.

Other considerations:
1. Having the router fixed requires less space for any given workpiece size
2. Seems to me that there is always the chance of some error in the depth of cut if the router is suspended on two flexible metal rails and something more substantial and immobile would prevent this.

Your thoughts would be appreciated

Ian

Ian, attaching the wood to a sacrificial bench top with four pieces of scrap as shown in so many of my threads is a fast and reliable method. Controlling the skis by the end cheeks has two major advantages, it gives incredible control to the operator and it ensures a constant depth of cut. Obviously the thinner the rods, dictated by the router design, the shorter they must be to avoid flexing. Makita have the right idea by having 12mm side fence holes in their 1/2" routers. My small 1/4" Bosch only has 8mm holes so these ski rods are only 300mm, whereas for the Makita they are 27.5" long.

Harold, Harry,
Thank you both for your replies.

It's apparent you both think that there is better control by moving the router so I'll defer to your collective experience.

There is still the question of dust collection and, Harry, from your picture you don't appear to have any. Is that the case?


Ian