Thread: Template Guide Calculator - Download

Hi Paul,
You are right Harry isn't happy about using the brass guides for safety reasons as he explained . I and many other people have used these guides for many years without any safety issues.Like any power tool routers can be a dangerous tool if your concentration lapses as a number of people with shorter fingers chewed up guides or shattered bits can attest to.

Regards
Harold

Hey pal. Hear what you’re saying but for a couple of hundred dollars I think I am more inclined to buy individual guides. I may never have an issue, but pointless spending the money after the screw comes undone and I spindle my fingers off.

Being a novice I really need to reduce any risk I can. Currently the idea of using a router scares the life out of me, and until such time as I feel semi comfortable using it, I really want to reduce the risk as much as possible.
<O</O
Much in the same way the first time you use a disk grinder seems a bit daunting until you get used to it and develop a certain amount of comfort with it.
<O</O
But always in the back of my mind I remember a 9” disk grinder that kicked in my hands and grazed the back of my wrist with the disk (probably should have had a guard on it..) but you get my point.<O</O
<O</O
I need to use two different router bits, a straight cutter to cut out the profile and a rounding over bit to do the top and bottom plates… I need to work out what template guides I will need to use in conjunction with the router bits… I know I should write a program to do that

Well after waiting several weeks for Norwest to send me the router guides they finally turned up...

But I am still stuck! the (A-14) (B-16) (C-8) one they sent me has a screw thread on it

The (A-24) (B-27) (C-13) has the proper base, but I only bought it as a cheap spare I didn't really want that size.

Might have to investigate the kits after all

Originally Posted by HeadScratcher

Hey pal. Hear what you’re saying but for a couple of hundred dollars I think I am more inclined to buy individual guides. I may never have an issue, but pointless spending the money after the screw comes undone and I spindle my fingers off.

Being a novice I really need to reduce any risk I can. Currently the idea of using a router scares the life out of me, and until such time as I feel semi comfortable using it, I really want to reduce the risk as much as possible.
<O</O
Much in the same way the first time you use a disk grinder seems a bit daunting until you get used to it and develop a certain amount of comfort with it.
<O</O
But always in the back of my mind I remember a 9” disk grinder that kicked in my hands and grazed the back of my wrist with the disk (probably should have had a guard on it..) but you get my point.<O</O
<O</O
I need to use two different router bits, a straight cutter to cut out the profile and a rounding over bit to do the top and bottom plates… I need to work out what template guides I will need to use in conjunction with the router bits… I know I should write a program to do that

I don't know where you get the "$200.00" from. A 30mm and a 40mm guide will surfice for most, if not all projects and only when one becomes deeply involved with plunge routing does it become nice to have a wider selection of guides and bits.

Good luck getting a 30mm or 40mm guide in those corners

The 14mm ID / 16mm OD is perfect for what I need to get into the tight corners and allow me to do narrow strips of wood like is required for this project. The black one (27mm OD) is way to big for this job.

They have another guide of those dimensions but it is $30 add that to the $40 spent and that's $70 and I haven't even turned the router on yet, so I don't think it would be hard to accumilate $200 worth of guides.

I may also wind up needing something bigger as well. I want to put a good inch plus radius on the outside the cabinet with a rounding bit, which means I am going to need to leave additonal material on the inside of a couple of slices so I don't break through add another $30...

Originally Posted by HeadScratcher

Good luck getting a 30mm or 40mm guide in those corners

The 14mm ID / 16mm OD is perfect for what I need to get into the tight corners and allow me to do narrow strips of wood like is required for this project. The black one (27mm OD) is way to big for this job.

They have another guide of those dimensions but it is $30 add that to the $40 spent and that's $70 and I haven't even turned the router on yet, so I don't think it would be hard to accumilate $200 worth of guides.

I may also wind up needing something bigger as well. I want to put a good inch plus radius on the outside the cabinet with a rounding bit, which means I am going to need to leave additonal material on the inside of a couple of slices so I don't break through add another $30...

I've come to the inescapeable conclusion that you don't quite understand the purpose of template guides. It's the diameter of the BIT that determines the radius. The template is designed by choosing a template guide and bit, the calculation for the size of opening in the template is: template guide dia. minus bit dia. plus size of opening in the speaker component. As you can see in these shots, I'm using a 40mm guide but the diameter in the corners of the routed tray is just 10mm

considering the thread this is posted in I would say I have a reasonable grasp of the relationship between the guide and the cutter...

There is always room for additional information but I fail to see your logic. If I use a 1/2" cutter (12.7mm) with a 14mm ID guide even if you used a comparable sized cutter with a 40mm guide you still can’t cut as tightly as a smaller guide cutter combination.

Look at the picture again there is no way the black guide would fit so far into the corner as the silver one.

As I've tried to explain, the template has to be designed for the project, If I wanted to make a template to rout a square measuring 50mm x 50mm with 3mm radius corners and use a 40mm guide and 3mm bit, then: 40mm - 3mm + 50mm = 87mm, meaning that the opening in the template will be 87mm square.
Perhaps a photo showing how you are routing these parts will help resolve this discussion.

Hi Paul,
you need these ,nut and the flange piece. if you buy a brass set you will get them in the box and instead of being $20. for the nut plus about $30 for the flange you will get the nut, flange and 8 guides for between $20 & $30 . The flange just snaps into the RP2301FC just like the A-24 . and you would be able to use the A-14, B-16, C-8. I have used these brass guides for about 10 years now without any mishaps. Don't become careless as you get used to using them and make sure you tighten them up securely and they are fine.

Regards

Harold

Hi Harry, I think it comes down to horses for courses. If I was doing a square frame then I totally agree, I could use any size guide even a 100mm one, as long as the template was offset / cutout by the correct amount to give me the size square I'm ultimately looking for. Any guide and any cutter can be made to work with careful measuring.

But if you look at the photo in this post you will see that the spot I'm trying to get the router into can only be achieved by using a smaller guide. Yes I could chop more material out of the MDF to get a larger gap to fit a larger guide, but that would mean significantly waekening the template. I could make several templates to do different sections of the job and do it in bits.

But for the sake of practicality and consistancy (remember I will probably do 30 template slices between the 2 speakers) the size guide I have chosen makes the most sense (to me anyway).

Hey Harold, I was wondering if I could buy a set now that they have sent me that type of guide and use it with it. Having never used a router before I am wanting to be super careful and follow the advise of people like harry that have had altercations with these things. But then again you have had success provided I don't get lazy and check regularly that it is done up.

Would the thread of the one the sent me be common to different router guide sets?

Hi Paul,
Yes, The nut and flange fit the Makita guides no problem.

Regards

Harold

But will the Makita guide fit into one of the generic kits? as you say by the time you buy the pricey flange and nut you have spent a small fortune. Or do I just throw it in the bin and just buy a complete kit with all the different guides that are made for the generic kit flange?

Now that I have at least one guide that fits I'm looking forward to finally firing up the router. A bit of practice is never going to go astray before I start cutting out the pieces I want to keep.

Hi Paul,
Don't throw it away.
A picture is worth a thousand word. Check out the attachments.
First shot Makita guide, generic flange and nut.
Second shot Makita guide, generic flange and nut fitted to the RP2301FC

Regards
Harold

Got sick and tired of trying to buy them locally. Even went to a tool store today that said they stock them, they lied. So bought some off ebay as per pal's recommendation. Makita RP2301FCX what guide bushings are compatible - Router Forums

BTW your link showed me some big ball type router bits and made me think I could glue several sheets of MDF together and do two half moon shapes making a round port