Reducing timber width on a router table.

[ftkalcevic]

I have a pile of 90x12mm timber that has been cut to length for some drawers I'm making. They need to be reduced to 75mm wide. Is there a safe way of doing this on the router table?

In all my router books, they say don't put the timber between the fence and the router bit otherwise it will shoot out the other side - what if I push it in from the opposite side? Using featherboards, will this keep it tight against the fence?

Thanks,
Frank

[ozwinner]

Danger, Danger Will Robinson.......:o

Cant you cut them down first?
Handsaw, jigsaw?

Al :no:

[ftkalcevic]

Just to clarify, #3 in the picture is what I wanted to do. I can put my jigsaw in the table to reduce it, but I don't have a good jigsaw blade that will give a good finish.

I was hoping with #3, I could set the fence and get all the pieces cut the same width.

Maybe I need a template to trace.

http://home.people.net.au/~frankt/Routing.gif

[Harry72]

3 still could kickback.

How bout you use the jigsaw and cut it oversize by 2~3mm then use method #1(good!). What you will need to do with method #1 is the outfeed side of the fence(after the cutter bit)will need to be flush with the arc of the cutter and the infeed side of the fence needs to be inset from the cutters arc.

Picture beats a 1000 word essay...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v725/ST170ish/routerjointerfence.jpg

[Red neck]

I share Ozwinner’s concern – extremely dangerous to the operator. Partial cuts such as rebates leave the workpiece in tact. The workpiece passes over the top of the bit and provides some protection between the operator and the bit. Alternatively working an edge of a piece of timber allows the bit to be guarded by the fence, again affording some measure of safety between the operator and the bit.
Option 1 permits fine shaving (jointing) boards by setting the front fence about 1 millimeter right of the alignment of the back fence. You may find that repeated passes to achieve the amount of waste you contemplate results in the width of the board decreasing towards one end.
Option 2: Trapping the workpiece between the fence and the bit will ultimately lead to the ejection of the severed member. It will be propelled at great velocity in the direction of rotation of the bit.
Option 3 could propel the workpiece back towards you leading to injury and followed by a possible secondary – touching the spinning bit through an involuntary hand movement!
A router bit is a finishing tool and as such has limitations. The more of the bit that is buried in the workpiece the higher will be its operating temperature and the shorter its useful life. The removal of large amounts of waste from the workpiece is completed in several passes, taking just a few millimetres each time, reducing cutter and router wear.
The solution would be to rip your boards with a handsaw or a circular saw with a guide attached, leaving a couple of millimetres for finishing. If you have a table saw or a bandsaw so much the better. Then set your router fence as for jointing and remove the waste in one or two passes.

[Red neck]

Good one Harry, I could have saved myself a thousand words!

[Bob38S]

Agree with all of the above re the dangers associated with passing the timber between the fence and the cutter.

Looking at Harry72's great graphics above - the laminate is the same way I do it except my router table fence is split, with sliding faces which allows me to open/close up on the different bit sizes - this allows me to put laminate shims behind the outfeed fence - allowing the same surfaces as used for normal fence use. This also allows me to use multiple shims if necessary.

Regards,
Bob

[scooter]

Where in Melb do you live, Frank, maybe one of us with a table saw or triton can help you out.


Cheers......Sean

[ozwinner]

Yeah, in the name of safety I can do it for you too as long as the timber is nail free.

Im in the Northern suburbs

Al :)

[MrFixIt]

Hi

You could do it quite easily and safely if you have a "sled" that runs in a mitre slot or "could" run on a square edge of the router table.

Place a "stop" or stops on the sled, to place the timber in a suitable position to remove the required amount off the width. Clamp the timber to the sled (correctly positioned of course) and feed past the router bit in the NORMAL manner.

You could make up a suitable sled for this, from a piece of mdf or ply.

[MrFixIt]

Hi

You could do it quite easily and safely if you have a "sled" that runs in a mitre slot or "could" run on a square edge of the router table.
[snip]
You could make up a suitable sled for this, from a piece of mdf or ply.

Here is a GOOD sled that is VERY versatile and could be made more or less from scratch after viewing the video :D

http://www.eaglelakewoodworking.com/index.htm?videos.htm

Hmmm? This is a sled I forgot about, I'll have to make one for myself this weekend :D :D

[ftkalcevic]

Thanks for all the great advice. I think that's the second trip to the hospital you've saved me.

In the end I made a mounting plate for my jigsaw and used it on the router table. I found a nice clean cutting blade - a bit slow, but the finish was great.