Thread: I am new but have a specific need

i suppose its a bit like replicating an existing profile i have.. plus some other similar ones that need replicating to a high accuracy... i think there must be a way..

Originally Posted by druis

hi, I am new but have a specific need.. I am certainly no expert whatsoever...
what would be the best way to get some of these basic questions answered?; maybe i attach a diagram?..
hope you can help/advise..
good to be here..
thanks
D

Try asking them as best you can , people will ask for more detail if they need it, pictures or diagrams sometimes help

heres a sort of outline.. as a jpg; thanks

some larger profiles would fit envelope size approx 125x75mm (albeit with curved shapes etc) ; some very tiny as small as 10x10mm envelope size.. holes 2.5 mm diameter and max 5mm diameter throughout all parts... i think cutter / drill needs to be max 4mm diameter to allow some inner corners to be cut... thats best i know so far...
D

What you can do Druis if your template is flat is to use a guide that just screws into the footplate of the router and run the router along the groove. You can do holes this way too, the template holes are located correctly but cut oversize to match the guide and you just use a bit which is the right size for the hole you want.

You can do this to a job that has a curved face as in the drawing, but the template top must be flat. The underside has a curve to match the job and it's all hunky dorey.

Hope this makes sense to you

Studley

a curved face as in the drawing

I think that's an optical illusion. It looks flat to me. I think Studley's suggestion is the way to go. Template guides are what you are after.

material either 2mm wood (would stack later & glue laminate the profiles) or plastic 2mm ...

isnt there a chance that just guiding around a profile might introduce error for small fiddly parts... thats why i thought a sort of groove the drill/cutter would follow as the parts oh so small.. what do you think?

The template guide set up is identical to your diagram, except the template is a slightly different size to the required part to allow for the difference between the diameter of the template guid and the diameter of the router bit. The template guide is like a sleeve which fits over the router bit allowing the base of your router to follow a pattern while the router bit cuts it in the material beneath the template.

is there a web site that would explain or show this sort of tool?... i am trying to picture it in my mind and a picture or web site may help?

only concern is parts are so tiny some of them as mentioned above

i would understand a collar etc on the cutter if we were profiling lets say architrave or whatever... in my scenario the material is flat and we are hust needing to copy this profile to similar flat veneers of wood 2mm.. so dont understand something fixed to the cutter..

The template guide is attached to the router base, not the cutter. The cutter protrudes through the guide. It is exactly the same principle as in your drawing. This is the very task that template guides were designed to do. Trust me.

If the parts are very small, you would probably want to look at a small trimmer or a dremmel type tool instead of a router. I have seen very small parts cut out this way for use in marquetry and inlays.

is this what is being suggested?; i have attached a diagram...

if i want to replicate the flat part in lets say 2-4mm plywood (assume C in diagram is the part being cut (out of flat material).. are you suggesting we have 'A' (in diagram) spinning and the cut is done one side and B does the other side (as diagram).?

I suppose the scenario is as if we wanted to punch a shape out of flat material the same profile as an original part we have a flat template for..

Maybe I am confused?... hope you can advise more; I wil catch up soon once a bit more help; apologies..