Thread: Routing small pieces

Gidday Tiger,

I agree - routing small pieces is a pain in the neck.

What is happening when you try to use the table?

I use a very cheap setup for my router "table" - being a couple of bits of MDF. I recently started a smallish jewellry box which involved some routing for the lid inset.

Are you using a block both on the back of the workpieces, and on the side of the workpiece to hold it to the fence? Do you have a fingerboard or something that holds the workpiece down to the table while you run it along?

I guess the question is - what aspect of the accuracy is going wrong?

For handheld operation, you don't necessarily need a formal jig - I last did some mortices simply using scraps of the same size either side of the workpiece itself - that gives a sufficient purchase for the router, and you simply align the fence to account for the additional width of the scrap pieces.

If the pieces are too small to clamp at all (sounds like they might be) then you would simply put scrap pieces on all four sides of the piece you are attempting to rout - that should give you both up/down and left/right support for the piece, and you should be able to clamp the scrap pieces tightly enough so that there is no movement in the piece you are working on.

Does any of that make sense?

sCORCH

Hi Socrch,

What is happening in table mode is that the narrow side does not run smoothly against the fence, there is slight wavering as I try and keep the piece running against the fence and of course that translates into non straight grooves and they need to be straight. The stopped groove part of things may also be contributing to the problem and your hand held answer may be a solution, I thought there might be an even quicker way to do this or perhaps a jig that could be used as I seem to have to be routing more and more small pieces of work lately.

Just to clarify, the workpiece is 50x150mm, and you need to have a stopped groove 63-odd mm wide parallel with the short edge, 20 mm from that same short edge?

Table routing would be best I'd reckon. How wide is the router bit you are using?

Could you rout the grooves first then cut the board to size, thus working with a bigger, more stable workpiece?

Are you routing with or across the grain?


Cheers..................Sean

Hi Scooter,

The grooves are only 1/4 inch wide, so I'm using 1/4 inch cutter. The grooves are about 35 mm long, I realise my original post was not clear. Am routing against the grain and found it difficult to keep the piece riding along the fence. I have a Triton router table and can only get the sub fences to a certain distance together.

Gidday Tiger,

I'm not sure how close you can get the fences together, but if there is a substantial gap, and that is contributing to the wavering you refer to, perhaps you could slap on a piece of MDF as an auxillary fence to the main fence, and then just run the bit through it - that should give you minimal space around the bit, and provide more support for the workpiece so that edge doesn't tip into the hole around the bit when you run it past.

As far as not keeping the piece up against the fence, all I can think of (while I'm at work, at least) is to have a block in your left hand holding the small workpiece up against the fence while your right hand is pushing the piece through the bit (again with a square block, I assume - since you don't want to get your fingers too close in this little scenario).

That combination should, I would think, minimise any waver that there might be. I agree with Scooter in that the table option is preferable - I have always found, even with my ordinary setup, that the table provides more accuracy.

Hope that helps,
sCORCH

Make the piece effectivly bigger by sticking timber the same thickness to the sides using double sided tape or glue with simple PVA and a piece of paper between the joints. make the extra bits long enough to screw of clamp and double stick a piece of the same timber to the router base away from the cut to support the router and stop tipping. Sort of as in this sketch. If your router fence is not large enough (or smooth enough )you should fasten a secondary fence to support the cut the full length.

Hope this helps - worked for me on 38 mm wide timber.

Hah- developments while drawing my picture. Yes just fix a piece of MDF right across the fences as an auxilliary fence and use a push stick and a block.

Originally Posted by Pusser

Make the piece effectivly bigger by sticking timber the same thickness to the sides using double sided tape or glue with simple PVA and a piece of paper between the joints. make the extra bits long enough to screw of clamp and double stick a piece of the same timber to the router base away from the cut to support the router and stop tipping. Sort of as in this sketch. If your router fence is not large enough (or smooth enough )you should fasten a secondary fence to support the cut the full length.

Hope this helps - worked for me on 38 mm wide timber.

This is what I was endeavouring, somewhat ineloquently, to describe in my initial post - I, too, have found that it'll do the job well on smaller pieces - doesn't take long to set up either.

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Thanks guys, will give it a try.
</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

My answer to the solution is to make a simple jig to hold the material secure and produce a simple template where a template guide can be used
Tom

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Tom,

I think a template would be a bit of work just for this one-off application, but I guess it would pretty much guarantee a high level of accuracy.
</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Originally Posted by Tiger

Hi Socrch,

What is happening in table mode is that the narrow side does not run smoothly against the fence, there is slight wavering as I try and keep the piece running against the fence and of course that translates into non straight grooves and they need to be straight. The stopped groove part of things may also be contributing to the problem and your hand held answer may be a solution, I thought there might be an even quicker way to do this or perhaps a jig that could be used as I seem to have to be routing more and more small pieces of work lately.

Make a sacrificial fence from some scrap mdf and run the bit you are using through it to minimise the gap.
The triton router table has a sliding section with holes that you can set up a feather board or use the fingers that came with the table to keep the workpiece pressed against the fence.

Kev

Originally Posted by Tiger

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Tom,

I think a template would be a bit of work just for this one-off application, but I guess it would pretty much guarantee a high level of accuracy.
</TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on">
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

I thought you said a number of slots but maybe for safety sake it might be worth while constructing a simple jig/template?
Tom

I have had a similar problem putting a round over on a piece 100mm x 50mm for boxes and the like. I now use a vac clamp to run pieces like that after I saw one in use at a timber and wood show.
It took a little bit of time to get the hang of using it, but now I use it more often than I thought I would.
I also saw this guy demonstrate a template to cut parts out using a router with this clamp, and I want to know if anyone has done this yet and what the results were.