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30th March 2017, 05:00 PM #1
Help with Routing using templates
Hi WWF,
I have 4 arches that I am trying to make for a hall table that I am constructing. The arches are made from QLD maple and are about 45mm thick and have a radius of roughly 400mm.
I have made a template of the pattern that I want from 15mm ply and pre cut the approx. arch shape on my bandsaw.
When using the router table with a flush trim router bit the timber is catching on the bit and getting torn from my hands. Quite a scary experience.
Any help on what I am doing wrong would be greatly appreciated
Cheers
damien
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30th March 2017 05:00 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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30th March 2017, 05:30 PM #2
For that thickness, you may be taking too large a bite in a single pass. If so, you can reduce the bite (and increase the number of passes) by applying several or many strips of masking tape to the template. Remove strips for successive passes until you reach the template.
It also sounds like you may be feeding the work from left to right, which produces a climbing cut and can launch the workpiece into the next county. Feed the work from right to left, and use push blocks or similar.
It's also beneficial to make the arches slightly longer than final dimensions, to ease the start and end of the routing, and then cut to final shape.
Cheers,
JoeOf course truth is stranger than fiction.
Fiction has to make sense. - Mark Twain
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30th March 2017, 05:39 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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When is the workpiece being grabbed and then thrown by the router? mid way through the cut, or just as you enter?
It is very common to have the router bit grab the timber upon entry because many people, myself included, freehand the entry. I get away with it almost always, but I start the cut while cutting down the grain and moving forwards. The use of a "starting pin" is highly recommended as this will give you some support of your workpiece as you enter, though the router can still grab the timber and whip it across the room even while using a starting pin.
If it is grabbing the timber mid way through the cut, then I suspect you are climb cutting. You need arms like the Hulk to hold a workpiece while climb cutting without burning the workpiece.
If you can get yourself a flush trim bit with a bearing both top and bottom, you can cut with the grain on both sides of the arch simply by cutting half way with the template above the workpiece and using the upper bearing and then flipping the workpiece and template over and using the lower bearing. You can do the same thing with just a top bearing flush trim bit, but you will need to physically relocate the template from top of workpiece to the bottom and make sure to keep it in the right spot, a royal pita.
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30th March 2017, 09:11 PM #4
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30th March 2017, 09:17 PM #5
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30th March 2017, 10:41 PM #6Woodworking mechanic
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What side of the bit are you routing with - the front or the back? The job being trimmed should be between you and the bit. If the job is behind the bit, you are climb routing. DAMHIK
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30th March 2017, 10:59 PM #7Template Tom
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45mm thick material is a large surface to be cut in one process this is a typical job that can be produced with the router in the plunge mode routing small cuts and producing a template where Template guides can be used
Template TomLearn new Routing skills with the use of the template guides
Log on to You Tube for a collection of videos 'Routing with Tom O'Donnell'
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31st March 2017, 07:17 AM #8
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31st March 2017, 07:20 AM #9
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31st March 2017, 08:48 AM #10
Instead of trying to do this with a flush trimming bit use a template guide bush fitted to the router. You can then us an ordinary cutter and make the cut in several passes. I find that any cuts deeper than 5mm in hardwood with a 1/2" bit are risky as hell. What model of router are you using; the bigger and heavier it is the better it will resist being pulled away from you.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.
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31st March 2017, 03:38 PM #11Of course truth is stranger than fiction.
Fiction has to make sense. - Mark Twain
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31st March 2017, 03:40 PM #12GOLD MEMBER
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https://youtu.be/VRBTei_RBts?t=7m51s
This is a video of mine where I am doing exactly as I described earlier. I started the video at the point where I am rough cutting the parts on the bandsaw just before cleaning them up using the router table. I am using the starting pin. You can see that I have the template above the workpiece for 2 edges, and then below the workpiece for the other two edges which is allowing me to cut down the grain always. You even see me change the bit height so that the appropriate bearing (above or below) aligns with the template, though you should turn the router off when changing the height. Mine was still spinning because I'm lazy.
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31st March 2017, 04:23 PM #13
Thanks WWF, worked it out using a couple of tips above.
in the end the starting pin and hulk strength did the trick 😊
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1st April 2017, 04:34 PM #14
can you post a picture of the arches?
regards from Alberta, Canada
ian
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2nd April 2017, 09:27 AM #15
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