Popular Woodworking 2003-11 № 137, страница 53

TIPS & TRICKS

PRO TIP:

Precise Setups with Feeler Gauges

One of the difficulties when setting up your plunge router for a cut is fine-tuning the setting in small increments. The most precise way to change your setting is to use a set of automotive feeler gauges. These thin strips of metal are marked with their precise thicknesses. When you want to adjust your bit up .005", simply place the appropriate feeler gauge between your turret depth stop and the tool's adjustment rod. Plunge the tool and lock it in place. Remove the feeler gauge and move the adjustment rod down until it contacts the turret depth stop again. Bingo. Now your cut is .005" shallower.

GREAT TRICK:

Use a Thick Scrap to Keep Your Router in Balance

If you're routing the thin edge of a workpiece, or if the workpiece is too narrow to balance the router easily, clamp a thick scrap to the work to provide more support.

Template guides are designed to follow templates. As the guide traces the shape of the template, the bit cuts a similar shape in the workpiece. The routed shape may be a little larger or smaller than the template, depending on the relative diameters of the bit and the guide.

Base-mounted Guides and Template Guides

Base-mounted guides are available as accessories for most fixed-base and plunge routers. The guide follows the edge of the wood and you can use it rather easily. Instead of holding both router handles, grasp one handle and hold the end of the guide with your other hand. As you cut, keep the guide pressed firmly against the edge of the workpiece. Then just feed the router slowly and easily for a smooth cut.

Template guides attach to the base or sole of the router and follow a straight or contoured edge. These round guides surround the bit and the bit protrudes out through the hole. While template guides can be used to follow along the edges of a workpiece, they were designed to follow templates.

When using template guides, make sure the bit does not rub the inside of the collar. That wear could ruin both the bit and the collar. Also, keep the guide pressed firmly against the edges of the template as you cut.

Don't forget the most simple of router guides - a straightedge clamped to the material you're cutting. This can be a simple piece of scrap found in your shop or one of a number of commercially available guides that have built-in clamping, making their use a lot easier.

Most base-mounted guides will follow either straight or contoured edges, depending on the shape of the guide. Here, a straight guide -which looks like a small fence - rides along the edge of a board.

Popular Woodworking