68 - Our All-New Router Jig, страница 21

FEATURE PROJECT

Using the Mortising Machine

Now that you have your mortising machine completed, you're ready to set it up and try it out.

The first step is to position the router bit on the thickness of your workpiece. (To create a centered mortise, you'll want to center the bit on the workpiece.) Start by cutting a spacer block to fit underneath the router plate to raise the router bit to the approximate center of your workpiece, see drawing in margin.

The spacer block is just to get you in the ballpark. To fine-tune the height of the bit, turn the knob at the end of the tapered bed to raise or lower the bit until it is perfectly centered on the thickness of your work-piece, as you see in Step 1, detail 'a.'

Once you have the height adjusted, you can adjust the depth of the bit. This is just a matter of bringing the carriage all the way forward and adjusting the depth of the router and bit, see Step 1, detail 'b.'

The last adjustment to make is to set the stops on the front of the sliding table to control the length of the mortise. To do this, start by clamping the workpiece to the table so the router bit is roughly centered on the mortise. Then slide the table to the left until the bit lines up with the end of the mortise. Move the left-hand stop up against the strike plate and lock it in place. Now just repeat the process for the right-hand stop.

At this point, you're ready to start mortising. The important thing to remember is that you will be making the mortise in a series of shallow passes, see Step 3.

Start with the carriage pulled back and the table pushed all the way to the right. Turn the router on and use the lever arm to bring the carriage forward until the router bit enters the wood about Vs". Now, slide the table all the way to the left. Next, advance the bit about Vs" and slide the table back to the right. Then it's just a matter of repeating this process until you reach the full depth of the mortise. iL

ISet the height of the router bit by first placing a spacer block under the router plate and then turning the knob on the end of the tapered bed. Once this is done, you can set the depth of the bit.

A Spacer Block. The

router plate rests on a spacer block. By using different widths of blocks, you can vary the height of the router for different thicknesses of stock.

2 With the workpiece clamped down to the sliding table, align the router bit with the ends of the mortise in order to position the stops along the front edge of the sliding table.

A Stop Block. To

rout mortises in multiple work-pieces, clamp a simple stop block to the sliding table to position all the pieces the same.

3 Rout the mortise in multiple passes, removing about Vs" of material each time. Use the lever arm to plunge the bit into the workpiece and then move the sliding table from side to side.

NOTE: GUARD NOT SHOWN FOR

CLARITY

TURN KNOB TO RAISE/ LOWER TABLE

b.

BUTT CARRIAGE AGAINST TABLE

- DEPTH

OF MORTISE

CLAMP WORKPIECE

DOWN TO TABLE AND POSITION STOPS

LAYOUT

LINE

LEVER FORWARD

PLUNGE BIT INTO WORKPIECE AND SLIDE TABLE FROM SIDE TO SIDE

SPACER BLOCK

No. 68

ShopNotes

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