A routing tutorial for beginners

harrysin

The first shot shows the finished project, a coin tray for the dressing table, I could have made it on the lathe in perhaps half an hour, or even with the router in a much shorter time than this one took, however, the whole idea of this tutorial is to show beginners, who are no doubt only familiar with table routing, that there are other, more exciting ways in which the router can be used, I've generally used metric measurements because of the cutters and template guides that I have, however, this coin tray can be any size or height that you want, based on what cutters and guides you have. The piece of American Oak that I used just happened to measure 8.5" x 7" x 1 3/8" which added an extra stage to reduce it's height after routing both inside and outside. I would suggest that a 1" thick piece would be better, also a thinner template, about 3/8", this would mean that a collet extension wouldn't be needed. If a dish cutter isn't available, just leave the inside corner square

to be continued

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Harry



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harrysin

When sorting the photos, I realised that I had failed to take shots of some operations, the most important being how I routed the inside of the tray, so I did a mock set-up to show this with three shots at the end. If anyone has questions, don't hesitate to ask, the chances are that other members have the same questions but are too shy to ask, or feel that the question is foolish, no such thing, if you were in a classroom I'm sure you would raise your hand!

I've just noticed that shots 4 and 5 are transposed

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Harry



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bobj3

Hi Harry

Nice job,,,

The only thing I can say on the down side is that 40mm guide thing again, most don't have one in the states and that looks like a real key thing,must have item in your snapshots..to make one like yours..that may be a real turn off for the beginners..

I know you hate the brass guides but many in the states have the brass guides ( 1 3/16 " PC type ) 1" ID max. you can get the bits to fit but the collet nut will not fit into the guide hole..so to say it will not plunge to deep,1/2" max if that..with the guide in place, many ways to get around that but not for the beginners..

Maybe you should show how to do it with a diff.type of bit like a strait or a core bit.

You know me I do it all with just one template and use the BRASS guides and off set rings for the off sets..

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shops...s/bt_core.html
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gav

Sounds like a good point BJ.
How about you show how to make the same thing the American way.

Although I don't have a 40mm guide, I learnt a lot from your tutorial Harry.
Keep them coming, I may just be able to make cool things with the router one day.
Hope you're not freezing with the record low temperatures you're having at the moment.

vredav

Hi Harry,

Being a beginner I like these kind of tutorials.
They show me methods I haven't used before and are detailed enough that I don't get frustraited or make mistakes.
What size bushing did you use to cut the inside of the coin tray(Page #11a)?

David

jw2170

Thanks Harry,

Even I can understand that.....LOL

James

sofasurfer

Gosh Harry. The timing is impecable. I can not help but think that your tutorial was inspired by my question in the "How to make a template" thread.
Anyway, its a very good tutorial. It answers a lot of questions. Thanks. I will study it tomorrow after I get some sleep.

harrysin

Thanks for your comments Bob, but I thought that I had explained that a similar project could be made any size according to the cutters and guides that that individuals have. For example, if the inside is going to be 5" diameter, and a 1" guide and a 1/2" cutter used, this gives an offset of 1/4", meaning the hole in the template would be 5.5" to rout the inside, leave the corners square, then, keep the same 1" guide but replace the cutter with a 1/4" one and this will give a 3/8" wall thickness which is very close to the 10mm of mine. You must also remember Bob that this thread wasn't so much to give an end product, but rather to demonstrate that there are so many different ways to use a router, especially a BIG one, by the way Bob, I appreciate you increasing my height in another thread, the truth is that I'm only 5' 2" ish and weigh a mere 145 pounds and have always found a heavy router easier to control than a lightweight one which moves and damages your project if you happen to cough let alone sneeze! As I mentioned in the thread, anyone with questions, just go ahead and ask, I'm sure that between us Bob we'll be able to handle whatever comes along.

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Harry



Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. - Plautus

harrysin

David, I used a 40mm (a little over 1.5") for two reasons, so that I can SEE exactly what the cutter is doing, also to allow the collet extension to penetrate, rather than the unsafe way of fitting the short dish cutter with the router plunged and the guide in place. But remember that I stated that one can use whatever combination of cutters and guides that you have.
Do also read my answer to Bj's post

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Harry



Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend. - Plautus