harrysin

Template Tom has been rather quiet of late so I contacted him via Skype last evening to enquire why. It is because he is in the process of producing a training DVD on plunge routing and this is taking lots of time, mainly getting to grips with his editing programme,so to keep interest in template guides to the fore, I have designed a trinket box routed from solid American Oak. This is not a project that can be finished in an hour or so, it does take time but once completed will give great satisfaction.
The first shot shows two pieces of timber glued together, I used Weld Bond to be sure they stay together. The second shot shows the "finished" box,more on that later.The series of photographs, providing that they remain in the order that I post them should be self explanatory.The thickness of the timber after gluing was 2" and the box was intended to be 9" x4 1/2" .The bulk of the waste was removed with a large Forstner bit and cleaned-up with a 1/2" straight cutter,finally using a 3/4" dish cutter to obtain a good finish with rounded bottom corners. I had to spend $AU80.00 + postage for a CMT collet extension as the dish cutter is not very long. I'm sure that careful finishing with the straight cutter will suit most of you, but remember to only go with the grain. Two methods of deep routing are shown, hand held using packing pieces to keep the router firm, but the more elegant way is to use the method long promoted by Template tom, that is to ski mount the router, it still sits on the template but gives superb control. Finally, the project is not yet finished, I hope to rout a lid, rout some sort of fancy-work then either spray with high gloss lacquer or several coats of Danish oil finishing by rubbing with very fine wire wool lubricated with wax polish. A very important point that I nearly forgot to mention, one of the shots clearly shows one of the many advantages of using a large template guide, the collet extension fits through it with room to spare. Any questions, don't be shy. Harry

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Joe Lyddon

Harry,

W O W !!

That is really cool! Very clever way of using the router.

As I was looking at the pics, I thought the outside of the block of wood was eventually going to be the outside of the box... Then, at the end, that thought was shattered when you routed a special trench around it to form the box.

It turned out great... looks really COOL!

After you hogged out the middle section, could you have routed around the outside, not going too deep to touch the 'holders' to form say 1/2 of the outside part of the box.
Then remove the box and removing the bottom part that could not be routed away... with a band saw, filing, etc. and then finally using the already cut part for the guide, trim it flush with a trimming bit?

Just wondering if that would work... and if you would consider doing it...

There would be less waste... and the box would be slightly bigger.

Your pictures told a good story... Good job!

We now wait for the crowning glory of the project... The lid!
Somehow, I feel that there will some artistic use of templates involved...

Thank you for showing a great project and new approach.

curiousgeorge

Hello Harry,
Man! Thats exciting and beautiful work. I really enjoyed talking to you on Skype about this project the other day. I was really anxious to see how it came out. You did a great job presenting the project and hope it tweaks the interest about female template routing.
So far I have only been successful in creating a lot of scrap lumber but will keep trying. If only I could do half as good...

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George

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem...

challagan

Very nice Harry. The photo essay is great, thanks. In the second to last photo it looks like you suffered some tear out in the process. It appears that you used a round over to finish the top edges, I assume that fixed the tear out... or ragged edges?

So what do you have planned for a lid? Fancy work? Stay away from that Lacquer, that stuff is nasty!

Corey

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harrysin

You are of course dead right Corey, there was some break-out which left me with two choices, either use a round-over or plane a little off the top edge using the router mounted on the ski's, I may still do the latter depending on how I make the lid which as yet I haven't given much thought to, but do keep watching this space! Thanks for the compliments.
Tom paid a second visit today with several new ideas which he filmed as I tested them with good results, he also gave me a sample from his training DVD and if the rest of it is as good it will be a best seller, I must confess that I had not expected such a professional end result. Harry

harrysin

Thanks George for you're kind words, I hope that now you have seen how it's done you will Skype me in the next few days in a state of great excitement at having had success. I'm more than a little surprised that only regulars to this forum have shown interest, could they be too shy to ask questions or give opinions? Harry

harrysin

Hi Joe, I can't see any way of routing the outside as you described, what would control the path of the cutter? The way shown, the plug does the guiding, in any case wouldn't the walls look very thick and clumsy? The whole idea of using stock larger than the finished project is to ensure that the cutter can never touch the devices which hold it. You will notice Joe that I cut-in on a clear section. At least it shows that you are thinking about the project and I hope that the guys out there are prepared to listen to Tom and try his methods, the pleasure that I have been getting since studying routing with Tom is immeasurable. Regards Harry.

Joe Lyddon

Hi Harry,

Yes, cutting around the top of the outside edge would be step#1 where the template could be tacked / nailed / taped / screwed into the center part of the workpiece prior to hogging it out. And the depth of the cut would ONLY take it a little over the Holders... flush trimming the other half / part would be the Last step using the cut portion as the guide.

Would it work?

Yes, I look forward to seeing all of the projects from both you and Tom.
Keep up the good work!

curiousgeorge

Hi Harry,
I can only guess as to why the lack of interest but, probably, the newer guys (beginners like me) are intimidated by what they perceive as an advanced method... and they would be correct. The thing is, if you don't attempt more advanced or different methods your skills will never improve and this is a much safer method than freehand or table top routing. I believe the more weapons you have in your arsenal the better the outcome on your projects.
Come on guys... stretch a little, learn a lot! You have an opportunity to learn something fun from a couple of real experts.

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George

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem...

challagan

Harry, not suprising to me. That is what we have to work on around here... all of us. We have a whole lot of members but only a small portion post and an even smaller portion are regulars. That's the number 1 problem.

While I enjoy reading about these methods, I am kind of a jointery guy and will for the most part that is how I make my boxes but I would like to make some divided interiors at some time. I do however plan on using some of Tom's methods in decorating and carving lids etc. with the template holder etc. Your last post helped me out tremendously there Harry.

Regardless whether I use these methods or not, I find them interesting. We all need to foster more interest in what we do and get more members involved here. So don't take it to heart Harry, Keep at it and maybe more folks will crawl out of the wood work

Corey

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My Carving Website: The Iowa Woodcarver
http://iowacarver.tripod.com/

My Shop Website - Woodshop 51503
http://woodshop51503.tripod.com/