If you still need this manual let me know and I can send you a copy
cdl1701@yahoo.com
put RE: Rout-a-Signer manual in the subject

 

I'm having the same problem. the owner's manual is less than helpful. The whole set-up seems impossible to use. Any suggestions for non slanting letters?

 

Thank you alexnath!!! It is the first indication that I am not the only one that noticed this problem. I couldn't get anywhere with this issue. The templates that come with the set are perfectly straight, I follow the instructions and all I get is slanted letters on the wood. I have tried all kinds of settings with each of the adjustable parts, but have not found a solution. Freehand seems to be the only option, but if I did it often enough to do freehand and be good at it I never would have purchased the tool!
Maybe someone new will see your post and try again to answer.
I would have expected that the instructions would have at least indicated the "result" if it were going to be a different looking format than the template.

 

If you're talking about the letters being slanted, that's the way it works. You can not get the letters virticle.

 

You are right!



I just spent the last day trying to figure this out. There is no reason for a true pantograph to not make an exact copy of the the original, or a proportional copy. What I found with the Milescraft unit I am using is two things- 1) the router has to be exactly in the middle of the mount- inline with the connections to the side bars and half way between the side bars, and 2) the bar holding the router has to be exactly the same distance from the top bar at both ends (ie parallel).

On the Milecraft unit I am using the second case is not met. On the long sidebar that holds the stylist the router bar is exactly at the midpoint between the pivot and the stylist (14") (for 50%), but on the shorter side bar it is mounted at 13 5/8". This results in the vertical lines having a slant, and a slant that increases across the project. This violates the basic geometry of a pantograph. I don't know if the Craftsman unit has the same issue, but it is easy to check- perhaps you issue is the router mounting.

 

Figured out my problem, one of the pivots on the router bar was backwards. Now it makes very nice, straight letters.

 

Welcome to the forum, David.

Glad we provided a solution to your problem.

 

Before I get back into this again, does anyone know if the Milescraft unit that David has is similar enough to the Craftsman that I can use his information to get my Craftsman to make true vertical (NOT SLANTED) letters?
I am hoping that if I get in front of my Craftsman unit I can make sense of these new directions, but just reading it does not register with me. After the reply that indicated the Craftsman only makes slanted characters, I gave up.

 

Looking at the pictures of the Craftsman pantograph, it looks exactly like the milescraft. So, I will try to explain in detail what I found to be the problem.
The crossbar that holds the router connects to the two side arms with round black connectors. These clamp over the side bars using two screws. There is a bump on the bottom half of the round connectors that fits into a hole on the bottom of the side bar. Since the bottom half of the round connector can pivot 360 degrees it is possible for the pivot on one side of the route bar to be placed the opposite way from the one on the other side. If you measure the distance from the top cross bar to the router bar on both sides it must be the same (14" on the MileCraft and probably Craftsman, when set for 50%). If it is not the same, that is one measures 14" and the other 13 1/4" then the short side one is rotated 180 degrees. I hope this helps.

 

Having same problem.

I've inherited the 2572 route-a-signer from my father and I'm also having problems with letters slanted to the right. I've read all the comments posted here about possible solutions but none of them have worked for me. The previous post had a description that sounds nothing like the unit that I have. None of the nomenclature matches the manual that I have. The "router plate" (where the router sits) is hard mounted to the ''Guide tube'. The far end of the "Guide tube" has a pivot bar (threaded rod with a round head) that slides in a channel in the base. The "Stylus Tube" is connected to the "Router Plate" with a rivet that allows the stylus tube to move and adjust. There is a "tie bar" that connects the "stylus tube" by a single bolt to the "guide tube" and at the far end it it slotted so that the "stylus tube" is adjustable in relation to the "guide tube".

I've removed the baseplate from my router, centered it on the route-a-signer "router plate", marked the holes and drilled them out so that my router is centered and hard mounted to the plate. The template holder is below and parallel to the centerline of the workpiece. I've set the device up exactly as the manual states, even has pics, but to no avail.
I do have the manual in pdf format that I can attach if necessary so that we are all on the same page. Some users have stated that they have corrected their problems but have not listed the specific fix. Any help would be appreciated.

 

The 2572 operation is fairly simple to understand, but it does not work like a pantograph. To understand its working, cut a cardboard triangle with sides 6",6",8". Lay a carpenters square on a flat table, with the long side towards you, and the short side to your left. Place the 8" side of the cardboard against the square and slide it to the left until the corner is touching in the inside corner of the square. Keeping the right tip of the triangle down on the square, move the left tip of the triangle up and note that the top tip of the triangle moves up and to the right. The right triangle tip had to move slightly to the left for this to happen. Puttting the triangle back to the beginning location, slide the triangle to the right and note that the top tip moves straight to the right. The mehanism of th 2572 has the bit of a router at the top tip of a triangle, a scribe to trace a pattern on the left tip, and a guide pin which fits into a slot on its right tip The letter pattern holder can be adjusted up and down, and there are 11 slots for the right tip. Generally the router bit should be placed on a center line of where the letters will be, and the right and left tip kept level by choosing a slot and moving the pattern to match it. Adjusting the length on the sides changing the shape. With the router at poinnt A of these two triangles, the stylus tracing at point B, and a pin at point S which can slide only horizontally because its in a slot the first triangle shown when tracing a line straight up will move point A up and to the right, while pooint S will be pulled slightly to the left. The second triangle shown will result in the length of the line being traced upwards being longer than the first triangle. (higher letter result, but not wider)
A simple plywood form can do this, but it would not be adjustable,

 

Hi Wally and welcome. Thanks for the update.

 

I have made a simple device to use the sign a router, I made a bridge on the left end of it, 1" high and 12" wide, to mount the letter guide onto. The bridge crosses over the wood and clears a standard board by 1/4". Then I made a second bridge on the right side, it also clears the board by 1/4". I placed a series of grooves similar to the ones in the sign a router on top of this right end bridge. I used a plywood 1/4" thick, 6 inch wide, and 38" long, mounted my router onto the plywood leaving a 1" section on the left end. On this left end, I attached a 5" wide x 2" x3/4" wood, and then attached a 1" wide x 5" long piece of 1/4" plywood. centering the 1" wide on the 5" block of wood so that it sticks out to the left. Then I placed a board into the device, under the two bridges, and clamped it. Next I placed the new piece onto the signboard to measure the far left end out over the letter holder, and marked where the stylus guide needed to be to place the stylus at the far left point inside the guide. Drilling a 1/4" hole in the 1" wide plywood and attached the guide stylus in this hole. I drilled a centered hole 1" from the right end of the 5" wide plywood, and attached the stylus guide that normally goes into the 11 slots at that point.
This finished device puts the letter guide in a straight line to the router bit and straight on to the guide and slot on the right end. (instead of in a triangle as I described earlier) It makes straight letters, which are slightly shorter on the right side, for example the left side of a letter H will be about 1/32" taller than the right side of the letter). The longer the assembly is (from left to right), the smaller that difference will be.

 

Wally, could you post a picture of your modified setup?