Jointing alternative?

5306 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by ejant, Nov 8, 2004

ktritz

Discussion Starter · Nov 6, 2004

I know it's fairly common practice to use a jointing fence on a router table with a slight offset on the outfeed side. However, this just guarantees as straight edge, not a parallel edge. Also, you are limited in thickness to the height of the cutting bit.

Is there a reason why you can't use a fence on the left side of the router?

This would let you get the sides parallel, allow stock up to twice the thickness of the cutter bit (by flipping the stock over), and let you control the final width of the stock.

I've attached an image showing what I mean. Is there a problem with kickback? Given the direction of rotation, I don't think you have to worry about it grabbing and throwing your piece.

Thanks,
Kevin

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reible

· #2 · Nov 6, 2004

The bit will pull the wood away from the fence, I don't think you want to do that......

Ed

ktritz

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 6, 2004

Hmm, would the featherboards and taking small cuts prevent this?

Otherwise I suppose a piece clamped to a sled riding along a miter slot or the table edge would do the same thing.

Thanks for your reply.

Kevin

Dewy

· #4 · Nov 6, 2004 (Edited)

Doing it that way you will be climb cutting which will move the wood through leaving ridges as it jerks through.
That is one of the most dangerous ways to use a router.
The router bit has to be exactly level with the outfield fence with the infield part of the fence determining the depth of cut with each pass.
You should turn the feather boards the other way and feed the wood through from the other side.

reible

· #5 · Nov 6, 2004

ktritz said:
Hmm, would the featherboards and taking small cuts prevent this?

Otherwise I suppose a piece clamped to a sled riding along a miter slot or the table edge would do the same thing.

Thanks for your reply.

Kevin

The featherboards will be the "fence" in your drawing and a springier fence is not going to give you a nice finish. Sorry........ To see what I'm talking about take a router bit in your hand, held below like it would be in the router then take a scrap of wood and put it against the edge of the bit, twist the bit..... Which direction did the wood move? It moved away from your pictured fence, towards the feather boards. You always want the bit to move the wood into the fence/bearing/???.

Think about how this is done minus the router.... One side would be made flat (jointer/hand plane) then that side is used to make the other side parallel by running it along the fence of a (table saw/hand saw) then it is cleaned up with again a (jointer/hand plane). Using a sled or miter slot would require the edge against the sled or miter gauge be at 90deg.......... I'm not really sure what you are trying to do but if you explain that maybe someone here can explain how it is done.

BTW I like your drawings, nice!

Ed

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Dewy

· #6 · Nov 7, 2004

ktritz
On another woodworking forum someone had just got a router table and wondered why it seemed so dangerous with him being unable to get a good finish.
He was passing the timber against the fence and pushing it through the right way but had not set the bit with only a part proud of the fence.
He had set the fence well back and was trying to pass the timber between the cutter and the fence.
When he realised how wrong he was he tried the right way and was pleased with the result.

ChasWahl

· #7 · Nov 7, 2004

Though "taboo" according to everything I've read, I've used you're method frequently over the last six months in jointing rails and stiles for picture frame mouldings (narrow stock: 4/4" thick x 1 1/4" wide). Hope somebody has a better way to achieve parallel sides on the router table - been looking long and hard for a solution...!

BobandRick

· #8 · Nov 7, 2004

ktritz said:
I know it's fairly common practice to use a jointing fence on a router table with a slight offset on the outfeed side. However, this just guarantees as straight edge, not a parallel edge. Also, you are limited in thickness to the height of the cutting bit.

Is there a reason why you can't use a fence on the left side of the router?

This would let you get the sides parallel, allow stock up to twice the thickness of the cutter bit (by flipping the stock over), and let you control the final width of the stock.

I've attached an image showing what I mean. Is there a problem with kickback? Given the direction of rotation, I don't think you have to worry about it grabbing and throwing your piece.

Thanks,
Kevin

Trapping the piece between the router bit and the fence is NOT a safe practice. In my opinion you size your material on the table saw not the router.

ktritz

Discussion Starter · #9 · Nov 7, 2004

My main purpose is to try and find a way to get flat, parallel, and dimensional pieces out of S2S stock, or stock that has rough and uneven edges.

I suppose a jointer is the proper tool for the job, but I currently don't have one. The standard method for jointing using a router gives straight edges, but not necessarily parallel edges.

I understand that the router would be pulling the piece away from the fence, I was just hoping that small cuts and the featherboard would prevent this. Since I've not tried it, I could very well be wrong. Obviously, feeding the stock in the other direction would be dagerous as the router could catch and throw the stock.

I referred to a method using a sled above. This is kinda what I was thinking:

The sled would be braced against the 1/4" raised plate. The stock would be held against the sled with clamps to resist the pull by the router. Then, as long as the sled back was square, the piece should come out square and parallel. Then, the dimensions of the piece could be controlled by shimming against the brass pins.

What do you guys think?

Kevin

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ktritz

Discussion Starter · #10 · Nov 7, 2004

I don't have a table saw. I have a relatively small garage shop with a CSMS, a jigsaw, and a router. I'm in the process of building the table for the router.

fredsintheshop

· #11 · Nov 8, 2004

Regarding your sled idea, a similar sled was demonstrated at www.woodshopdemos.com, but I can't find the exact link at the moment. His sled ran in a mitre slot.

reible

· #12 · Nov 8, 2004

ktritz said:
I don't have a table saw. I have a relatively small garage shop with a CSMS, a jigsaw, and a router. I'm in the process of building the table for the router.

I looked at the sled idea, you still have two problems, one the bit is still pulling the wood away from the pins and second the force in the other direction pushs in to the area with the clamps which might or might not be 90deg to the first cut........

I would think about the jigsaw to square the stock then joint to clean it up.....

I didn't want to get into the safety part of this but, this method is a major NO-NO. You can hurt youself, the router, the bit and you just don't want to do it that way. We would like you to keep visiting the forum so please don't do this......

I'm sorry if this seems a little strong but following "Safety First" is job one in the shop.

Ed

ktritz

Discussion Starter · #13 · Nov 8, 2004

The pins are there just to index the width of the piece. The toggle hold-down clamps are designed to keep the piece from being pulled by the bit. If you think the clamps will not be able to do this, then I agree that this isn't a good solution either.

I have a pretty decent jigsaw, just picked up the new Bosch barrel-grip, and it did a very good job of squaring the MDF for my router table, so this may very well be the way to go. I wonder if it would be feasible to design a table-mount for the jigsaw and turn it in to a poor man's bandsaw.

Be all means, get in to the safety part. I would much rather learn from you guys here than by losing a body part or two.

Thanks for your advice.

Kevin

reible

· #14 · Nov 8, 2004

ktritz said:
The pins are there just to index the width of the piece. The toggle hold-down clamps are designed to keep the piece from being pulled by the bit. If you think the clamps will not be able to do this, then I agree that this isn't a good solution either.

I have a pretty decent jigsaw, just picked up the new Bosch barrel-grip, and it did a very good job of squaring the MDF for my router table, so this may very well be the way to go. I wonder if it would be feasible to design a table-mount for the jigsaw and turn it in to a poor man's bandsaw.

Be all means, get in to the safety part. I would much rather learn from you guys here than by losing a body part or two.

Thanks for your advice.

Kevin

Kevin,

The second method you showed is safer then the first, at least in the second case the wood is not trapped in between the fence and the bit. If things were to go wrong something has to give, who knows what is the weakest link. At least in the second case the sled can just move away from the edge. You will also need to cover the router bit somehow......

I guess if I were to do something like you have shown I would 1) move the clamps to the edge with the pins to try and keep the wood pressed to the pins. 2) I would locate a pin where the clamps were instead of wood. The pin would be as close to the cutting edge as it could be, this makes the issue of being out of square less of an issue. 3) add sandpaper under where the wood sits.

This still leaves how to adjust the width of stock so you can make a light pass then take another, much less a bunch of different size stock.....

The router table might make a fine saw table if the jigsaw has some mounting holes in the base or if you can make an easy safe way to hold it in place. If the table has the pop out plate like on the router workshop one you could make an interchangeable plate for the jigsaw.

Ed

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FordPrefect

· #15 · Nov 8, 2004

I think reible may have a good idea. Would it also be a good idea to put a fence over the riser plate so that only a small part of the bit is exposed. That way you get the safety of reduced passes and a fence, but you still get to set the width of the stock. With some minor modifications, this is no different than how Bob and Rick use templates to cut their patterns.

ejant

· #16 · Nov 8, 2004

Looks like in the second one as it gets past the rear pin the wood is going airborn.

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