Left over wood from nest boxes = new project

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Hi,

This is not strictly a beginners project and involves routers, so here we go.....

On the nest project I purchased additional wood for several projects. So far I have shown the #10 and #1 nest boxes.

https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=10164

The new project will be using the stack of wood shown in post 26, it's posted below so you don't have to go back to that thread unless you want to.

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I didn't cut it to size back then as I wasn't sure what the sizes should be. So step one was to resize to my plan. I had used the standard miter gauge last time but this time I pulled out the sled.

A couple of shots of the sled. From this view you can see the clamps I have installed and the "dog house" on the back which contains the kerf as you finish the cut.

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From the side you can see the replaceable inserts for both the bed and the fence. This is a feature I really like.

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In the next picture you see the blade as it finished the cut.

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After trimming as needed I went back for the sizing cuts. As it turns out the length I needed was just inside the range of the extension, so I clamped a piece of wood on that then let me measure and cut to the correct length.

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With all the pieces sized it was time to set up for some routing, check my next post for that.

Ed

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With my router table set up I new address the bit to use. The plan calls for a 3/4" cut bye 1/4" deep. The bit height is adjusted by the 1/4" brass bar. The plans call for doing plunge cuts so I have picked out a bit that is designed to plunge cut. Note in the picture the part that makes this a plunge bit, if it did not have this cutter then it would not be able to plunge.

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The cuts are in the center of the workpiece. To set up the fence I measure to the center then add 3/8" marks to each side. This can be a little off as we will be using the fence on the same side of each of the work pieces so they will all end up the same distance from the fence.

A brass angle can be held to the the workpiece and the bit to adjust the fence. You can then check the other side to make sure you are pretty close. Also in all cases you want to use the cutting edge of the bit to determine location.

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Parts A and B

In order to have all the cuts end up where they need to be I will be referencing one edge, for lack of better term let's call that the "top". The cuts will be stopped, as in they will not cut the entire length of the wood.

The "fronts" will hide the cut so you will not know that it exists. The "backs" will be hidden. This means there is a left and a right side. Since they are both referenced by the "top" this means one cut will start with a drop in to the router bit and the other will stop and be lifted off at the end of the cut.

I want the cut to start/stop 1/4" from the edge. I first establish the width of bit on the fence, then add the 1/4" and mark those positions.

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The mark is then used for the work piece that must be the drop in.

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I like to label the work piece, in addition to the "drop in" I also label the edge that will be against the fence or as referenced "top".

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More to come.

Ed

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The next piece has to stop at the mark so it will turn out like this:

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Since the fence has not moved and both parts have referenced the same "top" location the alignment should look like this.

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Had we end for ended one of the pieces this would not have been so close unless we were very lucky.

Part C

Again without moving anything we need a part that is stopped on both ends. You start at the drop in location and end at the pull up position and it should look like this.

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At this point I have 2 part A's, 2 part B's and 2 part C's. All this and I have not even told you what I'm building. I think I'll wait on that for a while yet.

Ed

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Now I'm going to change setups. Out with the 3/4" plunge bit and in with a 1/4" spiral bit. To do so requires a collet change (If your shopping for a router one thing to look for is the ability to take both 1/2" and 1/4" bits).

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A quick note here. When you are using the equipment shown below the bit must be centered in the guide bushing. I'm not going to cover doing that but if you have not done that then do so before attempting this sort of project.

I'm changing the table insert to an insert that excepts guide bushings. The guide bushings shown are what is typically called pc guide bushing which relates to it size and mounting method. Any router table you make or buy should have an insert that is capable of taking guide bushings. Guide bushing are pretty much a must as you get into routing.

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When put together it should look pretty much like this.

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We will get into more of this again in a while.

Ed

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The next part of the project will be to cut handles in parts A and B. Two cuts in each part for a total of 4 cut-outs.

I decided to use a "D" shape for this. It just so happened I have a template for this that I did for a picnic table project. I think reuse is a nice way to go and the size is about right.

I have already built the template but we can talk about the mark up I did to see what it would look like. That is as far as we are going to get for a while if the weather person is correct in the forecast.

The template looks like this.

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The inside is the finished size of the "D" hole. The larger opening is the template which we will be using to clean up the holes. The plan is to use a jig saw to ruff cut the hole then come back with the template and clean it up with the router.

I wanted to see what the hole might look like so I used the inside part and traced around it.

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The template along with the bit and the proper guide bushing is what will be used to clean up the cutout and will leave the hole the size of the inside lines.

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If you have questions go ahead and ask.

Ed

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Hi,

Got a bit more done today on the project.

To start with I drilled a starter hole in the workpiece so I could use a hand held jig saw to cut to the inside of the line, in the part marked with the "w" or waste area.

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I did a quick cut without spending much time trying to make it nice or a clean cut.

Now back to the router table where we have a 1/4" bit and 3/4" guide bushing. This combination and the template will produce the correct size "D" cut out.

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The template will be held to the work piece with double sided tape. This is way more tape then I normally would use but if you are unsure put this amount on.

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The template is aligned and stuck down after pealing the second release paper on the tape.

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The template is on the bottom of the stack and the brass guide bushing rides against the template. This cleans up the hole and sizes it.

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This works fine but I'll show you what I think is a better way using the same template and a plunge router, that is coming up soon.

Ed

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Before I spend to much time on other things I want to see how this "D" looks and feels when it is finished. In order to do that I want to change to a round over bit and do the inside of the "D".

The first bit I wanted to try was too close a fit for the insert, it might have worked but I went ahead and installed a larger one.

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I then adjusted the depth of cut for the first pass. On bits like this the deeper the cut the more material is removed in each pass. So the second cut can be set at a larger vertical depth and then reduced on each of the next cuts so the last pass is just say 1/32". I used three passes to get to the full radius of the bit. Keep in mind you do one side, flip do the other then adjust the depth do both sides then adjust again etc.

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I wasn't happy so I went to a larger radius bit, when I got the look and feel I wanted stopped.

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Since I have a lot more cuts that I want to all be the same I took the time to zero the router so I could come back to that same spot.

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Ed

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Now we will go into the plunge cutting of the "D". This is one of many time that have more then one router is a really nice idea. I can leave the bit and set up of the table and go to a second router that is in a plunge base.

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We are going to use the same 1/4" bit and the same 3/4" template guide now installed in the plunge base of the router.

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I then adjust the plunge so the bit almost touches the workpiece. This router allows you to fix this as the starting point or if you prefer this is where it returns after a plunge.

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I also want to set the max dept the bit can go. This is the thickness of the template and workpiece plus just a little to make sure I get a through cut.

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With the router ready I will now get the template and workpieces ready.

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Ed

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Again with the double sided tape. This time it is where the "D" cut out piece is going to be. The tape will help the piece stay put after is is cut free. The tape is stuck to the sacrificial work top when the work piece is placed down.

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Again like the earlier times the double stick tape holds the template in place, and I have added two clamps to make sure nothing moves while I'm routing.

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One pass

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Second pass

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Last pass

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If I were do many more of these I'd make a template with built in location, that would go a lot faster when placing and holding the work piece, as it is I'm only do a couple.

Stay tuned more to come.

Ed

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I thought maybe I start this post showing what the sacrificial surface looked like after some of the cutting. As you can see it was used for cutting some circles before and now you can see the marks left by the "D" cuts.

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I finished the "D" cuts and this is all of them.

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Moved over to the router table where I was set to do the round over cuts.

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Next I need to round some of the corners. This template is for use with a flush cut bit but I thought I'd give it a try with a 7/16" template and the same 1/4" bit. Again I took a couple of passes and did all the corners I needed to do.

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This is the stack for now. Still more router work to be done but I was done for the day.

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Ed