Shopsmith Forums

Ed,

I'm guessing you are making an adjustable version of the router guides you put together in post #25. The adjustable jig thus allows you to make square and/or rectangular guides of any size. JPG had the right idea in his earlier post where he said "but you WILL attach the four identical pieces into an adjustable rectangular shape".

I now understand the importance of understanding the bushing dimensions and how those measurements work (one needs to understand the offset measurements involved). It would also explain why you say the t-tracks need to be positioned flush to the wood framing thus keeping the surface the router slides on level.

drmcroberts wrote:Ed,

I'm guessing you are making an adjustable version of the router guides you put together in post #25. The adjustable jig thus allows you to make square and/or rectangular guides of any size. JPG had the right idea in his earlier post where he said "but you WILL attach the four identical pieces into an adjustable rectangular shape".

I now understand the importance of understanding the bushing dimensions and how those measurements work (one needs to understand the offset measurements involved). It would also explain why you say the t-tracks need to be positioned flush to the wood framing thus keeping the surface the router slides on level.

I am guessing Don is right - makes sense and explains the 'extra' lesson. The inclusion of scales on the four pieces would be NICE!(especially if offset to account for the cutter/guide bushing offset). But that would require/assume the same bushing/bit always the same.!

OK what you have all been waiting for... not. Boy aren't you glad you don't here that much anymore??

This post is a short detail as I know Dusty or someone will be seeing both the jig and table it is sitting on and might wonder about what it is.

This is a cool idea I got some years ago over at the routerforum and I'll pass it on to you. First if you don't have one of these workmates I be checking the garage sales etc and pick on up. They are great for all sorts of project.

One thing you will find is the top has limited space, hole, and a large slot of the clamp top is open. By taking a scrap piece of plywood (in my case it is about 2' wide and 4 ' long). Attach a 2x4 as show then open the workmates vice and clamp it in there you have it. Nothing fancy but very useful.
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Ed

It seems that some of the readers have figured out the first part of this project. So now I'll post some pictures of it assembled and a few more to give you some other ideas of how to use it. Then I need to get started on the second phase... the part where it gets really interesting.

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I'm glad it all fit together, other wise I could have a lot of egg on my face.

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Depending on what router you use and how large the opening you could even use the router sub base as shown here (ie not bushing). The jig is primarily designed for plunge routers but depending on what you want to do you might be able to work something out with a fixed base. Right now I don't want to go there.
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It is also possible to use router like things like a rotozip... especially if you have the plunge attachment.
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I've got some other stuff to do but later I post some more information so keep on checking back here.

Ed

Hi,

As you can see I have indeed built a jig that can make either a squares or rectangles and in this very basic mode it will be useful. I'm going to add a few more examples and then at some point I will reveal to added bonus of this design. Please keep checking back I think you will find it interesting.

Ed

drmcroberts wrote:Ed,

I'm guessing you are making an adjustable version of the router guides you put together in post #25. The adjustable jig thus allows you to make square and/or rectangular guides of any size. JPG had the right idea in his earlier post where he said "but you WILL attach the four identical pieces into an adjustable rectangular shape".

I now understand the importance of understanding the bushing dimensions and how those measurements work (one needs to understand the offset measurements involved). It would also explain why you say the t-tracks need to be positioned flush to the wood framing thus keeping the surface the router slides on level.

Hi,

I had thought about adding a scale and might at some point. The hard part is the router will be sliding over it a lot and I don't know how well it would stand up to that.

I have a chart I will post later that makes the cutter/guide bushing a bit better for most people.

Ed

JPG40504 wrote:I am guessing Don is right - makes sense and explains the 'extra' lesson. The inclusion of scales on the four pieces would be NICE!(especially if offset to account for the cutter/guide bushing offset). But that would require/assume the same bushing/bit always the same.!

It looks like the rest of my afternoon is going to get washed out so I will post the pictures I have now and then wait to see if I can get a few more later in the day.

There are a few things I'd like to point out in case someone decides to build some thing like. If you don't use a router much or new to this whole thing one part might make you feel uneasy. Most of the router is off the guide and can feel like it might tip. Once you get the hang of it you might feel more comfortable but you sure don't want to wreck your project or day.
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As a way of making it feel more stable we can fall back to the double stick tape and a piece of scrap stock.
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By sticking the "foot" on it is just like you are use to. Please note that the piece I stuck on is larger then it should be and was used only to show you what it would look like. In actual use stay near the size of the sub base and keep in mind when you come to a corner you need to rotate the router keeping the foot towards the middle.
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Of course this is only one of several ways to deal with this.

Ed

Thinking back to the tilt box cut out I showed before this is how it might look with the new template and the correct size brass bar so the cut out will come out the right size.
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You will also need to use a square or similar to make sure the corners turn out correct. You could use a small brass one like pictured or even some blocks of wood that you know are square.
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Remember that this was a cut out and very small, just over 2"x2" so the router base can span the cut. If you get to making larger cutout you will have to deal with this issue. One option is to make a larger sub base as shown here:
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Ed

The Veritas Saddle Square is available from Lee Valley for $14.50. The larger version is priced at $16.50

Small - http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=44836&cat=1,42936,50298

Large - http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=48041&cat=1,42936,50298

They also have one for marking dovetails - http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=49424&cat=1,42936,50298

And, another for marking miters - http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=50262&cat=1,43293

They all look like nice tools to have around the shop.

Last of the new information for a while. I just wanted people to have this other option running in their heads while they are thinking about this jig.

So you have a shelf unit you want to put together. You have the uprights and need to make some cuts for the shelf to fit in. Your options might be using your shopsmith and cutting them with a dado (you pick which version) or maybe you want to use a router. Since you have this new jig to play with maybe this is what you pick to use.

Again the router can be placed in the jig and the cut made in the fashion shown here:
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Another option is to use a guide bushing, in this case it is a 1-1/4" which happens to be the largest one for the PC style bushings. I also have shown the set of undersized bits that work with the undersized plywood.
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Now we are going to do a "what if" for all of you who are attempting in some additional mental exercise. Say we took an end of the shelf material added say a 1/2" space provided by the brass bar and we plan to use a 1" bushing and a 1/2" bit. (the shelf material is around 3/4").
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With this layout we would make a pass with the bushing on one side of the jig then return on the other side.
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So "what if" I/you did that?

Ed