Shopsmith Forums

I noticed some people had shown some interest in birdsmouth joints as cut with a router bit a week or so ago. Since I have such a set and have a project that I want to do I'll let you follow along if you wish.

This is posted in general wood working and not in the beginners area because while a simple project you do have to know something about routing before you start.

I set up my router table with a split fence today as the bit needs to be buried in the fence for safety and control. I am simply clamping the fence on at a convenient location. This fence has a dust port for what that is worth.
As I mentioned the bit is behind the fence with just the very tip extending beyond.
That tip needs to be 7/32" up from the table for my project. This dimension is critical so make sure it is where you set it and that it is set correctly.
Once set you now move the fence to take a deeper cut and do this is steps, I used quite a few, some people might try to do it in one pass........ I don't think that is a good idea. What you are looking for is to get the top edge and the cut to match, but to be safe you really want to stop just before that happens. In this shot we have a ways to go.
The last cut is fine and slow to make sure you don't mess anything up. You can see how much of the cutter is now exposed.
And the final cut looks like this.
I'm going to have some popcorn and then come back with more on this.

Ed

The bit pictured in mounted in the router table is one of a set of three. I am attempting to make an eight sided object so this is the correct bit for that. I'm using 3/4" stock.
I am using a 2" insert in the table which is about right for this bit.
When most people here of an 8 sided object they picture a regular octagon. Not always the case, as seen here.
The sides are not tapered in case you are wondering.
In the next post I'll show you have I made the bottom.

Ed

With the part held together by rubber bands I was able to trace what the bottom looked like. Using an 1/8" brass bar I increased the size by 1/8". I then cut out the part.

Next I wanted to leave a 1/4" strip at that size and reduce the 1/2" back to the correct size. By adjusting the fence and height I then started trimming the edges.
Some of those edges were pretty short so I wanted to add a little extra support and length to them. That was done with double sided tape and a piece of waste stock as shown here.
When I was finished it looked like this.
I made a corresponding cut in the other pieces, which lend them selves to this hidden joint.
And in the end or bottom you have a captured part.
I still have a bit of work to do, might not bore you with all those details unless someone has some particular desired for me to do so. It will be several days before I can get back to this, more pressing projects and the likes.

Ed

Ed, Thanks for posting this. It is interesting to see how the bird's mouth joint is done on a router, having just done it on a table saw.

Also, can you tell us a little about the router fence you are using? Is it a commercially sold fence or something you assembled yourself (I assume the extrusion was purchased somewhere)? Thanks in advance. --Al

algale wrote:Ed, Thanks for posting this. It is interesting to see how the bird's mouth joint is done on a router, having just done it on a table saw.

Also, can you tell us a little about the router fence you are using? Is it a commercially sold fence or something you assembled yourself (I assume the extrusion was purchased somewhere)? Thanks in advance. --Al

The fence is from another router table, I believe it might have been from back in the late 1990's so it is unlikely to be in stores but perhaps at a garage sale?? It is pretty basic but does the job and I can use it on its intended table or here on my other router table.

Ed