# skirting board routing jig



## recipio (16 Jun 2008)

:? Hi all,
this is my first post on here so here goes.
I saw a routing jig being demonstrated at the February Ally Pally show. It took a profile ,say of a skirting board and routed the scribed profile to match it. 
For the life of me ,I can't find it on searching online. It looked pretty good and it had just been launched on the market. The price tag, about £250 put me off at the time but now I've got a housefull of skirting boards to install and would like to buy one.
Can anyone identify the jig for me. ?

thanks.


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## woodbloke (16 Jun 2008)

Can't identify what you're after...but welcome to the forum - Rob


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## bugbear (16 Jun 2008)

recipio":1oibhtn4 said:


> :? Hi all,
> this is my first post on here so here goes.
> I saw a routing jig being demonstrated at the February Ally Pally show. It took a profile ,say of a skirting board and routed the scribed profile to match it.
> For the life of me ,I can't find it on searching online. It looked pretty good and it had just been launched on the market. The price tag, about £250 put me off at the time but now I've got a housefull of skirting boards to install and would like to buy one.
> ...



I googled:
*
 router scribe skirting site:uk *

And that seemed helpful

Edit: best price is toolstop, 149 quid.

BugBear


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## Tierney (16 Jun 2008)

Assuming you have a mitre saw the method I use is:

Measure the length to the face of the skirting board that you are meeting
Add twice the thickness of your skirting to this lenght (i.e. one for each end)
Measure the thickness in from the end and cut a mitre (i.e. the extra length is now the mitred piece)
The mitre will mark the line that you need to cut
Use a coping saw to cut along this line

Somebody showed me this way after I had done all but one of the rooms in my house!
David


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## oddsocks (16 Jun 2008)

I think one of the mags did a review of it a few months ago but cannot find it at the moment - from memory it was ok but you needed a small routed bit if the profile was anything other than basic. Also not ideal if the wood was to be varnished. if painted then the minor gaps could be filled


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## Malcolm R (16 Jun 2008)

I think you are referring to the Chamar Scribe http://www.chamar.ltd.uk


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## recipio (17 Jun 2008)

thank you all , especially Malcolm R. It is indeed the Chamar scribe.
Now for more trauma to the wallet !


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## dennis (17 Jun 2008)

Recipio

I would save my money and cut by hand it is easy enough and as has been said a router will not cut right into tight profiles. Unless you live in a mansion or have lots of alcoves there cant be too many internal corners.
I would make a profile template by mitreing both ends of an offcut then following the profile produced cut the straight section with a panel saw and the moulded section with a coping saw this gives you a profile template.As very few walls are plumb,the plaster often curves out slightly at the bottom unless you are prepared to spend a lot of time scraping off plaster or packing behind the skirting to ensure that the skirting is plumb when fixed which is only really necessary if the walls are a long way out.After fixing each length of skirting check in the corner with a square off the floor for how plumb the skirting is and compensate for this when making the next scribe,you could even use a sliding bevel and transfer to your next scribe.Work round a room as it is better to scribe just one end each time as opposed to two but there are occasions when you have to scribe both ends so it is more important to get the length correct.It is not as daunting as it might sound and you woul need to compensate for out of plumb corners with a router anyway unless you have a bucketful of putty so as I save your money.

Dennis


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## jasonB (17 Jun 2008)

There was quite a long thread on screwfix site about this a few months back. the only thing I can see it being worth while for is if you are second fixing whole houses with MDF skirting where speed is the main aim and anything else can be delt with using painters mate :wink: Not really worth it for fancy hardwood mouldings in out of square old houses.

Jason


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## recipio (18 Jun 2008)

Thanks again guys.
I'm more an amateur cabinet maker and not a carpenter so I absolutely hate fitting skirting boards. I found the Chamar at www.toolstop.co.uk for £149--it definitely was about £250 at the show !.It can compensate for out of square joints and I'll probably use a spiral cutter for smoothness if possible.( I note the video of the tool in action shows a long thin cutter.)
I could'nt face days of cutting/scribing by hand so the Chamar is on the way.!
I'll post a review after I've used it, if it works its cheap at that price.

cheers.


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## dennis (18 Jun 2008)

Recipio

Looking forward to your review as for one thing I cannot see the cutters keeping an edge especially in hardwood and I would think that the time saved would be minimal if any on one house plus as has been said it will not cut into tight profiles which is fine if you are filling and painting.

Dennis


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## bugbear (18 Jun 2008)

Can any of the experts here comment on wether a wood rat (or little rat) could be coerced/persuaded into performing this task?

BugBear


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## andy king (18 Jun 2008)

oddsocks":21wcezrx said:


> I think one of the mags did a review of it a few months ago but cannot find it at the moment - from memory it was ok but you needed a small routed bit if the profile was anything other than basic. Also not ideal if the wood was to be varnished. if painted then the minor gaps could be filled



Yep, I reviewed it for Good woodworking.
As said here, and elsewhere by others, better suited for long runs of work on painted skirtings or basic profiles.
Finer cutters are more prone to snapping as well, so that has to be accounted for if you go down this route.
Having known about this product for over a year while it was being developed, I have to say it is very well constructed, but as I said in the review, on more complex joints you need fine cutters, and it leaves small internal radii which prevents a really snug fit unless the joint is sprung. 
Also, the guide pins, which have to match the cutters are all metric, so you need exact matches to them. A chippy doing housefuls of bullnose applications will likely have a router and 1/2in cutter for routing work, but will need a 12mm for the Charmar to get a snug joint.
The Charmar site has a page with my review, but it doesn't seem to be able to be magnified to read it...
hope this helps.

Andy

PS. you have to spend a bit of time getting the best possible fit for the profile pins as well as any discrepancy here is replicated in the finished cut.


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## recipio (19 Jun 2008)

Thanks again, 
what a helpful site.
Andy, I saw your review but as you say it's too small to read.
I made my own profiled skirting boards out of yellow pine which I'll varnish so I'd like to be as accurate as possible.
Every new tool need a bit of tweaking ?
I'll post my experiences after a bit of use.

cheers


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## recipio (27 Jun 2008)

:? Well, got the Chamar today. Very nice jig and well made.The 'fingers' are steel and should provide an accurate template.
_However_ there is no instruction manual, just a dvd ( with no sound ) to assemble the jig and absolutely no reference to the 4 provided steel guide pins which are crucial to guiding the router baseplate along the profile.
When to use 4,6,8 or 10 mm pins and do I need to match these with router cutters.??
Either this is a careless case of packing or Chamar are really cutting corners to save money. Come of guys, we'll pay the extra for a manual !
More anon.


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## dennis (27 Jun 2008)

I would think that the cutter size should match the pin size and that the tighter the profile the smaller the pin to give the closest fit.But how a 4mm cutter will perform consistently and efficiently across end grain we shall have to see.Have you contacted them about the manual as it is hard to believe that they do not supply one.

Dennis


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## recipio (28 Jun 2008)

Thanks Dennis.
definitely no manual included. I tried emailing but it is bounced back to me.If I could get a copy of the article written by Andy King in the 200th edition of good Woodworking I'm sure it would help. If anybody has a copy I'd be grateful if they could contact me.

cheers.


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## chamar scribe (29 Jul 2008)

hi all,
we manufacture the chamar scribe and have watched this furum with intrest and take alot of your points on board. the question about cutters is something we are trying to address on the specifacation sheet it does inform the user what recomended cutters to use. totally right about manual we agonised over it for some time unfortunatley we are a very, very small fish in a very big pond(ALL CARPENTERS) . JUST ONE NOTE ON THE 4MM DOWN SPIRAL CUTTER I HAVE IN ALL THE TIME I BEEN USING THE JIG NEVER HAVE I HAD A BROKEN ONE. as long as the recomended speeds are adherd to you wont have a problem. with the more ornate dado/skirting the radius is minamul but we recomend you use a small file just to lose the radius if anyone needs any advise re the chamar all you have to do is go to the web site there is our number there and we will allways be available to chat. re the web site we are trying to get that sorted as well. andy did a very good review for the chamar and would advise anyone starting with a new product to seek his advise. (nice bloke).


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## chippy1970 (29 Jul 2008)

I spotted a machine for scribing mouldings the other day on This Old House on Discovery.

I must have seen this episode god knows how many times where they are doing up the old barn/garage in the garden for the retired parents and missed this bit.

Tom Desilva, I think his name is, is fitting some cornice and uses a machine with a circular saw blade that runs in any direction guided by a pin that follows the moulding shape and cuts the scribe.

Great if you have to do hundreds of scribes but for the average chippy a coping saw or a jigsaw does fine.


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