Help with hand held router profiling

[mac1012]

Hi i purchased a triton router at christmas and have been very pleased with it

I have managed to make a template and router my clock recessess for the quartz movement (so much better and quicker) than using a large forstner bit that i tried.

i am now making some wall clocks and i want to put some nice profiles around the edges.

ideally i need a router table which would make the process a lot easier unfortunateley having spent a lot of money on tools recentley budget wont allow.

i am not keen on making my own i prefer to have a manufactured table.
i had a go using router hand held last weekend with some success , i am using cutter with bearing guide on the bottom the part i found tricky was engaging the wood at the start as i found it difficult to know i was in right place.

as the bit engages the wood before the bearing aligns the cutter i never sure if im level with the work peice.

i doing the profile all the way round a square work piece so need the corners of profile to be same all way around

any hints and tips on how to make this function beeter would be great as doing some wall clocks is my weekend project.

thanks mark.

 

[ColeyS1]

I realise you said you'd prefer to buy a router table but making one really isn't that difficult ;-)

Find a piece of 18mm something

Transfer mounting hole position from router to wood

Then cut hole in wood big enough for the cutter to poke through.

Bolt together

Thats really all there is to it. As what youre doing is bearing guided you dont need all fancy fences and super hitech ways of adjusting the height by 0.0001mm. The main goal is to have your 18mm piece of wood large enough to support the timber you want to trim/profile.

Another thought. If you've got some mitre mate handy, I quite often temporarily glue a piece of wood (same thickness as workpiece) to the side of the router base. Then theres no chance whatsoever of having those wibbly wobbly moments :lol:

 

[Racers]

Hi,

My router table was a piece of MFC (it was a kitchen cupboard shelf) an a length of 2x2, I fixed it to a cheap workmate clone by unscrewing the jaws and screwing it on, it worked very well.
You don't need to spend a fortune on a router table.

Pete

 

[mac1012]

thanks guys but as i said earlier i dont want to make my own table.

mark

 

[siggy_7]

Sounds like what you need is an offset baseplate. Trend sell them, or you can get a piece of Ply/MDF/Perspex/whatever and make one yourself. Instead of cutting out a round plate, on one side extend it out further by about 6-8", tapering down, and mount a handle on that end. You place this part of the base plate on the work first, push down on the handle, and then with the other hand guide the router onto the work. This offset creates a lot more stability when edge-routing.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Mark

So you need a router table but can't afford one and won't make one, that only leaves hand holding.

You can hand hold a router on small pieces, but tipping at the corners can spoil the whole piece, you can use an another piece of the same thickness next to it or all around it to support the router.

But making a simple router table is so much easier.

Pete

 

[mac1012]

Hi pete can afford one but dont want to make one , my budget for tools wont allow at the moment as spent quite a bit on tools recentley

i dont want to make one for various reasons simple as that,

had a go today hand held and was quite pleased with the results will use a smaller router that my mate has got next week;

hand held is a interim solution until i get table next few months , thats why i posted for any tips as just dipping my toe into the routing world.

mark