Routing a table top advice

[timberdog]

HI All,
Im trying to make what i would call a 'scaloloped' table top. Ive only had a router for a day but have already done this goo.gl/K9RBdQ. I would like some other reliable and more accurate way to do this. sdome kind of template/jig to enable me to make small repetitive movements with the router over a large surface...Any ideas.
As I said I am very new to this but have enthusiasm in buckets

 

[custard]

Here's the jig that cuts the scallops on the crest rail of this chair, it uses a cone shaped router bit,

To be honest I'd suggest working through some simpler router exercises first, so that you're fully familiar with routing basics, before progressing to template copy work with a router. Unless you know what you're doing you can chew up a lot of good timber, not to mention your fingers!

 

[timberdog]

Yes, I do agree I need practice. Im not sure if you saw the video but here is an image of what I am insterested in doing via a jig. I did this with a core-box bit but would rather do with a large Horizontal Crown bit for a shallower effect.
I know I may seem a bit eager and I guess I am, I can practice on cheap timber. I am a picture framer by trade so I understand fine tollerances/measurments and the need to take my time but as far as I am concerned I should've been doing this for years and I want to get on with it

 

[custard]

That's fairly straightforward, a "hatched" effect obtained by a series of equally spaced crossing cuts.

You'd run the router's base plate against some sort of fence, try googling "housing joint router jig" and you'll see some appropriate fence designs. After that it's just a matter of stepping off the fence by equal amounts, or keeping the fence fixed and moving the workpiece by equal amounts. But for a one-off it's probably just as quick to layout the design in pencil directly on the workpiece and cramp down the fence so it's aligned at each of the grid lines. It's not a jointing or mating surface, so you wouldn't have to be accurate beyond +/- 0.5mm and you can achieve that with a fence working to grid lines.

The only element of skill is to maintain a tight contact between the router and the fence through all the cuts, even that can be taken out of the equation by constructing a fence that constrains the router on two sides rather than one, or by using a "track" system such as this,

http://www.powertool-supplies.co.uk/fes ... ltEALw_wcB

 

[custard]

Building on the "router track" idea mentioned above. I'm regularly faced with cutting a 1mm wide groove for inlay, this generally comes late in the life of a project so you've got hundreds of hours of work already invested, which you can then destroy with just one slip. I often use a router track for jobs like this, the set up takes a bit of time, but you significantly reduce any chance of a mistake.

I'm sure you can easily see how this general arrangement could be adopted to your cross hatching requirement. The router track could be fixed between two battens that effectively contain the workpiece, and the workpiece would then just be slid along by a fixed amount between each cut. As my daughter might say, easy peasy lemon squeezy!

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

You are talking about using a 'large horizontal crown bit, for a shallower effect'. I'm afraid these are likely to be bits not to be used in a hand held router. I would think again, large diameter bits can be dangerous. Inexperience, a massively powerful router and a big diameter bit do not make happy bedfellows.

Mike.

 

[timberdog]

Thanks for all the advice.
Mike, the bit in question is pictured here. Surely, at a shallow depth this would not bee dangerous? I'm only talking 20-30mm and only about 6-7mm deep, almost just the depth of the bit itself..or maybe when I'm a bit more experienced.....
OR maybe, build a table to suite my needs, that would be safer than handheld...?