Router Planing Fixtures

[TerribleTim68]

.34" is pretty thin. That's basically 1/4", I guess it depends on what you plan to use it for. I'm not sure it'll span very far before flexing, nor would it hold up much weight. But if it's gonna be the bed of the sled, under the piece of wood, I would think it should be okay for that.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Just bumping this one back up to the top, mostly so it's easier for me to find later.
As mentioned in the "What's On Your Workbench" thread, I need to build a sled to flatten some cutting boards. Think of them as a body blank, no different.
Anyways, big thank you to Mr. Bruce and Lo-E for the reminder of this thread. I think I'm just gonna go back to the basics and build something similar to what Bruce posted the very first page, in the very first post. Just a basic sled. After looking at those photos and thinking about some free lumber scraps I picked up last week, I think I got a plan.

Yeah, my original Router Planing Fixture, from the first page, is simple to build and really worked quite well. I forget exactly when I built it, but it planed all my body blanks for about 15 years. The important thing is to build the bridge router base stiff enough in the vertical direction, so the router doesn't flex up and down under load. I recommend that the side walls of the bridge are about 4" tall. That's important.

The new Super Router Planer is bigger, stronger and somewhat faster, but not by that much. It's mostly designed to be quickly adaptable to different jobs via the sub-fixtures that slide into it.

Coming up soon, I'm going to be adding another adapter fixture to the Super Router Planer, which will give it a new capability: Operating as a Super Pin Router Planer! A specialized pin router that router-planes, for flattening the strips that we laminate into necks.

 

[MovinTarget]

.34" is pretty thin. That's basically 1/4", I guess it depends on what you plan to use it for. I'm not sure it'll span very far before flexing, nor would it hold up much weight. But if it's gonna be the bed of the sled, under the piece of wood, I would think it should be okay for that.

It may work as the base of the sled *IF* you reinforce it. The advantage would be that not as much of your plunge depth would be taken up by the base's thickness. So you can plunge more.

Again, you would *REALLY* want to reinforce it.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Yeah, my original Router Planing Fixture, from the first page, is simple to build and really worked quite well. I forget exactly when I built it, but it planed all my body blanks for about 15 years. The important thing is to build the bridge router base stiff enough in the vertical direction, so the router doesn't flex up and down under load. I recommend that the side walls of the bridge are about 4" tall. That's important.

The new Super Router Planer is bigger, stronger and somewhat faster, but not by that much. It's mostly designed to be quickly adaptable to different jobs via the sub-fixtures that slide into it.

Coming up soon, I'm going to be adding another adapter fixture to the Super Router Planer, which will give it a new capability: Operating as a Super Pin Router Planer! A specialized pin router that router-planes, for flattening the strips that we laminate into necks.

I’ve been thinking about how to adapt my router plane fixture to the pin router myself. Looking forward to what you come up with Bruce.

 

[TFM94]

A specialized pin router that router-planes, for flattening the strips that we laminate into necks.

Sounds super interesting, can you elaborate on that? I've used a router sled for thicknessing and flattening neck laminates, but likely with a much simpler setup than you are envisioning. How do you incorporate the pin, and how is it used when planing?

 

[Lo-E]

Question: it turns out I have a stash of MDF in the house, apparently left over from projects I don't even remember. The thickness is about 0.34". Can I use this for router fixtures, or should I keep it for templates?

Router fixtures should really be made as rigid as is practical to make them. With that in mind, and since your MDF is a windfall that you forgot you had, I would keep it for templates and use heavier stock for fixturing. By the time you reinforce .34” MDF enough to use as a fixture you’ve spent more time and energy than the free material is worth. Just stick with .75” for the fixtures.

 

[Flamingo21]

Thanks, I will.

 

[ardgedee]

By the time you reinforce .34” MDF enough to use as a fixture you’ve spent more time and energy than the free material is worth. Just stick with .75” for the fixtures.

2 x .34" = 0.68" which is really close to 0.75"... so is it reasonable to glue two sheets together and use that?

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Sounds super interesting, can you elaborate on that? I've used a router sled for thicknessing and flattening neck laminates, but likely with a much simpler setup than you are envisioning. How do you incorporate the pin, and how is it used when planing?

I'm actually going to start building the fixtures and parts over the weekend, and hopefully start using them next week. I'll be documenting it all here on this thread, of course.

But here's the idea:
For many years, I've been surfacing my neck strips in the fixture you can see in post #34 of this thread. A very basic router planing fixture, long and narrow. The strips are clamped horizontally, resting on gauge blocks. The hand router rides along the top rails. It works very well. Good straight surfaces, ready for gluing. But now I'm moving into higher production mode here. I'm looking at doing 20 sets of strips in a batch. I'd like to speed up the process.

So, I was thinking of doing this job in the Big Green Pin Router. Make a long narrow fixture that holds the strips with quick-release clamps. Put a large flat bottom router bit in the pin router's spindle, and a 1/4" pin in the table. The template on the underside of the fixture would just have straight 1/4" wide slots, cut on the tablesaw. The position of the slots would set the path of the router bit. I'd align the slots so that the bit would climb cut down one side of the strip, cross over into the next slot, and back up the other side. Just like I do now with the hand router. But in much less time. I'd be sliding the fixture down the table and back; one pass.

That sounds real good. And then I thought about the Super Router Planer. It's got a big router motor, a large flat bottom bit, precision depth adjustment, a rigid bridge frame, a long, narrow bed........Well, huh. All it's missing is ...a pin!

The Super Router Planer's bed is made so different holding fixtures slide in and lock down quickly. I could slide a long smooth piece of MDF in there....with a single 1/4" pin sticking up in the middle of it. Move the bridge to the middle of the bed, centering the router bit over the pin, and clamp the bridge in place. And there's a special purpose pin router, made just for router planing! I'd use the fixture I described above, sliding it down and back in the bed, with the slots following the pin.

That's the idea. The Super Router Planer could be quickly switched over to function as the Super Pin Router Planer, whenever I need it. I can think of other operations where I need to router plane the top surface of a part, and I could build a holding fixture with pin slots on the bottom. And, the Super Router Planer could quickly go back to its normal job, where large wide boards are locked down in the bed, and the bridge slides around.

 

[Lo-E]

2 x .34" = 0.68" which is really close to 0.75"... so is it reasonable to glue two sheets together and use that?

Reasonable? I’m not sure. It would certainly work but would it really be worth the extra work for something that won’t be as rigid as .75” and may not be as accurate?

.34” is already well suited to making master templates. Why not just use it for something it’s already good for?

 

[Flamingo21]

"Super Pin Router Planer" is too long. Let's call it the Supirop.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

"Super Pin Router Planer" is too long. Let's call it the Supirop.

Or like we used to do in the defense contractor business: a straight acronym, with an added vowel. SPRP, pronounced SPiRP. When you are dealing with the Military, acronyms are a language of their own.

 

[Flying B]

I'm actually going to start building the fixtures and parts over the weekend, and hopefully start using them next week. I'll be documenting it all here on this thread, of course.

But here's the idea:
For many years, I've been surfacing my neck strips in the fixture you can see in post #34 of this thread. A very basic router planing fixture, long and narrow. The strips are clamped horizontally, resting on gauge blocks. The hand router rides along the top rails. It works very well. Good straight surfaces, ready for gluing. But now I'm moving into higher production mode here. I'm looking at doing 20 sets of strips in a batch. I'd like to speed up the process.

So, I was thinking of doing this job in the Big Green Pin Router. Make a long narrow fixture that holds the strips with quick-release clamps. Put a large flat bottom router bit in the pin router's spindle, and a 1/4" pin in the table. The template on the underside of the fixture would just have straight 1/4" wide slots, cut on the tablesaw. The position of the slots would set the path of the router bit. I'd align the slots so that the bit would climb cut down one side of the strip, cross over into the next slot, and back up the other side. Just like I do now with the hand router. But in much less time. I'd be sliding the fixture down the table and back; one pass.

That sounds real good. And then I thought about the Super Router Planer. It's got a big router motor, a large flat bottom bit, precision depth adjustment, a rigid bridge frame, a long, narrow bed........Well, huh. All it's missing is ...a pin!

The Super Router Planer's bed is made so different holding fixtures slide in and lock down quickly. I could slide a long smooth piece of MDF in there....with a single 1/4" pin sticking up in the middle of it. Move the bridge to the middle of the bed, centering the router bit over the pin, and clamp the bridge in place. And there's a special purpose pin router, made just for router planing! I'd use the fixture I described above, sliding it down and back in the bed, with the slots following the pin.

That's the idea. The Super Router Planer could be quickly switched over to function as the Super Pin Router Planer, whenever I need it. I can think of other operations where I need to router plane the top surface of a part, and I could build a holding fixture with pin slots on the bottom. And, the Super Router Planer could quickly go back to its normal job, where large wide boards are locked down in the bed, and the bridge slides around.

I can't help thinking that a thickness planer would achieve the same result with a lot less faffing about, or am I missing something?

 

[RichterScale]

My attraction to a router planing jig is that I'm making use of a small power tool that I already have, the sled/fixture is table top and can be stored when not used and I can make different fixtures or one adjustable fixture to do larger width boards.
Where a thickness planer needs its own footprint in the shop and you would need a big one to thickness wide boards.
If I had a planer and the space for it, I'd use it. But I can make due with the router.

 

[Flying B]

My attraction to a router planing jig is that I'm making use of a small power tool that I already have, the sled/fixture is table top and can be stored when not used and I can make different fixtures or one adjustable fixture to do larger width boards.
Where a thickness planer needs its own footprint in the shop and you would need a big one to thickness wide boards.
If I had a planer and the space for it, I'd use it. But I can make due with the router.

Sure I get that, those are valid points for a home hobbiest. But in a production workshop where speed/ volume are considerations it's different. I can't imagine there are many guitar production workshops without a planer/thicknesser, or a wide belt thicknessing sander for that matter.

 

[Jeff Siddall]

I can't help thinking that a thickness planer would achieve the same result with a lot less faffing about, or am I missing something?

How thin can most thickness planers go?

 

[Flying B]

Maybe 2 or 3mm, but if you stick your piece down onto a board then as thin as you like.

How thin can most thickness planers go?

 

[Matt Liebenau]

In my case, and I’m far from anything production. I already have the pin router and the planing jig so I just need to adapt the jig and I can take down wide and, if ever needed, thick boards without having to buy a tool that’s going to be expensive even used. Plus, I can move the table on the pin router in very small increments which may be possible with a good surface planer but didn’t always work so well with the cheap one I have. Now that I’m thinking about it, a jig could probably be made to joint with the pin router too. So, for me anyway, if a regular router is a versatile tool (jointing, planing and of all things, routing) the pin router is the same but more so.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I can't help thinking that a thickness planer would achieve the same result with a lot less faffing about, or am I missing something?

Hey Flying B;

I've got three planers here in my shop, and they get a fair amount of use. But I like to flatten my lamination strips by router planing for two reasons:

• When I mount the strip in the holding fixture, it's resting on two points on the bottom. Then it's clamped by the two sides squeezing together. If the strip has any curvature in the vertical plane, it gets clamped that way and held to that curvature. Then the router trims it to flat. And it'll stay flat. And that's the problem with planers; they feed by squeezing the strip between rollers. If the strip has a small bit of curve, the planer will push it flat while trimming it. When it comes out the other side, it springs back to the curve.
• The other reason is the surface finish of the cut face. The spinning end face of a router bit is much less likely to pull out chips or leave ragged edges than the spinning knives of a planer. Particularly on figured or brittle woods.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

I’ve been thinking about how to adapt my router plane fixture to the pin router myself. Looking forward to what you come up with Bruce.

Basically, you need to add a template onto the bottom of your fixture, and some handles so it slides easily on the pin router's table. The template is a piece of MDF with some straight slots in it, slightly over 1/4" wide. Cut on the table saw. Then put a flat-bottom bit in the spindle, like 1" dia. And a 1/4" pin in the table.

You slide the fixture forward and back on the table, with the slots riding on the pin, making a straight cutting path. Push the fixture forward down one slot to the end, slide it sideways, engage the next slot, pull it back toward you. Down and back, working sideways across the board. Plan the spacing of the slots for the cutting paths down the board, with some overlap.

Bring the spindle down to one of the stops, and use the table height to fine-tune the depth of cut. Then, if you need to take off a lot of wood, you can do it in multiple passes, using the rotary stops to raise the cutter up in increments.