I want to route a small item about 4"x4", and only a few mm thick. Plan is to use a template and template cutter to produce a flowing shape. But how can I clamp this thing to work on it? Its a tough hard plastic board.
NT
Double sided tape and go gently.
AWEM
Thank you, I like that idea. Sounds a lot better than a very shallow screw fixing, followed by trying to come up with an elegant way to sort out 2 screw holes.
NT
How about one of the 3M command adhesive products? At least it would be easier to unstick at the end of the job.
Rod
Can you find a larger sheet of material - e.g. plywood - of the same thickness, and cut a hole in it the same size as your item - and then clamp the larger sheet to a bench? [Also, use double-sided sticky tape - as suggested by others - if necessary]
Not only will that stop your item from moving about - it will also support the router properly.
In message , Tabby writes
Vacuum pump and a perforated table?
I have seen something like this on my carpenters X/Y engraving machine.
I have seen him use double sided tape which might be cheaper:-)
regards
Double sided tape, or if you want to get flash:
The problem with that is that once you've routed half of the inner shape, it's no longer held firm against the edge of the outer shape.
Double sided tape is fine. Nowadays even poundshop double sided tape is so strong that it will take a surface layer off of plywood and may need white spirit to separate, even from plastic. Strips of ply by way of support for the router around the outside can be taped to the plastic. The plastic sheet will need to be taped underneath to another sheet of ply both in the centre and the outside otherwise the routed section and template may float around when finished.
michael adams
...
Not on a 4x4, unless it's specially designed for small pieces.
Most vacuum tables have cells about 2x2. Each cell has a foam seal around the edge and a sprung ball valve in the middle - if it's pressed, they try to suck there. You can have a couple of uncovered cells leaking, but usually you try to position so that all cells are either fully covered, or they aren't triggering the valve. You need a good few cells, more than 4x4, to get adequate grip.
Depending on what I was doing, I'd use either DS tape (profiling) or glue-gun around the edge (engraving) to hold it down. Be careful with DS tape though, it can be hard to removed afterwards without cracking or bending something. I often use DS to both sides of thick grey cardboard, then afterwards I can split the cardboard with a knife. It's easier than splitting a DS tape joint and I can remove the DS tape more easily when I can access the whole area.
ickness, and cut
et to a bench?
ort the router
The more I think about this, the more I'm concerned about the ds tape option. The sheet is very tough stuff, but the decorative surface isnt, and I doubt would survive ds tape.
A vac table might hold the sheet down enough, but wont hold the template onto it. And I'd rather not spend 60 plus, though I might. So I'm kinda feeling stuck again.
Is there any possible mileage in using the router as a makeshift spindle moulder with hand held workpiece? I assume this is a total no- no - though if doable it would solve all the other probelms.
There is one thing I wondered, but I suspect its too dodgy. A layer of rubberised string between teplate and sheet, and another from sheet to bench. And taking it very easy!
NT
You can put a router in a table and use a bearing guided template cutter. I don't see how it helps. You still need the template stuck to the job.
I have seen, but never done, the double sided tape-> paper-> double sided tape used to fix stuff. The paper makes it easy to separate.
Is the double-sided foam tape an option? This is thicker and so can can be split with a wire or thin knife drawn throuhg the joint, and then the rest dissolved off.
Thomas Prufer
- The more I think about this, the more I'm concerned about the ds tape
- option. The sheet is very tough stuff, but the decorative surface
- isnt, and I doubt would survive ds tape.
As its a small item, after routing out the shape you can simply dunk the whole lot in white spirit and leave it overnight. Providing the template is made of ply or another porous material it will eventually soak up enough white spiriit to allow the work to be separated. The trick is to be patient and allow the adhesive to soften not to try and lever the template, and bending or breaking the workpiece in the process.
Andy's idea of using a thick piece of cardboard between the work and the template which can then be separated afterwards and the tape soaked off of the work more easily seems very promising.
In all of this its's necessary to remember that you'll need to secure the work underneath as well - middle and outside to prevent it spinning around before you machine that last mm or so,
- A vac table might hold the sheet down enough, but wont hold the
- template onto it. And I'd rather not spend 60 plus, though I might. So
- I'm kinda feeling stuck again.
The DS tape will work fine. Buy a pack of 4 rolls from the poundshop and a bottle of white spirit and so some experimenting as to how easy\difficult its going to be to separate the work afterwards. How long it will need to soak etc. For some people the downside of white spirit may be the smell, but as with ammonia, acetone etc smells and fumes have never bothered me.
Try Andy's idea of the intermediate thick cardboard.
- Is there any possible mileage in using the router as a makeshift
- spindle moulder with hand held workpiece? I assume this is a total no-
- no - though if doable it would solve all the other probelms.
This is one of the main uses of small workbench mounted router tables - of the kind designed for MOF 96's. However that's for using with a template. The bearing is on the top and the work is run against the bearing.
The tape will work. Trust me. However assuming you're curtting out the template by hand - that its not a ready-made object - then why not cut out shape itself by hand using a coping saw and files,
Years ago double sided tape was £4 a roll and the cheaprest Trend bearing trimming cutters were around £20. Nowadays DS tape is 4 rolls for £1 and Toolstation sell perfectly serviceable trimming cutters (just remeber to check the bearing for tightness first) for £2.50 and up. We should be so lucky.
michael adams
...
There is one thing I wondered, but I suspect its too dodgy. A layer of rubberised string between teplate and sheet, and another from sheet to bench. And taking it very easy!
NT
I find an easier option is masking tape onto the two surfaces (or maybe only the more delicate surface) and then double-sided between them. You can use low tack masking tape which peels away easily when pulled off perpendicularly, but will hold firm against the lateral forces encountered when using the template as a guide.
dan.
In message , Tabby writes
Back to first principles... what about simple *over centre* foot clamps?
Clamp one side and rout all you can safely reach. Fit second clamp/remove first and rout the remainder.
Alternatively (the agricultural solution) trap the work piece and template with a stiff bar coming in from the side and resting on a spacer so that you can exert pressure using a G cramp between the work and the spacer?
regards
Finally, we have a solutuion. A clamped bar the router can run over the top of. All I need now is to work out where to get a 4mm steel bar.
Sawing the workpiece would produce too rough a finsh, and its not fileable/sandable. Doing so just produces a right mess. Hence I'm hoping the high speed of the router can make a clean cut.
Ds tape will simply rip the decorative surface off, using solvent to remove it would leave gloop soaked into the porous finish. However I do have some clear epoxy, and am wondering about using a thin layer of that to harden the finish, then ds tape may work.
I realised that as the workpiece is so thin, I need to use a thick template, otherwise my template cutter wont work.
Thanks every one!
NT
I think I've figured it out. Not one template plus a bar, but the template is also the clamped piece. Half of the template is the shape of the item to be cut, the other half is much logner than the workpiece, so can be clamped. The workpiece is moved halfway through.
NT
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.