Re: cheap alternative for kitchen worktop jig?

[Peter Andrews]

Can anyone suggest a cheap alternative to the worktop jigs that are

> used as templates for routing the joints between surfaces? You can see > the type I mean here > £100 or more is quite a lot when I will only be doing three or four > cuts. > > Also I would be grateful for any general advice when routing using > this type of worktop jig as a guide. > > Ohh, and lastly I had considered just routing a straight 45 degree cut > for worktops which meet at 90 degrees to avoid the need for a worktop > jig. Do you think this would just be too naff? Has anyone done this > and think it looks OK? > > Thanks for any help.

Swallow hard and hire one

about £20 for the weekend) - it's impossible without one and use new cutters. But I managed three passable corner joins when 'doing' a kitchen upgrade with a friend and that was the first time I'd used a router!

Peter

[PoP]

Which part of the country are you in?

The reason for asking is that I have just purchased one of these worktop jigs, and I would be willing to do a couple of freebies just to get some practice in.

PoP

[The Natural Philosopher]

Not done a 45, but I *have* done a straight cut withiut a jig.

If you use a cutter diameter roughly similar to the radius on the worktop, and stop at the 'show' end before breaking entirely through, you can fettle the last 10mm or so on the pieces to make a very close fitting join indeed. Any hole can be filled with colored epoxy or car body filler and are almost invisible.

The tric is that the cut is at 90 degrees except the bit over the radius, which is at 45 to get everything to line up. That last 45 cut can be done with a rasp, hand saw, or even a fine toothed jig saw - or if you are brave, the router.

[Billy Whizz]

clangers [e-mail] (Steve North) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Not done it myself but the guy that did mine used a jig and it looks great. Looked at buying one myself too, didn;t think about the fact you can hire them until I'd paid someone £150 to cut two joints. Hmm!

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs here, but he used a bisuit cutter too to ensure the tops stayed level etc. Not something I would have thought of unless I saw him do it.

[PoP]

I think it was £20 for a weekend.

I suppose it might be feasible to hire one of these out for a couple of days and then copy-route a duplicate from MDF or whatever. I'm not sure that would retain the accuracy in the copied version, but maybe it would be close enough if you used a router bit with a bearing follower.

Don't try this at home folks. You'd presumably be breaking copyright.

PoP

[PoP]

£75 a joint? Is that what they charge? Jeez, I'm in the wrong job!

I would have thought that was a potentially useful thing to do. Another option would be to lay in a couple of dowels across the joint.

PoP

[Andy Dingley]

Except for a neatly coped edge on an interior corner joint.

-- Smert' spamionam

[Andrew]

If you already have a suitable router then it is still cheaper than paying someone to do the cuts. They quite often come up second hand on ebay. Also there are cheaper new ones on ebay but I bought the Trend one as it's a known reputable brand.

The instructions with the trend one are good. I would add keep the cutter bit clean. Be prepared to use more than one new cutter for that many joins (or maybe a better cutter will stay sharper longer?. Do a couple of cuts with each new cutter and then do the bolt recesses with the used cutters.

IMHO 45 deg cuts are fine but you waste more worktop as each piece has to be long enough to reach into the corner. May not be an issue if you have length to spare from a standard length worktop. You still need some way to ensure you get the "same" 45 deg on each piece.

Andrew

[Steve North]

Thanks for the offer PoP :)

We're both in the same situation though because although I have used a router before, I have never used one with this type of jig so I need the practice myself!

Steve

[Steve North]

I think these -

- are more commonly used these days, especially if like me you don't have a biscuit jointer.

Steve

[Steve North]

A straight 45 degree cut over the radius, no jig required! - damn where was my lateral thinking when I needed it. I like this idea. It's definitely going to be more fiddly than using a jig and will require patience to get it perfect but it saves me £100. I'm going to try it on a offcut to see how it goes. Thanks NP.

Steve

[Ian Clowes]

That's what my kitchen fitter used. It was a copy of one of the 900mm jigs onto 18mm ply, made with a straight cutter and following bearing.

Worked just fine.

IanC

[PoP]

I'm almost tempted to create a copy for using "in the field", just in case I manage to bring the router into contact with the real thing one day. ;)

PoP

[Michael McNeil]

It has been years since I've done one but I think that I got a good cut. The problem is in enuring the angle of the walls is 90 degrees. Of course the wall can be hacked to take an oversized top.

What you do is cut one then mark the other with it. And cut them overlength. An eightth is adequate.

[N. Thornton]

Can someone explain to me how you use one of those, I'm puzzled about it.

My natural inclination was to use a piece of flat metal underneath with holes in, screwed to the underside.

Regards, NT

[RichardS]

You drill two holes part way through the underside - a little like the euro-hinge fitting holes for kitchen doors.,

They're joined together with a straight dado (only about 2cm long) between them.

simply slot the fixing in, then tighten.

well, that's how I'bve seen them used anyway.

cheers Richard

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

[RichardS]

Forgot to say, that's what all these additional cutouts are for on the commercially available worktop jigs. Routing the cutouts.

cheers Richard

-- Richard Sampson

email me at richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk

[PoP]

Might be worth cosying up to SWMBO for an early Christmas present. Screwfix still have their "special offer" biscuit jointer for £34.99.

I bought one a short time ago. Maybe it isn't as good as those from well-known brands, but at about 10% of the price.....and it works fine for me.

PoP

[N. Thornton]

ahhh :)

thanks, NT

[Ian Clowes]

That's one reason.

I think the guy was also a bit hacked off with having stuff nicked on site, from the van, etc.

This way he was able to protect his investment in this particular item, the 900mm ones being even more expensive than the 650mm ones.

Cheers IanC