Router - and rebating

[Tim S]

I've asked questions before about routers and had some very useful responses which I shall peruse again on google.

This is a rather specific question:

I need to rebate a load of architrave so it sits cleanly over the plaster which is higher in places than the door frame, and also sits tight to the door frame. I can caulk between the architrave and wall but not between the architrave and the frame as the wood's on show. Need to rebate between

2-5mm or so over about a 40-50mm width (sounds like several passes).

Would a job like this demand a router table or is it a case of clamping the wood down to a bench and using the router in hand held mode with its own fence guiding it along the wood.

Architrave is 2.1m max by 70mm wide by 15mm thick (or less - it's chamfered).

I ask, because I can choose a decent router fairly easily but choosing a table is something I'd rather put off for a bit :)

I'm probably going for a lower end Trend. This will be the first of many jobs.

Cheers

Tim

[Cicero]

==========================================

I think you could do this job more easily with a planer - either hand-held or bench. You could set a side stop on a bench planer for 50mm and get the necessary depth in one or more passes. You could do much the same with a hand planer provided that you can adequately support the architrave to be planed.

None of the above applies if you're determined to buy a router which would not be a bad idea in any case. A small bench planer is well-worth having for general use whatever you decide.

Cic.

[Tim S]

Cicero wibbled:

That's an option... I have an electric hand planer - but I've never tried using it to cut rebates. It might be difficult to clamp the piece down to get a single pass with a plane as it's tapered wood (and I'd need to G-clamp it on the taper) which is why a router came to mind - I could do that in two sessions, moving the clamps.

Cheers

Tim

[Bolted]

You would need to clamp it just as well, if not better, using a router.

This is not going to be much fun with a handheld router, much better off with a table. To get the job done, it doesn't need to be anything complex. A bit of ply or whatever as the top, a bit of wood as a fence held with a couple of cramps.

Or, cut some 5mm thick strips of whatever wood it is and build out the frame instead.

[Tim S]

Bolted coughed up some electrons that declared:

Hi - ta for this:

Indeed - but I *could* route the bits upto but not including the clamps, then reclamp on the rebated bit and route the remaining bits. Can't do that with a plane.

At least I'd be clamping down through the square section as many times as needed so it should be secure.

That is an option I'd considered (for later in lieu of a "proper" table).

Do I need any of those "router insert" thingies I've read about or can I just screw the router under a bit of 18mm ply with a hole for the collet and do the rest as you suggest?

Sorry - never used (or seen) and router in action before...

It's nice wood and it's getting a bit expensive to keep going down the yard (even though I'm getting a fair price on what I'm buying, it's not cheap).

I *definately* need a router (kitchen worktops for one) so it might as well see some use now, is my thinking :)

Cheers

Tim

[Bolted]

You don't need an insert for a 'get you home' type job.

Here's an example of a (very slightly elaborated) simple table

[Tim S]

Bolted coughed up some electrons that declared:

a table down the line, I'll learn more cheaply what "features" work for me.

Cheers

Tim

[Bolted]

On 10 Aug, 11:50, Tim S wrote: That wouldn't take long to knock up - perhaps, even if I buy

The fence can be simpler still - just a stick with a chunk cut out as a cutter recess, clamped at either end, or bolted/screwed at one end and clamped the other (pivoting the fence makes it easy to change the cut position with precision).

I'd add a suggestion to make some feather boards as hold downs to press the timber down on the bed before and after the cutter, and into the fence before the cutter - as this is crude you can just screw them into the fence and the bed. 1/2" by 2" - saw down, parallel to the short dimension, about 2" or so and repeat every 3mm or so to create a serried rank of little fingers. They are fixed so the fingers are slightly bent, pressing the timber into the cut. Google it, much simpler than I've made it sound.

Remember the golden rule of wood machining - fingers never closer than

300mm to the cutter. Use pushsticks at the end of the cut (and ignore the yank push-block thing shown on the link I posted, which breaks that rule).

[Stuart Noble]

Quicker and neater to level 70mm of plaster I would have thought. Doesn't really matter if the architrave is 5mm below the level of the wall in places. Gripfil will fill any gaps if the plaster doesn't come away cleanly. Incidentally, laminate trimmers are quite useful for the sort of thing you're (mistakenly in my view) contemplating. Lightweight mini-routers in effect, and you can use them one handed at a push.

[Roger Mills]

Possibly not the *same* router, though. If you're talking about using a router and jig to cut mason joints on your worktop, you're going to need a powerful (2000+ watts) 1/2" jobby - which you'll find big and heavy for smaller jobs - especially if hand-held.

Someone else beat me to it, but I was also going to suggest that you forget about rebating the wood, and chop some off the plaster instead, so that it's no longer proud of the frame.

[John Rumm]

One trick here is to just make a feature of the step. Introduce a slim wood lath between the frame and the architrave such that you create a stepped edge effect. Its technique that will tend to make the woodwork look more ornate - which may or may not be a good thing depending what look you are going for.

A bit like:

I ask, because I can choose a decent router fairly easily but choosing a

If you go the rebate route, it one of those jobs that you can do in a number of ways. The fast solution would be a pair of non through cuts on a table saw (or possibly just one if the blade kerf is wider than the amount you need to remove.

A plane, would probably be my next choice if I did not have a router table.

[dennis]

I would put it through my table saw, do you have access to one?

[Tim S]

Stuart Noble wibbled:

A lateral idea - If I am confident I won't break my nice new plastering, this could be an option.

I must google this - thanks.

Cheers

Tim

[Roger Mills]

That's probably what I'd do - and hope that no-one from H&S is watching when I remove the guard and riving knife to be able to do non-through cuts.

[John Rumm]

You can fit a splitter in place of the riving knife.

(let's hope H&S don't see my saw - it was made before things like guards were thought of!)

[Stuart Noble]

I put mine in a drawer 30 years ago and haven't taken it out since, but I'd already had tuition from an experienced saw hand, so was reasonably confident. However, I don't think I'd want to start using a sawbench for the first time without someone showing me the ropes for an hour. Then again, excessive Andy Hall type precautions can lead to an irrational fear of the thing.

[Stuart Noble]

Score the plaster with a Stanley knife and gently shave it off. Precious stuff your nice new plaster :-) It will be a *lot* easier than trying to scribe architrave. The thought makes me wince

[Robert Laws]

I had a similar problem and found it simplest to sand off some plaster so it was bevelled gently in to meet the door frame. This was an old house with lime plaster so it was easy to sand off.

Robert

[Roger Mills]

I could possibly make one, but I doubt whether there's an off-the-shelf splitter to fit my saw - which is one of these

(suitably re-engineered to make it work!) In my case, the guard actually bolts onto the back of the riving knife - which sticks up a long way above the table so that the wood *has* to pass either side of it and not over the top.

What does a splitter look like? Is it a bit like a riving knife, but without the guard attachment, and only sticking up by slightly less than the blade? I guess what I need is to get a spare riving knife and saw a chunk off.

Having said all that, for non-through cuts, I can't see that you actually

*need* a splitter. But I suppose if I had one, I could do *through* cuts without the guard. Maybe that's the thing to do - convert the riving knife into a splitter and throw away the guard. I *think* I can contrive not to cut too many fingers off!

[John Rumm]

A splitter can be as simple as a fixed protrusion that sticks up behind the blade. However, a riving knife with the guard support removed would be the best bet - that will allow non through cuts without any difficulty. The only thing you can't really do with a riving knife on are plunge cuts and cove cutting.

Having the pair would probably be best - riving knife and guard, and knife on its own.