I have been building my shop tool inventory while simultaneously trying to learn various applications of said same tools. The most mystifying so far has been my second-hand router( a skil about 5 yrs old). How do I acurately set the the depth for rabitts and dados? Also have been unable to figure out the best way to usethe "pilot bits". Where is the best place to go to for advice?
On 08 Jan 2004 06:46:06 GMT, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (MrProfesr) scribbled:
a good place is:
a lot of router things/
With a bridge gauge. You can buy these, or it's an easy piece of scrollsawing in plexiglass.
Make a horseshoe the right size to bridge the baseplate of your router, across the bit. Give it wide, stable feet. The commercial ones usually have an adjustable measuring stick in the middle, but you can make a fixed one and simply cut a "staircase" at common depth measurements.
It's a useful gadget and saves a lot of time.
The other thing that helps is buying a router with a decent adjustable depth control, like the Freud 2000, the Triton or most Americna fixed-base routers. These things aren't common on plunge routers but I've never understood why.
-- Smert' spamionam
There are plans for a Setup guage in # 69 ShopNotes. Takes less than an hour to make and uses scrap ply, small piece of plexiglass (I cut mine from a cheap photo holder from Michaels) a rare earth magnet and a 6" steel rule, both ordered from Lee Valley.
Very accurate, handy, hands-free, and can be used for table saw, router table, router. If you saw one, you would want it immediately.
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.