Turnlock SignCrafter --- Woodcraft Item... Any good?

[bremen68]

Hello,

Just got a catalog from Woodcraft and saw they have a router guide system for sale to make signs. Anyone have any experience with the Turnlock SignCrafter?

I'm not a complete newbie router user, I've done some basic work with a few different sized routers, I have a PC 690 that I use in my shop. (borrowed/used a few of my friends tools on different occasions). I'd say on the mid way of rookie.. ;-)

I took a look at some of the archived items about a Milescraft Signcrafter... Is this the same as the one offered by Woodcraft under the Turnlock brand name?

I'm thinking it would make some nice Christmas/Birthday type gifts and would give me more experience with the router at the same time...

Thanks for the input.

[CW]

Yes, it is. Go here:

[bremen68]

[charlie b]

I have one, with extra sets of both size letters. Comes with a special

1/4" shank half round bit. My problem with it is that it requires that you keep the guide firmly agains the edge of the letter templaces. Not a big deal with most letters but not so easy with A and N for example. The guide outside diameter is a little smaller than the letter template's space and wider enough to make finding and staying agains the template when going acrossed the diagonal gap between the two vertical parts of the "N" and tricky on the "A" which is more an upside down "V". VERY easy to go "off line" and screw up your sign - or cut part of the template (hence the extra set of letters).

Oh, figure on making a box for the letter templates - which have a half dozen or so different widths - because you'll NEVER get them back in their original thin cardboard boxes.

charlie b

[charlie b]

ps

Their plastic router base that their plastic guides go in DOES NOT have holes for a Dewalt 621 plunge router - despite what the instructions say.

charlie b

[mac davis]

Very good review, Charlie... and a few things that I've wondered about that makes me sure that I won't buy one now...

Damn, you'd think you've done tool reviews before! *g*

Mac

[Knotbob]

The short answer..........Once you figure out how to firmly hold the jig in place and how to move the jig for long words it works fine. The long answer..........I just bought one of them and everything was OK right up until actually routing. I thought about using a scrap board first but everything seemed to be working just like the instructions said they would but I'll warn you not to make your first sign on $20 worth of zebrawood. I hate it when jigs move! The end clamps that hold the templates in place on the board you are routing are lousy. I finally figured out that if you use your good shop clamps to hold the template jig in place it will work much better. You will need to put a "filler" letter in the first and last position so that your clamps don't intefere with your router base on the letters you're routing.

Also, when you use the extension set for longer words make sure your board is long enough to clamp to the board. The letters I was using fit the board but the end clamps were just off the edge of the board so I either had to make a piece of scrap to clamp it to or take the extension off and route as far as I could and then reload the main jig with the remaining letters. I took off the extension and this worked fine once I figured out the spacing instructions (which weren't clear to me but then I am not the sharpest tool in the shop.)

When the sign was done I put sanding sealer on the whole board as the instructions said to do. I filled in the routed letters with black paint and it probably would have bled into the zebrawood if I hadn't sealed it. I sanded the paint that I slopped on the board filling the letters and it came right off since the wood was sealed. I coated it twice with UV clearcoat sanding in between coats and it looked so good nobody believed I made it. (I swear I've produced more impressive stuff in my shop than that but this one pleased everyone more than I would have thought.)

Robert Smith