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Well, we finally get a chance to use the router circle jig to cut out our round table top. For this we are using a 1/4" pure carbide bit. If you are really not familiar with carbide, it is not like some form of steel. The structure of carbide is that it is more like a crystal. This means it will break before it bends, unlike steel that will take a massive force, bend and bend and then finally break. Carbide bits are much more sensitive to side pressure and if you push them too hard, they snap and are now useless. The good thing about carbide and the reason we use it is that it has a very high boiling point. This means, that unlike steel, you can subject carbide to very high temperatures and it won't melt like steel does. When steel bits melt, even partially they become dull and that's why we like carbide, it stays sharp much longer than similar steel bits.
Remember, the point to cutting this table top is to ultimately use this top as part of our 3-legged pedestal side table which you can see in other related videos.
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Woodworkers are always making jigs. Sometimes a jig is used only once, other times it can be used hundreds or thousands of times. In this article and video we are making an adjustable circle jig for a router that has been designed and drawn by David Cooksey, one of our long-time members. David has been sending me plans and drawings of many different jigs and woodworking objects for some time now and we thought it was high time we let everyone else in on David's great ideas.
Today we are covering this circle jig, and you are welcome to down load your own version of it from our Plans section, and it's free ... and we all have David Cooksey to thanks for this. NOTE, you do have to be a member of woodworkweb in order to access our download section, but that's free too, and then you can access all the other plans and links to plans that we have put together for our members and subscribers. There is a short list of materials that you will need ....
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Woodworking often seems to be about building or making something to do a job you need done, but don't have the tool for. I would love to have a 20 or 24 inch planer, or 24 inch belt sander, unfortunately I would use either so seldom it would not be a cost effective purchase.
So, when I need to plane a board that is too thick, if it is larger than my 15 inch planer, I have to devise another way of planing the board down. There are a few options, you can find a local woodworking shop to plane or sand the board down (for a price), or you can use a hand plane (which is very tedious if it is a large board), you can take the fence of many jointers and make multiple passes, but then you have re-install the fence and adjust it, you could use a hand power planer (but they can gouge the wood if you are not careful) and the last option ... which is the one I opted for is to make a planing jig or planing sled that I can use my router on.
These jigs are not new and have been around in one form or another for years. I you purchase rough sawn lumber from local mills or suppliers, this is something that will be a Must Have in your workshop. Or if you don't have a planer of any size, this allow you to plane and re-surface boards in fairly short order, and do a great job of it.
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The table saw is agueably designed for ripping wood, that's really whate it is best at, but that doesn't mean it can't be used for other things equally well. For many woodworkers, the tablesaw is first stationary tool they purchase because it is so versatile. Out of the box, they will rip and cross cut (with the appropriate blades) and even cut dado, with a small modification to the throat plate.
With many table saws, the mitre gauges are pretty standard and have small surface that accepts wood for cross cutting, still they work ok. For someone who is doing a lot of cross cutting and wants perfect repeatable results, a crosscut sled is the answer.
These are relatively easy to make requiring only a few items, such as a good quality plywood base (I simly used a quater sheet of plywood that was 2 feet by 4 feet), a couple of decent quality mitre blanks and lastly a couple of flat boards that can be used for the front and back. The front stabilizer board only needs to be flat on the bottom the inside and outside should be reasonably flat but since this is only to stabilize the sled, it's not important that it be abslutely flat. The back stabilizer board DOES need to be pefectly flat on the bottom and inside as well, so selecting materials for this is very important.
If you have access to thick plywood that is 2 inches thick or better, that is ideal, otherwise you will need to hand pick something that is flat. I found a piece of construction grade, kiln dried 2x6 that was 8 feet long that looked like it would work. When I got it home and cut it in half, one half was off a tiny bit, but the other side was perfectly flat, just what I needed, and it was dry so it's not going to move around on me.