Anyone who uses a router bit extensively will appreciate this jig as a big time saver. If seldom ever have to change bearing on any of your router bits, there is no reason why you can use your router to do this job, it's just awkward and slow for many router versions ... this jig is simple to make and quick and easy to use.
Watch it on Youtube: https://youtu.be/dbobWnaER64
To start off with you will need a piece of wood that is deeper than the length of your longest router bit shanks. This will ensure the bit sits as low in your jig as it can and will be less likely to shear off your wooden dowel and in the rare instance a router bit might get too tight sitting in the jig, you can always remove it my poking it through from underneath and those through holes, can also be used in the future for any other special holding situations you might come upon.
If you have 2 sizes of router bits, both 1/2" and 1/4" you will need a piece of wood that is long enough to accommodate at least 2 holes of each size in case any of your bits require a specialty sizing. After you have measured where the holes need to be drilled so that the spacing works for your bits, next you will need to drill the holes. In my case, I used Forstner bits which made a very fine hole that my router bit shanks barely fit into so I had to enlarge them slightly to make it easier for the router bit shanks to slide in and out of.
Next, I needed to figure out where the dowel that would serve as stoppers would need to go. As it turns out, most of my router bits would work with the dowel stopper in one location, but a select few needed another dowel stopper location, so for both my 1/2" and 1/4" I needed to drill holes for the dowels in 2 different locations.
One of them, as you can see in the video is so close to the shank hole that it is only a partial hole and in this case, I needed to shave the dowel almost in half to allow it to fit. For this 1/2-dowel, I decided to glue it in place so I wouldn't have to keep re-making that half dowel piece every time I need to change bearings on this bit, which I do quite frequently.
The last job is to cut the tops of the dowels off so that they only stand proud of the jig by about 3/8" but this is some that you can adjust according to your bits and how you set up your jig, and that's it the jig is ready for years of work ...
Copyright Colin Knecht
woodworkweb.com
