Replies

1. 
   gpwest | Nov 12, 2003 07:24am | #1

   Zach,

      I used a template-guided router. If I remember right, one of the members (either rail end or post) needed 2 mortises: a shallow one for the flange and a deep one inside the shallow one for the metal connecting end.  The mortise in the rail end is awkward to cut with a router.  You have to either place it daigonally in a vise or stand on a ladder.     GP 

2. 
   ASK | Nov 12, 2003 05:33pm | #2

   ZackA,

   I used the same ones a few years ago with success.

   Drill out the mortises with a fostner bit with a dowling jig to the right depth and clean them up with a sharp chisel.

   ASK

1. 
   Julmer | Nov 12, 2003 11:29pm | #3

   I did four beds this spring using those fasteners.  I built a sliding jig to hold my router in a horizontal position so I could route the slots in the rails lying flat on my workbench (used it for the posts also). Cleaned up corners with chisel.  But if you just have one set of rails I would think using a forstner bit drilled to proper depth and then cleaned up with chisel is a good choice. The second (inner) mortises need to be done on both rails and posts (only to different depths and size n the rails it needs to accomdate the rivet/stub on the back of the fastener with the "hooks" and on the posts it need  to allow room for the hooks to fit into and attach to the post catch plate. Don't just route/cut a long slot down the middle first mortise, you need to leave stock for the attachment screws

1. 
   ASK | Nov 13, 2003 12:16am | #4

   johnulmer2,

   Yes I know, those rivits in the back required a smaller diameter hole to be drilled to a deeper depth.

   The horizontal jig is a good idea. I've been thinking of building one along with all those other jigs I have looooong term plans for

   ASK

2. 
   ZachA | Nov 13, 2003 12:42am | #5

   Do you have a picture or a good description of your sliding jig?

   Thanks,

   Zach

1. 
   Julmer | Nov 15, 2003 01:30am | #11

   It was really a s simple device (stack of boards) that I put together.   Mount router to a square base/face plate that extened a couple of inches outside of the router footprint. Screw base into a pair of 45 degree brackets and screw brackets to a 12"x12" flat board (ply, mdf) with the router base flush with one edge of the board. You now have a horizontal router and you need to make it move only in the X and Y directions.

   Rip two strips of the ply/mdf about 1" wide x 12" and rip another 10" x 12". Using the 10" wide strip as a spacing guide, mount the 1" runners to the bottom of 12x12 board with just enough room to slide. Now mount the 10"X 12" board to another 12x12 board (centered). You now have a horizontal router that will slide back and forth in the X direction. Repeat the process but rotate by 90 degrees and you will have movement in the Y direction. 

   You can alter the size of the boards/runners to better fit your shop/application, add stops, rulers, etc.  This setup does not provide for locking the router down in the Z direction (it could lift up as you are cutting)., but it has never happend to me (the mass of the boards and me holding the routher was enough.

   Not pretty, but it met my requirement of saving me more time than it took to make. Try shallow cuts first and work up to the max depth the your router can handle. I can send you a photo but it just looks like a stack of boards.

3. 
   Steinmetz | Nov 13, 2003 01:45am | #6

      Zacha, I'm not sure if the type of bedrail fasteners you refer to are the same I recently used to mount four outriggers to the column of a coat tree.

   This all wood 'tree' shaped affair is used to hold hockey player equipment ie: shin guards, head gear etc etc.

   The rails are connected to the column at it's bottom four faces. The fixture /template /jig I made utilizes a router with a six" round fixed base and doesn't need template guides 

   To route out for the male or female fasteners, Use a half inch straight router bit The template is made from 1/8" ply.

    Since the space beyond the outer edge of a half inch router bit and the outer rim of the base adds up to 2-3/4" , lay out a rectangular piece of ply, place one fastener roughly centered in the ply.

   Then, using 8 pieces of spacers exactly 3-3/4" long, position 1/4" lattice strips at the four borders tightly and squarely.to the spacers and the fastener. 

   When this is completed, place router into the template,and rout out the rectangular opening through the board.

   The template,when attached to your posts and rails,in the correct locations, will allow you to cut out perfect recesses for the fasteners.  Note: I tack them temporally and add locating strips under the template to register when moving to the second, third and fourth mortises.

   Spot and drill holes for the wood screws after square cutting the corners with a small chisel .Stein.  

   
   

   ---

   Edited 11/12/2003 5:54:11 PM ET by steinmetz

4. 
   Steinmetz | Nov 13, 2003 02:01am | #7

   Zacsha, It's me again. If the type you are using is the metal to wood kind where the flat metal hooks entres a narrow slot and rests upon a pin or peg, You'll have to make a simular template, but use a narrow router bit and wider spacers

   Remember the spacer's length must be the diference between the bit's edge and the base' edge. Stein. 

1. 
   Robbie | Nov 13, 2003 05:31pm | #8

   Marc Adams demostrated a pretty slick way of routing mortises with a handheld plunge router.

   It involves making a new, removable base of lexan or whatever..  Two plastic or phenol " pins are screwed to the base, equidistant from the router center.

   Then position the router on the workpiece and turn the router so the pins snug both sides of the piece.   If you now plunge down, you will have a mortise (the width of the bit) dead center on the work piece.  If you need it offset to one side, cut a shim and attach it to the work piece with two sided tape and then complete the mortising exercise.

   Bob

1. 
   Steinmetz | Nov 14, 2003 01:46am | #9

   Hey Rob, That gadget sounds like a center finding gizmo you use with a pencil to mark the exact center of a board's edge to bore out for a dowel

    Just a small hole to accept a pencil point. When you twist the thing 'till the two locater pins touch, the 'peekhole'finds the center.  Never thought to use the principle for routing??  Thanx, Stein.

1. 
   Robbie | Nov 14, 2003 07:50pm | #10

   I wish I could have claimed the initiative.  Marc built the new template in about 10 minutes and then proceeded to rout our perfect mortises in about 3 minutes.  It was really amazing and I hadn't thought about utilizing the plunge router in that way either.

   Incidentally, I just happened across a new Delta Mortiser.  It is still in the box and I hope to play around with it this weekend.

   Good luck.

   Robbie

5. 
   jazzdogg | Nov 15, 2003 11:42pm | #12

   Zach,

   In the time it would take to read these e-mails and set up one of the router jigs, your shallow mortises could easily be prepared using nothing more than a marking gauge or combination square and marking knife, with a mallet and chisel.

   All of these router-centric methods work, but seem better suited to a situation in which several beds are being made. For a single bed, I can't see expending the time and effort, nor tolerating the noise and sawdust, using a router would engender.

   Of course, if making and using the jigs is as important as producing the bed, or if the jigs and fixtures are important in and of themselves, that'd be a horse of a different color.

   Good luck with your project,
   Paul

   Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right.