Trim routing small circular blanks on router table
chvroman
| Posted in Jigs, Fixtures, Tips & Tricks on
I have several circular blanks, cut close to finished size on the band saw. I have a template blank the exact size I need and want to use a flush trim bit on my router table. These blanks are just over 3″ in diameter and neither the template nor the blanks can have center holes drilled in them. With this small diameter, I’m not comfortable trying to cut these freehand.
Does anyone know of a jig that could hold these small blanks, yet allow the blank/template to rotate into the flush trim bit?
Replies
Can you use your existing template to make a new template (double side tape). Take your new (no so precious) template and screw it to a larger safety board. Now you have a larger board (to keep your fingers safe) and a template securly attached to it. Now just use double sided tape with your blanks onto your new template. ??
Can you make them in thicker stock so yòu can screw into it and then cut away the hole? An alternate would be to turn a long blank to size on the lathe and slice them off. Freehand is too scary.
If your template is too precious to drive a screw through, I would first make a sacrificial template ;-)
I would cobble together a "carrier" maybe like the pics. The template could be double stick taped (or screwed) to the fixture. The keeper is double stick taped to the template and the carrier allows you to ride around the flush bit while keeping your hands at a distance. Sorry for the crude diagrams but, it is thanksgiving ;-)
_MJ_,
I don't have access to a lathe, although I did consider a thick blank "stack" that I could cut the circular part on the band saw. I would still be left with the challenge of accurately sizing the stack to a final diameter.
Thanks for the suggestion.
woodsea and GeeDubBee,
The template could have a hole drilled in it, although I have always had difficulty finding and drilling the exact center of an existing circular object; I'm going to look into a few jig ideas for doing that. Once I get the template updated, I'll give the holding fixture a try.
Thanks for your suggestions.
@chvroman - Just to make your life easier . . . When template routing the bearing follows the template. The mounting hole that mounts the template to the jig does NOT have to be perfect. As long as the "keeper" blank is proud of the template edge it will be resized correctly even if the template and blank are mounted to the jig off-center.
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