I had intended to start cutting today but we have RAIN.
I had intended to start cutting today but we have RAIN.
Well we have been having the worst spell of rainy weather of late and any time I get some spare time , well down it comes.
As it happens the work I have been doing lately has allowed me to snatch some pics of routing in action.
What we have here is a kitchen island worktop in solid oak block. It is getting a cutout to take an undermounted drainer. The first picture shows the router with a trepanning bar, basically a rod that has a pointed pivot in the center.
The wingnuts on the router base allow infinite adjustment. You will see the relevence to loudspeaker cutouts here.
I am cutting wood away on the underside of the panel to allow the drainer to locate. This diameter is larger than the cutout as seen from the top so the sheet is flipped over and the final cutting is done from the top but at a lesser diameter.
There is a small pilot hole drilled right through at the center that gives you center from both sides.
The closeup of the cutter shows a straight flute ie' parallel type. The cuts are fairly gentle approx 1/16" at a time. Any more than that and we have screaming and burning.
The last cut from the top before the block is completely removed is a fractionly larger diameter ( no more than a whisker ) to give a clean up on the walls of the cut. This is done very gently in this case because I don't want any scorching on the walls of the cutout.
As you can see in the finished picture I have chased around the top edge with a 45deg guided cutter ( has a roller bearing on it ) .
This is more or less the same procedure that we would use in making a cutout for a speaker where the driver is recessed into the baffle.
We had a total downpour last night here but it seems to have cleared the skies somewhat, so we might get to chop up some plywood tomorrow.
This is going to be done in my backyard, as it says on the tin.
OOps the pics went up in the wrong order, no matter.
You might have noticed in the closeup pic that the wood is tearing slightly at the edge. This can happen and in this case it occurred because the wood is oiled as it comes from the factory.
That was a brand new cutter. oak can be a bit chippy in any case
A fine sunny day at last so we can get some slicing done.
Backyard as promised two 2x4s to work on. Crude ? yes !
A nice sheet of virgin baltic birch plywood 3/4"
Edge view of birch ply- note the fine veneers i think 13.
Second pic is of 1" hardwood ply that I use when available. It is very dense.
Third pic is of the 1" that I got for this project. Similar to birch but with a better face on one side and a crummy one on the reverse. This is not important as I am going to veneer when complete
The Gods of plywood are kind enough to supply their product with a very straight edge as standard , so we can use the edge of one sheet to guide the saw. The width of this is not important as long as it is not too skinny in which case it will tend to bow as you run along.
Say hello to our friend for today Mr RIPSNORTER.
Take care to mark up your cut evenly at both ends so that the remainder of the sheet is not skewed. 5-6" is plenty. Note the very essential SOLO Clamps
Cheap and effective the best ten bucks you will ever spend.
Set the saw depth to be just a little more than the material you are cutting say 1" for 3/4" material
Last pic , now we have a guide.
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