1 Building the jig
A jig like the one shown at left will allow your router to cut hinge mortises quickly and accurately. To make the cuts, you will need to equip your router with a straight bit and a template guide. Build the template from a piece of ‘/t-inch plywood. Size it wide enough to support the router. Outline the hinge leaf on the template; increase the dimensions to compensate for the template guide and the thickness of the fence, which is also made from Vi-mch plywood. Cut out the template, then attach the fence with countersunk screws.
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Routing the mortise
Secure the workpiece edge-up in a vise. Mark the hinge outline on the stock and clamp the template in position, aligning the cutout with the outline on the edge and butting the fence against the inside face of the workpiece. Make the cut (bottom) by moving the router in small clockwise circles, then remove the jig and, if necessary, square the corners with a chisel.
AN OVERARM PIN ROUTING ATTACHMENT
MAKING A HAND MIRROR ON A PIN ROUTER
Cutting the recess for the mirror
Use double-sided tape to fasten a mirror blank to one side of a plywood feeding jig. Attaching a handle at each end of the jig will make it easier to maneuver. Fasten the pattern—in this case, a prototype mirror—to the opposite side of the jig, making sure the outline of the pattern is fully contained within the edges of the blank on the other side. Mark the depth of the recess on an edge of the blank and set the assembly on the pin router table. Depress the treadle, release the pin holder height adjustment lever, and slide the holder down until it fits within the recess in the mirror without contacting the surface. Tighten
the lever. Depress the treadle further to align the bit with the depth line (above, left), then turn the depth-stop rod until it contacts the stop screw above it. Release the treadle Next, cen ter the recess in the mirror under the guide pin, turn on the router, and depress the treadle fully, plunging the bit into the workpiece. Holding the handles of the jig, feed the work piece in a circular pattern, keeping the guide pm flush. igamst the edges of the mirror recess (above, right) This will cut a groove around the rim of the recess in the workpiece. Remove the remaining waste with a series of circular cuts.
2 Routing the profile
With the router turned off, adjust the hnght of the guide pin so the gap between its tip and the base of the jig is about inch. Next, adjust the height of the bit to cut slightly deeper than the thickness of the workpiece. Then rout the profile of the mirror the same way you plowed the recess, pressing the guide pin against the contours of the pattern throughout (right). To avoid burning the wood, be sure to keep the jig moving until the end of the cut. In addition, if the profile is too thick to cut in a single pass, you can make several shallow passes by adjusting the stop screws to different cutting heights and switching stop screws after each pass.
3 Separating the workpiece from the jig
Once you have cut the profile of the mirror, turn the jig over (below) and pry the mirror and the waste wood from the underside of the jig base.
EDGE FORMING WITH THE PIN ROUTER
2 Molding the edge
Keeping a firm hold of the jig and pattern, feed the workpiece along the table against the direction of bit rotation (right). Make certain to press the pattern against the template until you return to your starting point. Once you complete the cut, pry the workpiece from the jig.
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Setting up the cut
Install an edge-forming bit in the pin router—in this example, a bull nose bit is shown—and adjust its height to shape the edge of your blank. Cut the workpiece roughly to size on the band saw, then fix it with double-sided tape to a /-inch-thick acrylic – plastic feeding jig that is slightly larger than the blank; place a shim between the blank and the jig so the bit will not cut into the acrylic. The jig will protect your hands from the bit and, being clear plastic, will allow you to view the cutting action. Next, fix your pattern to the opposite side of the jig, making sure to align it exactly over the blank, and adjust the guide pin to ride along the pattern as you make the cut. Clamp a support board to the table in line with the cutter and turn on the router. Holding the jig and pattern flat on the table, butt the back corner of the jig against the support board (left), then pivot the jig and blank into the bit until the guide pin contacts the pattern and the cutter bites into the workpiece.
STRAIGHT ROUTING ON A PIN ROUTER
Support
board
With the help of a shop-built fence, you can mold the edges of straight stock on a pin router. Make a fence as you would for a router table (page 44), then clamp it to the pin router table, aligning its front face with the bit’s pilot bearing. To support the stock, use three featherboards, clamping one to the table and two to the fence, one on each side of the cutter. (Note: In the illustration, the featherboard on the out – feed side of the fence has been removed for’clarity.) Feed the workpiece across the table, pressing the edge flush against the fence and the face flat on the table (right). Finish the pass with a push stick.
Although you cannot plunge the bit into a workpiece from below, you can perform the other pin routing procedures shown on pages 73 to 75 using a router table and the shop-built jig shown here. As in an inverted pin router, the bit is situated below the table and an adjustable guide pin is located above.
Cut the base of the jig from hardwood; make it as long as your router table. The T-shaped arm, also made of hardwood, should be long enough to extend over the bit when the jig base is clamped to the edge of the router table. For the guide pin, bore a i4-inch-diameter hole through the top of the arm and cut a 5-inch-length of dowel. Then saw a kerf into the tip that intersects with the hole and drill another hole through the side of the arm for a %-inch carriage bolt. Screw the arm to the base and use a bolt, washer and wing nut to clamp the guide pin in the arm.
To use the jig, install a ‘/£-inch straight bit in the router and mount the tool in the table. Clamp the jig to the table so the guide pin is directly above the bit. Loosen the wing nut, adjust the guide pin so
that it sits slightly above the bit and tighten the nut. Shape an edge as you would on a pin router (page 76). Be sure you keep the template butted against the pin throughout the operation.
