Monday, June 15th, 2015:
ROUTING THE OVERHANG FLUSH:
Tonight Randall used the binding router jig for the first time. Here is how everything is set up when you use the jig.
The soundbox is set in the body carriage, which has four adjustable body support blocks. You adjust the blocks first so they hold the body securely in the carriage, and then you adjust the blocks up and down, so that the sides are perpendicular to the table at all points. This adjustment is necessary, because the soundbox has a taper from the tail end to the neck end. If you just let the router rest flat on the top or back surface, the router bit will cut at an angle at the tapered areas of the body (the major taper being at the neck end). The router is perpendicular to the table, so this jig allows you to rout the binding channels (or cut the overhang flush, in this case) perfectly parallel to the sides.
|
|
To adjust the blocks so the sides are perpendicular to the table, you just use a square to check the angle of the sides.
|
|
This is how the router rests on the body. Here the router has been fitted with a flush-cut bit with a bearing. The bearing follows the side, as the router moves up and down following the rise and fall of the body. At all times, the router itself is perpendicular to the table and parallel to the side.
To use the jig, you turn on the router, set the white "donut" partially on the edge of the top or back, move the body to the bearing, and, holding the body in the carriage, rotate the body as the bearing follows the sides.
TO THE RIGHT: Here is a helpful tip from the Stew-Mac website, about the direction in which to do the routing.
|
|
BELOW: After routing the overhang flush, Randall has coated the surfaces with shellac, to help minimize tear-out when later routing the channels for the binding.
|
