JOINTING ON THE ROUTERTABLE
Router Woodworking
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Jointing is the first step in the material prep sequence. The
faces and the edges of your stock should see a jointer before
proceeding to the planer for thicknessing. The routertable can be
used for edge jointing but not face jointing. The are several real
advantages to using the routertable including its accessibility to
anybody with a routertable, ease of setup and the ability to use
cheap carbide straight bits. Carbide cutters permit straightening
(jointing) the edges of MDF, Ply, most plastics, aluminum, and wood,
(of all things!). High speed steel (HSS) jointer knives are limited
to cutting wood.
A precision ground straight edge lines up the cutter and the fence
halves. The infeed half of the fence is east of the cutter by the
.020" x 12" feeler gage (visible on close inspection). Parallelism
and rigidity are essential. For safety, project no more than 1/16"
of cutter beyond the thickness of the work.
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Once set up for jointing, other full thickness cuts are
permissible and acceptable. This bullnose cutter, for example,
wastes the entire edge of the board plus the .020" offset. (And
note the fence divot, even monkeys fall from trees!)
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Routertable jointing is facilitated with a split fence. The
outfeed side of the fence must be tangent with the top dead center
(TDC) of the cutter. The infeed side of the fence must be parallel
to the out feed fence half and east of the cutter by the desired
amount of jointing/pass; 1/32" is typical and generous. For best
results both halves of the fence must be straight, parallel, square
to the table top and resistant to deflection. A guess at any one of
these parameters may be the cause for less than desirable
results.
A carbide straight cutter slightly greater in length than the
work is thick is desirable. A cutter with more diameter than 5/8"
will minimize deflection and produce the best finish.
A routertable is no substitute for a jointer but it can be handy
for the short run, especially when used on material unfriendly to
HSS jointer knives.
Email for more information
as needed.