Joint edging for edge joining

[jhelfer]

I'm trying to make an occasional tabl top, but I am unsatisfied with the quality of my joint edges. I just used the table saw with a good, but multi-purpose Freud blade.

I tried to clean up the edge manually, but apparently, my plane skills are sub standard.

Besides buying a jointer, I have two options to solve this problem, and I would like some advice.

I could buy a blade that is specifically for jointed edges (I recall they make somethin like this, but a quick search didn't turn up anything).

Or, I could install the auxillary router table, and set up the fence to do the joint edges. Which would mean buying a Ryobi router, since mine won't fit at all to the mounting plate.

What do you think I should do?

[LarryG]

Which would mean buying a Ryobi router, since mine won't fit at all to the mounting plate.

Not necessarily. You could drill the plate to fit your router. LOTS of folks here (myself included) have done that. It's generally either three holes or four; maybe a 20 minute job. Use the plastic subbase from your router as a template.

[Tom Miller]

I vote for option 3, which is to use your own router, a straight-edge to guide the router, and a straight bit (or spiral, if you have it).

For a straight edge, I have a couple different lengths of melamine shelf board for the longer stuff. Otherwise I, well...I use my 6" jointer. But you'll get great results with what you have -- no table-mounted router required.

Regards,
Tom
Unless you want to buy another router -- I can edit my post.

Added: Whew, whenever I hit "submit", and see that Larry got in before me, I usually figure I've been scooped. But this time, I think you now have two different, but equally good, pieces of advice. Assuming mine doesn't suck, that is.

[vaking]

Should you decide to use router in the accessory table (Ryobi router or otherwise) please be aware that a fence that comes with router mounting kit for BT3100 will not do a good job jointing. That fence has neither length nor precision for this task. Plan for making a better fence before the actual jointing. This is, however, a very worthy project as router mounted into BT with a good fence will go a long way.

[jhelfer]

Thanks Larry,

Not buying another router _right now_ would please me. I thought about "homemading" it yesterday, but I was a bit concerned about safety.

[jhelfer]

Well, I _do_ want to get a router to dedicate to the table installation - but not right now.
Thinking about it a little more, I'll probably give the old straight-edge method a try. Should have thought of that yesterday, actually.

Thansk Tom!

[jhelfer]

Hmm. Haven't actually made a fence before. Just a bigger piece, straight as I can find? Anything more subtle than that?

[gmack5]

A Simple Router Fence

Hmm. Haven't actually made a fence before. Just a bigger piece, straight as I can find? Anything more subtle than that?

The only other thing you need to do is add a piece of smooth material, about 1/32" thick to the OUTFEED side of your Fence. Then line up your Router Bit with the face of that added-on piece.

A piece of Laminate the same height as your Fence would do nicely.

You might want to "chamfer" the leading edge of the Laminate that is next to the Bit to keep your Workpiece from grabbing when you start the pass.

The actual Fence can be something as simple as a piece of 2 X 4" material (1 1/2" thick actual) that you've put a notch in to clear your Bit.

Just run it thru your Saw to clean up the Face, add the Laminate to the Outfeed side and wax the heck out of it so your workpiece slides nicely.

Just make sure that it's long enough so that you can clamp it in place on your Router Table.

[drumpriest]

btw, you are probably thinking of the freud "glue line rip" blade. But it's not going to joint for you. There are jointing jigs for a table saw, which should be called "straight line rip" jigs.

Jointing with a router is very doable, for edge jointing. The shim method is really very good. Ensure that your bit is perpendicular to the table, which it will be close, but off. To compensate, joint the boards facing up and down alternating. This will eliminate the error.

[JimD]

I regularly use the BT3100 to cut a good glue joint line. I have a piece of melamine fastened to the rip fence that makes it about a foot longer which I think helps. You do not have to use melamine, it is just cheap and nicely finished and with a coat of wax it is nice and slick. If I do not like the joint between boards, I rip one of them about 1/32 narrower and look at the joint again. If that does not work, I rip the other board a little. Generally, a couple rips is the most I have to do to have straight enough edges. The stock blade is fine for this cut.

Jim

[jabe]

Check out the Tenryu Saw blades (tenryu.com). I used Freuds for many years, I used Forrest blades but for performance vs price, can not beat the Tenryu saw blades. Go to tenryu.com, they have a wide assortment of blades. Contact them for technical help and they'll recommend a blade for the job you want to do.

[gimpy]

Don't some of the woodworking magazines have the occasional article on making a jig to use with a hand held router to joint edges? Or am I thinking of something else? I will see if I can find one later.

Frank

[drumpriest]

Frank, that wouldn't be a very complex jig, I wouldn't think. Clamp a straight edge to the board, run a pattern bit over it, done.

[Knottscott]

No matter what you do to get the edges smooth and flat, if you don't ensure that the adjacent face is flat first, you'll have a tough time getting really tight edge joints. That's where a jointer, planer with a sled, or handplanes come into play.

[jhelfer]

Well, I tried a few things this week to use the router to get a joint edge on my boards. They were all more or less disastrous.

I think I'm just going to go out and buy a jointer tonight.

Thanks for the advice!