Routing issue

[gwyneth]

The hole may be there but he probably doesn't know what its for.

I was wondering if you (or somebody besides me) thought the hole between the arrows and the bit was in fact for the pin: my point was that he wouldn't have to drill the table.

Besides that hole, which is at 6 o'clock, there appears to be a threaded hole at 3 o'clock.

A pin may have come with the table or insert...if you had any hardware left, it might be worth looking at the little plastic bag.

[LCHIEN]

It looks as if there is one, between the arrows and the bit.

Hartville sells the pins for three bucks.

Bill Hylton suggests cutting the top off a bolt--the kind with a long unthreaded shaft.

The hole may be there but he probably doesn't know what its for. He needs that pin. Exactly what its for. Backs up the workpiece firmly so it won't chatter and jump while you hand feed it to the bit. The you can feed it into the bit with no such problems as he shows.

[gwyneth]

Very simple, just a tepped post and a hole in the router table top.

It looks as if there is one, between the arrows and the bit.

Hartville sells the pins for three bucks.

Bill Hylton suggests cutting the top off a bolt--the kind with a long unthreaded shaft.

[gwyneth]

A big problem, Chris, is that I don't have a ZCI or even a more narrow throat plate for the router fence. I was trying to take it very slow and shallow as it was. I may place this and a large, flat piece of equal thickness on a routing mat and hold the router. I've never experienced problems with end grain when moving the router over the stock. Does anyone see an issue doing it that way?

I'd avoid the routing mat, myself, especially with that bit.

You can make the table much more friendly. Clamp two pieces of plywood or MDF to the fence and close them in on the bit. (I've got a stock of 3/8" ash plywood that is fantastic for stuff like this).

I can't tell from the picture whether that's a clear insert or a huge gap around the bit. If the latter, you can tape a piece of cardboard, if necessary, under the top. I have also heard of people looking around the house to find plastic jar tops that were the same sized circle, then cut a hole for the bit, and temporarily fix it on.
Use the small parts holder.

[LCHIEN]

Man, where's your router pivot pin? That's absolutely what you need.

Controls the feed of freehand items into the bit.

Oak park calls it a safety guide pin and here describes how its to be used.
http://www.routerworkshop.com/safetypin01.html

other people make and sell these, If i recall where I'll post,
Very simple, just a tepped post and a hole in the router table top.

[ironhat]

A big problem, Chris, is that I don't have a ZCI or even a more narrow throat plate for the router fence. I was trying to take it very slow and shallow as it was. I may place this and a large, flat piece of equal thickness on a routing mat and hold the router. I've never experienced problems with end grain when moving the router over the stock. Does anyone see an issue doing it that way?

[cbrown]

Looks like you need to set things up to take smaller bites on the initial passes. You could move the fence around the bit so it holds the workpiece farther away than the bearing radius and move it back a little for each pass, or gradually raise the bit to full height, or start with a smaller diameter radius bit. If you're just taking a tiny amount of material away each pass, you can safely do a climb cut on the end grain on the final passes which will give a smoother result.

Chris

[ironhat]

This piece of 1.5" thick cherry is to be routed from the right angle closest to the bit along the end grain and around to the edge grain . As you can see, my first two attempts at feeding into the end grain had the bit grabbing abruptly and chipping it out. I have enough deth left to cut these away. How should I go about this? Start on the edge grain and back my way slowly into this end grain? Use my small parts holder (just go it on sale at Rocklers but haven't used it)?

TIA,
Chiz