Routing Free Hand

Re: Routing Free Hand

Tom Norton

Clamp a straight edge to the board to guide the router base. First determine the distance from the edge of the base to the cut.

Couple things

Ellis Walentine

First, do you really need to sneak up on the guide bearing? I don't know how big your ogee bit is, but what would happen if you tried routing this profile with just one pass? I'd try it on a test piece if you're concerned.

Regarding technique, as long as you're routing from left to right (as you face the workpiece), it should be uneventful if you just take a partial pass. Feeding from right to left (climb feeding), on the other hand, gets dicier because the bit wants to accelerate across the work. In that case, you need to pay close attention to taking light passes and keeping a firm grip on the router.

Ellis

You can make some cuts with shallower depth

Keith Newton

Or you might hot glue a thin strip for the bearing to ride, then remove it for the final pass. However I’d just do it freehand. Clamp the board, asume a linebacker stance with the elbows in close to your sides, and shift your weight from one foot to the other.

Do the ends before you do the sides, which will take care of chip out at the far end.

Re: Routing Free Hand

Hank Knight

You can replace the original guide bearing on your bit with one with a larger diameter for a shallower cut. Then replace with progressively smaller ones until you get to the depth you want. Each cut should be slightly deeper that the previous one until you reach your final depth of cut. Most router bit manufacturers, Freud, Whiteside and CMT for examples, sell guide bearings of different sizes.

Re: Routing Free Hand

David Yoho

This should be fairly easy to do on the ends. As long as your bit does have a guide bearing you can start off with shallow (depth) cuts and the bearing should still contact the edge. Just increase the depth of cut as you go until it's where you want it.

One other thing to think about - if only doing one long edge (side) the edge of the board not being profiled may well chip out as the bit reaches the end of the one end cut. You might want to back that edge with a piece of scrap to prevent this. If the profile is all the way around, then no problem.

Re: Routing Free Hand

Don Evans

Thanks to all that answered, I think I got it now. Appreciate it...

Don