Over arm pin routers

[Kelly Craig]

Recently, I purchased a Shop Fox W1736, Bench Overarm Router for around six hundred, including shipping. I purchased it with the idea of making letters, numbers, signs and anything else I can think of that could be made by following a pattern.

From the little I've played with it so far, and once I’ve built a collection of patterns, it appears it's going to be money well spent and will open some new production doors.


Net searches produce several hits on pin routers that range from simple posts to videos on the use and sale of stationary units requiring a plunge router, home made units that rely on a drill press stand to light duty and commercial quality units that raise and lower via foot pedal. The majority of videos show larger units. A few are of the Shop Fox being used by people for making musical instruments. A few more are for the sales of stationary arms (e.g., Daisy).

In reality, there is very little information on techniques, concerns and improvements with regard to these things. I suspect the use of pin routers would be akin to the table router experience. Until you try it, you never really fully understand their capabilities and ease of use.

For these reasons, I'd really appreciate and enjoy hearing from others regarding their uses, experiences and so forth in relation to over routers and, especially, pin use. Toward that end, I’ve posted some of my information and findings:

1) One of the luthier sites shows a guy using the Shop Fox and a template to shape the outer edge of a guitar, then to router out for electronics and such. Instead of adjusting the stop for successive depth cuts, he merely removes a shim. A much quicker process.

I drilled and tapped a hole for a threaded rod just a couple inches back from my stop. My shims drop down over it and slide forward and back in slots.

The next improvement will be to make thumb/finger protuberances and to alter the slot (more curved and going east and west, versus just north and south (so to speak)


2) The Shop Fox comes with several pins. I’ve found I can drop washers over the tops of various sizes of pins to, temporarily, alter their widths, for different effects when following patterns.


3) I’ve found I can, some times, make some patterns by merely following an item secured to my pattern holding board. This produces the pattern on top.


4) For circles that must be routered, I can save a lot of router work by, first, going to my band saw circle jig. The I mount the circle in a holding device and need not deal with the complication of cutting through a piece of wood and having it float free (and potentially getting damaged, or thrown, by the bit).

[James Boster]

I have an old Ekstrom Carlson 156 model that is foot operated. I use it to do inlays and pattern routing a lot. I agree there is not a lot of tutorial type info out there on these machines.

[Charlie Kocourek]

I have sometimes wondered if and how I would use an overarm pin router. Can you post a few pictures?

Thanks, Charlie

[Stephen Cherry]

This is just a guess, but it seems that these pin routers are mostly directed at a production environment, not really too much for the hobbyist. That said, why would a company using one of these machines tell very much about their process to the competition?

[Dave Lehnert]

Shopsmith has made an overarm Pin Router for years. Here is some info on the use of one from the book. Power Tool Woodworking For Everyone.

http://www.shopsmith.com/academy/routing2/index.htm#duplicating

[Kelly Craig]

That is the advantage of the smaller units, like mine, that use a router, rather than a dedicated motor. The hobbyist can play and open new doors. I'd heard of over-arm routers, but never knew their value, until I started reading about them. After buying one, its value became even more obvious (add to my previous list, for example, medallions).

Now, years after the fact, I got around to attaching a photo of the Shop Fox mounted on a simple cart. Not visible is the foot pedal for raising and lowering the bit [via air pressure].

[Larry Copas]

My first full time job was in a sign/cabinet shop. One of my jobs was running an overarm pin router for 8 hours a day.

This was 45 years ago so I may have a few details mixed up, but I think the basics are right.

I don’t remember the machine make other than it was a big commercial model. Foot operated and I sat on a stool. Cart of parts on my left with a cart on my right for complete parts. Pin was a 1/4” threaded into a round aluminum table insert. Tooling was a solid carbide bit.

All of our work was always custom, so any design started with a pattern. I would cut the pattern out of clear acetate about 1/16” thick with an xacto knife. I would than glue that first pattern to a second piece of acetate and cut it out to give enough thickness to run against the pin. About the only touch up required to the pattern would be a quick hand sanding. Time to make most patterns might be 10 minutes.

If I only had a couple of pieces to cut out I would use the acetate pattern. If more were planed I would make a more durable pattern out of 1/4” aluminum or phenolic. We always stuck the pattern to the material with two sided tape. I’ve not seen any like it since leaving that job. It was thin and stuck well. I cut mostly 1/8” Formica laminate…the kind that used to be used for signs. Also cut a lot of 3/4” walnut for trophy type plaques. It would take 3 passes to cut the walnut. Never precut with a bandsaw as that would have taken too much time. Occasionally cut phenolic for control panels, and some aluminum.

About the only problem was if the pin un-threaded from the table insert unnoticed. The bit would hit the pin and ruin both. I was always afraid of breaking a bit as I ran the machine hard. Thoughts of blood make me faint. I did break a few bits but they fell harmlessly to the floor.

[Kirk Poore]

I use my Duro both with patterns and a pin, and free handing on drawn surfaces. The latter is how I rough out relief carvings which have a flat background. For example, these panels were done in walnut, taking off about 3/16" with the router.

[Rick Fisher]

I would check out Onsrud .. see if you can download a manual .. there will be basic stuff in the manual ..