Brett Bobo
11-12-2010, 10:36 AM
Maybe I'm overthinking this but I'm trying to make the templates for routing mortises for bed hardware (Rockler's heavy duty bed hardware), particularly for the mortises in the legs. I'm using using a 3/4" MDF template to register the jig at the correct distance from the base of the leg and on top of that, I offset 3/4" MDF scraps for the router bushing to follow to correspond to the correct opening for the hardware. My plan was to remove the 3/4" MDF scraps and only use the template and a router bushing cut the mortises in the legs but with any router bushing, the size in the legs won't be correct now. A couple of thoughts:
1. The total depth of the MDF template and the MDF scraps is 1 1/2" so I can't use this combination since the router bit is just at 1 1/2" in length. Since I used 23 gage pins to hold the scraps to the template, I can't plane down the MDF scraps but I can plane down the template probably just enough to allow the bit to remove the correct amount, ~3/16" or so.
2. Using the same router bushing, make two offsets from the template with the scraps so that the when I place the template on the legs with the same bushing, the mortise comes out to the correct size. My only concern here is the amount of accuracy lost in moving the template scraps and routing twice for the final product.
3. Remove the MDF scraps and use a router template bit with a top bearing to create the final mortise in the legs. I'm not sure of the available cutter lengths for a router template bit but it would need to be fairly short, say 1/2", in order for the bearing to follow the template and still provide a shallow mortise with the hardware thickness only being ~3/16" thick. Woudl a router template bit be the correct choice for a mortise application? Does a router template bit like this exist with a shorter cutter length?
I think what's throwing me off is that unlike mortising for hinges, this template is enclosed on all four sides and not open on one side like for hinges. At the same time, I'll have to rout mortises in the legs for the male hooks from the bed rail so unless I have a smaller router bit that offsets correctly to correspond to the male hooks, I'll need another template for that too.
What am I doing wrong here or missing? What option do you suggest as the best solution or what solutions do you recommend? Thanks in advance!
Brett
1. The total depth of the MDF template and the MDF scraps is 1 1/2" so I can't use this combination since the router bit is just at 1 1/2" in length. Since I used 23 gage pins to hold the scraps to the template, I can't plane down the MDF scraps but I can plane down the template probably just enough to allow the bit to remove the correct amount, ~3/16" or so.
2. Using the same router bushing, make two offsets from the template with the scraps so that the when I place the template on the legs with the same bushing, the mortise comes out to the correct size. My only concern here is the amount of accuracy lost in moving the template scraps and routing twice for the final product.
3. Remove the MDF scraps and use a router template bit with a top bearing to create the final mortise in the legs. I'm not sure of the available cutter lengths for a router template bit but it would need to be fairly short, say 1/2", in order for the bearing to follow the template and still provide a shallow mortise with the hardware thickness only being ~3/16" thick. Woudl a router template bit be the correct choice for a mortise application? Does a router template bit like this exist with a shorter cutter length?
I think what's throwing me off is that unlike mortising for hinges, this template is enclosed on all four sides and not open on one side like for hinges. At the same time, I'll have to rout mortises in the legs for the male hooks from the bed rail so unless I have a smaller router bit that offsets correctly to correspond to the male hooks, I'll need another template for that too.
What am I doing wrong here or missing? What option do you suggest as the best solution or what solutions do you recommend? Thanks in advance!
Brett