Pin Routers

[Mike OMelia]

I just saw Bill H. post in the classifieds for a pin router (sold) and realized that was what I have been looking for... almost. This is where I need advice. From what I can see, the smallest pin is 1//4". Imagine cutting a shamrock (3 leaves is fine). No stems to the leaves. This means as you aproach the main juncture of all of the leaves, the angles and space get really tight meaning the pin can go only so far and you will have to do the rest with a chisels. The smaller the pin and bit, the further you can go. Right? But flexing of the pin can be a problem... correct (if too thin)? Other than CNC and chisels, has anyone got an answer for this? My actual application is to put a binding edge on all of the leaves meaning I want to rout a channel al the way around the shape. So in actuality, the bit is bigger than the pin. But I want thin, strong pins. (not really working with sharmrocks, but you can see the shape below). The tight spots are obvious. I did this with a shopmade jig that used a thin pin, but it was not ideal.

Mike

[Kent Chasson]

Hey Mike, I built one with a drill chuck to hold variable sized pins. If you use good linear guides and make everything rigid, you can dial in amazing accuracy and vary your channels in .001" increments. Grizzly sells a set of indexing pins that go from .060" to .250" in .001" increments.

There's a photo of mine here. http://www.chassonguitars.com/tour.html I've actually rebuilt it since then to give me more throat room.

[Chris Fournier]

I love my pin router! You could have .125" guide pin no problems. I machine up pins as I need them in these special applications.

Nice site and work Kent!

[Ed Kilburn]

Here's a utube video of a pin router I built a few tears ago, the slide is THK bearings the overarm is 4 x 4 steel box tubing. The wood I'm cutting is 3/4" poplar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV4KJRg56Pw Since then I've picked up a 5hp Grizzly overarm router. I'll be listing this machine for sale when I get back to the states.

[Mike OMelia]

I love my pin router! You could have .125" guide pin no problems. I machine up pins as I need them in these special applications.

Nice site and work Kent!

Chris, could you please describe your pin router? Shop made? MLCS? Grizzly?

Mike

[Van Huskey]

a pin router I built a few tears ago,

That describes most of my shop built machine attempts very accurately!

[Ian James Webster]

Hi Kent,

I'm looking at a pin router as a solution for cutting out multiple parts. My question is how do you prevent tear out? At the moment I'm using a regular router in a table with a double bearing guide bit. I get a lot of tear out unless I use a combination of climb cutting and turning the piece upside down and using the other end of the double bearing guide router bit. It's a slow process. I'm hoping a pon router will speed things up as long as it doesn't tear out too much.

Thank you for any input / suggestions.

Ian

[Kent Chasson]

Hi Ian,

It depends on exactly what you are doing. One advantage of a pin router is the ability to use a spiral bit instead of a straight pattern bit. Those can go a long way toward eliminating tearout.

Using heavy templates and rigid hold-downs helps eliminate vibration. (check out Ed's video)

What are you making.

[Ian James Webster]

Adirondack chairs from cedar

[Mike OMelia]

Ed, I looked at your setup. Very cool, but not exactly what I am looking for, though I could use that elsewheres! Chris, still looking for some pics or something to describe your setup. Kent, I went to your link. If it's not too much trouble, could you post a few closeups of the important parts? I could not see much detail.

Thanks!

Mike

[Cliff Furman]

I made a mount for a router on my ras. It works good. So far, I have just used it for dados. Would work as a pin router also.