Router problem

[Syd Lorandeau]

Was looking thru Craftsman Router Handbook by Patrick Spielman and saw a cutting board with a tapered bottom so the juices flow to one end. Cool, lets go! By the time you put your template on and add the extra long base on the router and the shims for the taper I am so far up from the board I want to rout there is no bit left. What am I doing wrong??? Fairly new to routers. Thanks Syd

[Doug Shepard]

Not having the book in front of me - are you deviating at all from the book method? Shorter router bit? Thicker template or router base material than the book? If it's a plunge router, do you have the depth stop turret turned out of the way so you can plunge to full depth? Have you got the entire shank of the bit in the collet? You can safely pull some of the bit out of the collet - check your router manual for the minimum safe amount you need in the collet. How far away from the cutting board is the bit? And how deep do you have to go with the cut? If you add those 2 values to the length of the bit you're currently trying, can you find a similar bit that long?
Without more info, I'm just running through possibilities.

[Greg Mann]

Doug hit on all the usual suspects, but if you can't discover the issue, see if you can post a pic or two of the set-up. Someone might be able to see the problem.

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

How about putting the taper wedges on the sides of the cutting board. In other words, sandwich the cutting board between the taper wedges.
If the router is too low then, used spacer blocks under the wedges.

[Syd Lorandeau]

Hi Guys,
Iam not up to the speed of sending pictures but I hope to get there. Spielman did not give dimentions for the jigs so I will use .250 for the template and 5/8' for the board to carry the router.
I have a Craftsman 3hp router and best I can measure it can plunge about 1.5". 1/2" bits the shank is about 1.5" long so I figured I need to go in at least 1/2 the way in, which leaves the bottom of the bit up about 3/8" from the base add the carrier board of 5/8" and the 1/4" templete and I can only get into the cutting board very little.
Syd

[CPeter James]

I have some very long straight cutting router bits. I am not in the shop right now, but I think that they have over 1 inch on cutting length and because they are pattern bits, the shank is about 1/2 inch longer that a regular bit.

CPeter

[Doug Shepard]

Sounds like you're going to need a different router bit to do this. 1.5" is on the shorter side of 1/2 SH router bits. You shouldn't have any problem finding one with a longer shank that has the cutter type you're looking for. If your local supplier's don't have what you're looking for, try one of the online sources - Eagle, LeeValley, Grizzly, etc.

[CPeter James]

Try Western Tools on the Miracle Mile on the way to West Leb. They have Whiteside bits that are very high quality.

CPeter

[David Klug]

Talk about good service. I just received a bit from woodworkerworld.net. Alan took the call on Fri. and told me that I would receive it on Tue. I said to him you mean that I won't get it yesterday? I think he was a little dumbfounded because he kind of stuttered and finally said that it would be Tue. Well lo and behold when I got the mail on Mon. there it was. I was really impressed.

DK