EZSmart Router Base

[Hoa Dinh]

A drawback of the EZ Smart Router Base is that it doesn't show where the cut line is.

To make setting up the router easier, I made a square router base with hairlines that indicates where the center of the bit is.

Here (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=/63e0&.dnm=ef0e.jpg&.src=ph) is a photo and here (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=/63e0&.dnm=e34a.jpg&.src=ph) is another one. I hope you can see the lines clear in the photos (I haven't bored the bit opening all the way yet - It's too late to do it outside).

To route a dado, I just need to draw a line indicating the center of the dado, draw another line in parallel with and a few inches from the center line, clamp the EZ guide with edge against the second line, adjust the sliding arm to align the center line of the dado with the hairlines of the base, and route.

I'm thinking a jig to make the SRK to operate as an Accurate Router Guide (http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=10482). Any idea?

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Hoa, looks like a great addition to your smart guide!

One thing I have thought would be great, is a measuring tape on the Router base, so that you know how far from the edge of the guide you are.

I am sure dino will read these posts and consider them carefuly :)

[Dino Makropoulos]

A drawback of the EZ Smart Router Base is that it doesn't show where the cut line is.

To make setting up the router easier, I made a square router base with hairlines that indicates where the center of the bit is.

Here (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=/63e0&.dnm=ef0e.jpg&.src=ph) is a photo and here (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=/63e0&.dnm=e34a.jpg&.src=ph) is another one. I hope you can see the lines clear in the photos (I haven't bored the bit opening all the way yet - It's too late to do it outside).

To route a dado, I just need to draw a line indicating the center of the dado, draw another line in parallel with and a few inches from the center line, clamp the EZ guide with edge against the second line, adjust the sliding arm to align the center line of the dado with the hairlines of the base, and route.

I'm thinking a jig to make the SRK to operate as an Accurate Router Guide (http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=10482). Any idea?

Hi Hoa.
Good job on the indication lines. Food for thought.
About the dado jig. Rout your first line with the sliding arm retracted and the second or third one with the sliding arm extended to include the thickness of the wood, that is the width of your dado.
You can use the very same piece of wood, a piece scrap or a tape measure/caliper? The EZ perpendicular movement of the sliding arm helps not only for all directional routing but for EZ dado / mortise and tenon.
Thanks Hoa.
YCF Dino

[Dino Makropoulos]

Hoa, looks like a great addition to your smart guide!

One thing I have thought would be great, is a measuring tape on the Router base, so that you know how far from the edge of the guide you are.

I am sure dino will read these posts and consider them carefuly :)

Hi Jeff.
A measuring tape on the router base will be nice to have.
The problem is that we don't make our own routers yet and is not always EZ to install the router DEAD CENTER to the Ez base. A simple pencil mark on the sliding arm and/or story stick it will be more accurate than a tape measure.
When and if manufactures of power tools start making tools with the EZ Smart in mine, then we can include a tape measure and other helpful devices.
But until then we just have to find our own EZ Smart way. ;)
Thanks Jeff.
YCF Dino

[Hoa Dinh]

The problem is [...snipped...] not always EZ to install the router DEAD CENTER to the Ez base.
YCF Dino

Exactly. To locate the indication lines on the acrylic subbase, I chucked a V-groove bit in the router, and "plunged" the bit opening. With the tip of the V-groove bit just barey sticking out pass the subbase, I clamped a piece of 1/4" thick melamine-coated hardboard to the EZ guide, and (with no power to the router), slid the router to create a small line on the hardboard. Then pulling the base back, I used the line on the hardboard to mark the locations of the hairlines at the opposite edges of the subbase. Turning the subbase over, I used a sharp awl to score the indication lines, then used a bit of dark-colored paint to make the lines more visible.

I haven't removed the router base from the EZ base because I may not be able to put them together at the EXACT location. I'm thinking about drilling holes through the EX router base and the acrylic subbase, then tapping the holes in the acrylic subbase and using screw to semi-permanently attach the EZ base to the acrylic subbase. Dini indicated that he would send me a new SRK to replace the old-style kit I currently have. I'm not sure if I want to wait for the new kit or just drill the holes in the base now.

[Hoa Dinh]

About the dado jig. Rout your first line with the sliding arm retracted and the second or third one with the sliding arm extended to include the thickness of the wood, that is the width of your dado.
You can use the very same piece of wood, a piece scrap or a tape measure/caliper? The EZ perpendicular movement of the sliding arm helps not only for all directional routing but for EZ dado / mortise and tenon.
But if you look at the operation of the Accurate Router Guide, you'll see no measurement needed. You use the same material that will go in the dado as the guide to move the router over. I'm willing to use a dedicated router bit for each size of the dado (e.g. 1/2" straight bit for nominal 3/4" thick plywood, 1/4" bit for nominal 1/2" thick plywood). But I don't want to measure. I'm not sure how "to include the thickness of the wood" without measuring.

... still thinking....

[Dino Makropoulos]

But if you look at the operation of the Accurate Router Guide, you'll see no measurement needed. You use the same material that will go in the dado as the guide to move the router over. I'm willing to use a dedicated router bit for each size of the dado (e.g. 1/2" straight bit for nominal 3/4" thick plywood, 1/4" bit for nominal 1/2" thick plywood). But I don't want to measure. I'm not sure how "to include the thickness of the wood" without measuring.

... still thinking....

Just a fast thought.ok 3
A.Use your router bid between the guide rail and the ez smart base
(or something else of the same diameter to adjust the sliding arm for your first pass)
Then use the same materials for the final pass.
B.Or you can tape another sacrificial piece of wood to the good piece with the right dado at the right place to help you set the sliding arm.

C.Or get the accurate router guide. Looks like a good tool to have.
You can use it against the ez guide rail if you slide off the EAC-1 (antichip edge)
The last one was EZ. :rolleyes:

[Hoa Dinh]

Pardon the way I post photos (not in the post but with links to somewhere else) but I don't know how to embed photos in the post.

OK. It's too late for me to turn on the router now. But here's the idea as how to use a 1/2" straight bit to cut a dado from 1/2" to 1" wide, using the thickness of the actual material that will go into the dado as a guide.

1. Mark one side of the dado, as in this photo (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=63e0&.dnm=c867.jpg&.src=ph).

2. Draw another line in parallel and 1/4" from the line above as in this photo (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=63e0&.dnm=4252.jpg&.src=ph). This new line is the center of the first cut.

3. Insert a 1/2" thick (the same thickness as the width of the straight bit) spacer between the guide rail and the router base. I just happen to have a brass measuring bar that is exactly 1/2" thick. I use that bar as in this photo (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=63e0&.dnm=70ee.jpg&.src=ph).

4. Align the indicator lines on the router base with the center line of the first cut drawn in (2), as in this photo (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=63e0&.dnm=ae01.jpg&.src=ph). Route the first pass of the dado.

5. Replace the 1/2" thick spacer with a piece of the actual material as in this photo (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoa_dinh@sbcglobal.net/detail?.dir=63e0&.dnm=4227.jpg&.src=ph). Route the second pass of the dado.

I think it takes longer to type this than to actually do it.

I won't have any shop time this week (have some plumbing job to finish) so I'll have to wait until the next weekend to try the idea.

What do you think?

[Dino Makropoulos]

I think it takes longer to type this than to actually do it.

I won't have any shop time this week (have some plumbing job to finish) so I'll have to wait until the next weekend to try the idea.

What do you think?

Keep thinking and posting all this good ideas.
You have one year from today to apply for a provisional or utility patent.
Your idea can be extended to an adjustable build in "dado block" ??
and incorporated to the SRK design. :cool: EZ-Smart Dado? :)
Keep thinking Hoa.