Show me your router set-up

[Jim Dunn]

I currently own a 8"X30" craftsman lathe circa 1950 with a 1/3hp motor. Now all the information is on the table. My wife wants a small hall table with a folding top. The plans call for cutting dovetails in the center post after turning. Author says "place your router jig on the ways of your lathe and proceed to cut your dovetails" I don't have much of an idea how to construct this and am looking for ideas. I can pretty much build from pics but descriptive comments would help. I'd like to make it usable for other things as well, fluting and such.

All help would be appreciated. Maybe I can turn this bad beast on and spin my way into SWMBO's heart for XMAS.;)

Jim:)

[Mark Singer]

If you have a router table...use it. Start by removing as much waste as possible with a dado blade on the tablesaw....then make the sliding dovetail in the slot...you could use the lathe...I never heard of that or wonder why....its kind of like polishing your car with your socks on your feet...its different:rolleyes:

[Mark Hulette]

Jim -

As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words... sorry I don't have a picture :rolleyes: but you really need to check out Bill Hylton's book "Router Magic" (I hope that's the name). There are plans for a jig like you're describing in there. I'd like to make one for my Jet mini but haven't gotten past the lack of an indexing pin/set-up to keep the stock from turning.

Good Luck!

[Chris Barton]

Jim,

I would be a little worried about making dovetail cuts using a lathe. Most lathes top out around 3500 rpm and that is way slow for a dovetail bit to be moving. Either a regular router table or router with an edge guide would do a much better job.

[tod evans]

jim, cut a board to fit snugly between the ways, you must be able to slide it back and forth but no side to side play. attach another board of suitable length and width to the "key" you fitted. using the board/key as one side build a box large enough to clear the piece you wish to dovetail by no more than 1/4" in height, and large enough to affix your router to. using the lathes centers find the center of your router mounting board and mount your router with the bit centered on this line. use a straight bit to hog out the waste and a dt bit to finish with. sorry no pics. tod

[Bart Leetch]

It involves a plywood box that is clamped to the ways of the lathe. The box has a slot in its top for the router cutter to come down through & you could make a stop to screw to it to limit the travel of the router so the slot is made just the right length.

[Jim Becker]

I have what you need "somewhere" in the shop...I use it to cut the dovetails for the Shaker Candle Stands I like. If I can get some time and locate the jig easily, I'll post a picture. But in essence, it's a box that is large enough to surround the turning. It has a piece of wood on the bottom that fits between the ways to hold it parallel and simple F-clamps are used to fix it to the lathe. On the top surface, there is a slot that is used to guide the router to cut the slots...the router being equipped with a guide collar that follows said slot. You index the turning for either three or four slots, depending on the number of legs and cut the slots by sliding the router on the jig. (The lathe is not turning obviously and should be unplugged and the spindle locked during each cut) As Mark indicates, cut out the waste with a straight cutter first and then use the dovetail cutter to finish the work. Indexing is important so you make the six or eight passes in exactly the same places. If your lathe doesn't have indexing, make it...