Routing Flutes for a bookcase frame

[Gary Groves]

I have several 1.5" wide vertical face frame pieces that are 87" long . I plan on only fluting 60" or so, and I was thinking of handrouting...but since I'm a routing rookie :) , I don't trust myself not to wobble during the process.

Any suggestions for a jig, or other suggestion would be appreciated.

[Michael Ballent]

Depending on your router it will be easy to frustrating ;) Assuming you have a plunge router there may be a line on base which should show the centerline of the router bit. Locate the center of the stock and align to the center line of router. Place your router fence against the stock, plunge and go to town :) Then adjust the fence to cut the "outside" flute, then without changing your setup put the fence on the other side of stock and run that flute... Everything should be centered... Make sure that you have proper support so your router does not tip. :) Thats how I do this

[Dan Stuewe]

At over 7' long and only 1.5" wide (3/4" thick?) I'd be really concerned with hand routing. Even with a great guide and set up, I'd have major problems maintaing control for 5' of routing. I would also want to have those 5' completly supported, you don't want to be routing on a spring board. Bottom line, I'd do it with at router table, fence and a couple of feather boards. Don't have one (router table with fence)? 2x4 piece of plywood with a hole in it and a straight length of wood/angle for a fence. Make sure the table is smooth and I think you'll be very happy with the results of doing this several times.

[john whittaker]

Gary, if you don't have a router table....now's a good time to consider building one. IMHO it's the best way to do what you want to do. If you plan on doing it with a plunge base and edge guide, it can be done easy enough. I assume since the board is only 1.5" wide the flutes will be small in width & depth so there will not be too much of a tendency for the cut to pull the guide off the edge. Just follow what Michale says....he's on target with how I would do it if I didn't have a table.

FYI - After I built my first router table, fluting 1.5" pine was the first thing I did on it. It was face framing for a painted book shelf... and they came out perfect.

Edit...Dan also makes a good point. If hand routing, the board needs to be supported on a table or floor for a solid foundation. Clamping another board to it will give you a little more surface area to balance the router base on.

[tod evans]

gary, i regularly flute by hand, the trick is to trap your wood, build a wooden subbase for your router and use a fence on either side so the router cannot move side to side, clamp stop blocks to your workpiece to stop end to end travel. when you rout flutes get in and out of the ends or you will burn your piece.......02 tod

[Burt Waddell]

Gary,

This is a task tailor made for the EZ Smart router kit. You would need a spacer between the rail and the piece being routed. Set two stops on the rail and route them one at a time - fast, accurate and most importantly EZ!



http://www.eurekazone.com/images/products/smartrouter/ezroutercutout.jpg

[Gary Groves]

Thanks for the feedback.

I do have a router table, So I will try that first with a sample board.

Thanks again.

Gary.

[Peter Stahl]

Thanks for the feedback.

I do have a router table, So I will try that first with a sample board.

Thanks again.

Gary.

The first ones I ever did was with a cheepo sears router table with a 1 hp sears router and a cheep bit. I made marks on the fence so I knew where each side of the bit was. Then marked the back or the piece so I knew where to start and stop. Used a homemade feather board to hold it against the fence. They were all stop type flutes so you need to plunge the piece at the start and lift it at the end. I also used 5 flutes, did the center one first, 2 closest to that one the the 2 outside ones. Was a lot easier than I thought it would be with very little burning. I used a scrap pieces the same width so I could get the spacing right. The key to good flutes is keep the board moving and apply even pressure. Hope this helps.

Pete

[Alex Berkovsky]

How about building this jig...

http://a3.cpimg.com/image/01/4A/55855873-a92a-01820200-.jpg

If you're interested, I can scan the page for you.