New to Router - Need help with depth adjustment

[Charles Wilson]

I recently got a new makita router. It has two bases that come with it. It seems to me that the fixed base (RF 1101) adjustment is pretty straight forward (make sure initial position is flush with a flat piece of wood, turn scale ring, one graduation and the bit is exposed 1/64" below the base.

As for the plunge base, I am a bit confused when it comes to adjusting depth on the rotating three hex bolts. Also, fine adjustment is in mm (1.6 mm per turn) which is also a confusing to me.

Help

Chuck

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Ya set 'em to where you wan't 'em. Then ya plunge into your work to the depth stop you pre-selected and hit the lock.

The three stops on the rotating little thingiemadohickieethingie are for no other reason than you might want three differen't positions for three operations - and three was cheap to make.

The thread pitch of the nuts on the the depth stops is inconsequential.

[Ralph Barhorst]

As for the plunge base, I am a bit confused when it comes to adjusting depth on the rotating three hex bolts. Also, fine adjustment is in mm (1.6 mm per turn) which is also a confusing to me.

Try this Chuck,

With the router turned off, plunge the bit down until it just touches the wood the you want to route. Now take a drill bit or some other object that has a known diameter/thickness equal to the depth of the cut that you want and put it on top of one of the hex bolts and adjust the fine depth adjustment until it touches the other side of the drill bit. Remove the drill bit and the router should be set up to make a cut with a depth equal to the diameter of the drill bit.

Using this system if quick and requires no measurements.

[Frank Chaffee]

Charles,
For all practical purposes, 1.6 mm equals 1/16 of an inch.
Frank

[Doug Shepard]

What Ralph said. Sometimes using a pc of the stock you're routing (for)works good too. Inlay is a good example. Use a pc of the inlay to set the stop using one of the turret bolts. Then back it off so you leave a bit proud of the surface for leveling flush.

[Greg Sznajdruk]

Charles:

There are a number of outlets that sell brass blocks for setting the depth of a plunge router. As stated above set your router so that the bit just touches the work. Select one of the threaded post and insert the brass blocks for the depth you want. When you plunge the depth of cut is fixed. This is useful when you need to make several passes to remove large quantities of stock.

You may want to check out " routerworkshop.com " they are one source for these blocks.

Greg