The little jig that could..

[Mark Marzluf]

Was asked on another thread about a detail that I made on the jewelry box. Rather than clutter up one thread, I figured I'd post about the jig it's self..

So.... this started out as an idea I had for a dresser to be built for LOML. I just wasnted to make some concave circles. Nothing short of a CNC machine though was the answer I got from most WW stores. I knew I could do it with my router if I made the right jig though, so I went to work on my little lathe/ mill combo machine.

As the jig progressed, I made a few adjustments and added in a few more features. This is the final piece that I use here in the shop from time to time when the project calls for it.

Also... some simple "doodles" of what else it's capable of doing.

Simple answer..... the jig allows me to rotate the router on 2 axis like a gimble. Also able to lock it in position in either direction. The tracks alow for horizontal movement.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/186856310.jpg


http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/1396915/147739116.jpg


http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/1396915/147739147.jpg


http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/1396915/147739126.jpg


http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/1396915/147739133.jpg

[Mike Canaris]

That is ingenious Mark... Did you did the machining on the aluminium?

How easy/difficult is it to set up for any given task?

[Jim Dunn]

That is a real neat tool/jig. Have you patent'd it as yet?? I would in a heart beat.

[Jim Dailey]

Very Nice Mark!!! I've followed some of your posts over on woodnet durning your development of the jig. The lastest pictures show that you have added alot of refinement, and some creative new ways to use the jig. I remember at one point you where looking at selling it on a limited bases, but the cost of production on small runs of the jig was the high. Has anything changed? Are you still thinking about limited production runs of your jig?

Thanks for sharing your creative jig & ideas, jim

[Dave Anthony]

Very ingenious. What is the purpose of the square aluminium bar going up vertically on the left of the photo, is this a locking mechanism? At 1st I thought it was attached to the rod going through, but that would only give one axis of movement (plus the track to provide "z").

[Mark Marzluf]

You're right Dave... The vertical (lacking complete motivation for design) bar is there simply to provide a locking point for the outter ring. The allen screw there threads into the ring to hold it at 90*. That allows me to swing the router in one direction only. I can then rotate the entire upper structure within the UHMW base and slide it along the tracks if need be..

I still haven't played with this thing enough to know what all I could do with it.. It's fun to have around though.


For some of the other questions.... Yes, I machined the aluminum pieces and the UHMW. Probably took me 5 times as long as a machine shop would have and I'm sure I wasted way too much material, but I bought the aluminum at the scrap yard and didn't spend any money milling it, so I figured, what the heck..

It's actually really easy to set up. no differnet than setting up any other router with a bit. After that, just clamp the jig into position and go to town.. Loosen one setting or lock another and you get different patterns.. Handling is easy even one handed. It's very stable at can't flip completely over so there's no real risk of throwing it into your arm..

No money or time for a patent.... I've been using this for about 3 years now and have decided to just keep it for myself..

[Chris Padilla]

Cool stuff, Mark! Necessity is the mother of invention!

[Hank Knight]

Mark, that is a really cool jig! If you decide to go into the business, let me know. I'll be your first customer. I'm afraid machining at your level is out of my league.

Hank

[Doug Shepard]

Mark - that's one of the coolest jigs I've run across yet and would be pretty tempted to buy one if the price was reasonable. Dont have the talent or machinery to make one of those myself. If you dont have plans to market them, why dont you try contacting a tool maker to see if you can sell the idea to them. I would think something like this might be right up MicroFence's alley, or maybe Woodhaven.
Keep up the good work.

[tod evans]

mark, that`s a cool lookin` jig/fixture i suppose you know that since you`ve posted pics there will soon be tai/chi offerings of your invention with no royaltys proffered? nice job! tod

[George Robin]

So Mark, did you make a really big one also, those patterns look awfully close to crop circles :-)

Excellent jig.

[Robert Mickley]

Ok I can sort of understand how you did the crop circles.
Simply advancing it up the track and swing the router back and forth
I'm assuming to get the shape of the circle you have to keep changing the depth?

The last pic, I just can't seem to get my brain wrapped around how you di that one.

I want pics of this beast in action. This has got to be one of the coolest little jigs yet.

[Dennis Peacock]

Outstanding once again....and I want one.!!!!!

[Ed Nelson978]

Mark, I have to agree with the others. That is a way cool jig.

[Julio Navarro]

Mark, if you do some drawings of the machine, have a notary public date and seal it along with pics of it you may be able to keep it as ownership so it cant be copied or claimed by any one else. That looks like a great idea and would be a shame to loose rights to it.

You seem like a humble man, I can understand why you would simply keep it to yourself but its a great idea, you do us great service by sharing. Thanks

It is truely ingeniouse. My hats off to you.

[Rich Torino]

Amazing tool... OK when can I place my order???

[Scott Loven]

Contact rocklers, they will manufacture and market it for you. Shouldn't take to much of your time.
Scott

[bill walton]

I'm in for one. Just forwarding this thread to someone like rockler should provide the incentive they need. As other's have stated, protect yourself first
Bill

[Ed Kowaski]

Mike that is the way coolest little device I've seen in a long long time. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. Where it possible, beers on me bud. :)

[Bruce Volden]

Mark,


Now I have to build one, what is the length this one will do? I think I can dedicate a 4' length and hang it out of the way on the wall when not in use, any suggestions. Also, the "crop circle" effect is due to the plywood it's routed into I'm guessing.


Bruce

[Chip Charnley]

Cool little jig. At the right price point, I would definitely get one too.

[Craig Feuerzeig]

Looks like you've got yourself a winner there Mark. I want one too.
Good luck! (you'll need it :D )

[Mike Cutler]

Mark.

That is one slick little rig. If you don't patent it someone will. I think Tod is right, we may see something like that someday in a catalog. I mean, I don't even have a foreseeable use for one, and I want one also.

Nice invention, and equally nice work.

[John Hulett]

No money or time for a patent.... I've been using this for about 3 years now and have decided to just keep it for myself..

It almost seems like you can't afford not to patent your jig!

There was mention of Rockler as a possible partner; I seem to remember seeing emails from Woodpeckers (www.woodpeck.com (http://www.woodpeck.com)) practically begging for ideas of things they could manufacture in aluminum.

Best of luck to you!

[Per Swenson]

Ladies and Gentelman,

We have a winner!

Outstanding.

Per

[Mark Marzluf]

Thanks everyone for the kind words..

I actually contacted Woodpeckers about it a few months ago. They wanted me to just ship it to them for review. Well..... I actually wanted to take it to them myself and explain how everything worked and why, but they weren't too happy about that..

I met with David Marks after that and showed it to him. He recomended that I contact Mark Duginski about it and see if he'd be able to help, but to this day I have not been able to reach him.

I keep running into dead ends here....... that's the other reason why I've just kind of kept it to myself...

Maybe someday it'll see store shelves.....

[Russ Massery]

As a Machinist you get a Most Excellent! And as others have said ingenious and patent worthy.

[glenn bradley]

Bench Dog also openly asks folks to submit their ideas.

[John Stevens]

Maybe someday it'll see store shelves.....

I hope so. It looks like it'll hollow out the seat of a chair, which is something I'd like to do with a power tool.

[Mark Marzluf]

I know......

Actually, Bench Dog was contacted last year about it, and although they were very interested, they were going through money problems and weren't taking on any new projects at the time.

Maybne it's just about that time for me to start making some calls again..

The local WW store already wants 10 to start with.. I just need to get them to them. Can't make them myself though, costs would be too high to be profitable.

[Joe Mioux]

You Machinists Guys have all the fun!!! and there is one you that I don't think has weighed in on this latest "little invention"..... But I am sure he will like it.

Joe

[Mark Marzluf]

Who's that ??

[Guy Germaine]

See Mark! I told you several months ago to take this and run with it. ;)
You've got a winner here and you need to do something about it. Just think, market this and have a nice steady income to pay for all of your new toys!

[Mike Null]

Mark

From a transplanted Buckeye--you've got to try to get that thing on the market.

I wonder if some cost couldn't be reduced by going to heavy duty plastic parts and having them laser cut. If you want to fool around with that concept I'll volunteer to try to make the parts for a prototype.

If you're intererested send me a PM.

Great job.

[Rich Torino]

Mark,
Please keep us posted on your progress for possible sale of this product.....

[Mike Cutler]

Who's that ??

Joe may be referring to Bruce Page. Bruce made a router jig that was based on one commercially available. Bruce's version however, showed what the retail version could only hope to aspire to be.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

That is the bomb. Way cool.
Can you make it do elipses?

[Mark Marzluf]

No... no elipses' from THIS one... Although, I've already designed another one in my head that is larger and would do elipses. Never have had time to work on the second one though..

To create an elipse, one direction of swing would have to be a much larger arc. That would mean creating a much taller jig or hanging it from a secondary pivot arm.


...............Well........ actually, I guess you could just make an arched sled for it to sit on that would provide a longer plunge in one direction and use the on board rotation for the oposing arc. never tried that though.


BTW...... I looked up Bruce's plunge base. THAT is some awesome machining. I don't think my little combo machine is capable of that clean of a cut.. or I just haven't had enough time on it yet. ;)

[Ed Kowaski]

Mark have you checked into laser cut steel. I'd think all the truned metal parts could be done that way and it's hella cheaper then machined here abouts. Tolerances are +- .001.

Perhaps the router housing could be two thinner sections seperated by joiner nuts. Powder coating is pretty cost effective too though raw steel wouldn't turn me away.

FWIW

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

No... no elipses' from THIS one... Although, I've already designed another one in my head that is larger and would do elipses. Never have had time to work on the second one though..

To create an elipse, one direction of swing would have to be a much larger arc. That would mean creating a much taller jig or hanging it from a secondary pivot arm.

Yah I had screwed around with a couple ideas to do elpises everything I tried led me back to two hinge points. If I'm going to go through all that effort I'd need to be able to adjust the hinge seperation for different elipses. Even still each joint will introduce some play into the mix. I don't have access to a machine shop any more so I'm stuck with wood, pre-made parts, angle iron flat and rod stock, and what small parts I can turn on my little Elgin Jeweler's lathe.

[Dino Makropoulos]

Maybe someday it'll see store shelves.....


Mark. This is one cool jig.:cool:
Great for arts and crafts and very safe.

If you need help with a limited production run
to test the waters...you know where to find us.

Dino.
Eurekazone.

[richard poitras]

Anyone know if Mark ever got this jig published (he had stated he was in talks with a magazine to get the prints published) or how to get a hold of him as he has not been on the site since 09-10-2007. I would love to try to get with him to try to buy one form him or get a materials lay out to get one made. Any suggestions?

Here is one of his post on a box he made with the jig

"Just a little box.. That was the request"



http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0CB0QFjAAahUKEwijl8CLzMPIAhVMlR4KHdzAC04&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sawmillcreek.org%2Fshowthread .php%3F42777-Just-a-little-box-That-was-the-request&usg=AFQjCNHyM-EZB3XcwWyb3JeW1cH1Mm5_1A&sig2=Y9elsOdgU8U5mcgcmz-RuA&bvm=bv.105039540,d.dmo

[Patrick McCarthy]

Linked In has him at CAP and associates in Reynolsburg Ohio. Another thread here says he posts over at woodnet. Apparently got frustrated here for some reason, idk

[ian maybury]

Nice work Mark. Another example of the sort of possibility that opens up when creativity combines with basic metal working capability...

[Steve Clardy]

Haven't seen Mark post at WN in several years.

[Greg Hines, MD]

That is a very cool jig.

Doc

[Chris Padilla]

Haven't seen Mark post at WN in several years.


Brother?!?! Where ya been speaking of not posting in a while!!!! :)

[pat warner]

Seems like Fugazi. Do not understsand its notoriety.

[Ben Rivel]

Why doesnt someone else just take it on. Its not a finished product, it has no patents and the "inventor" has apparently abandoned it. If its something many people could use, someone ought to be able to finish it, maybe make a refinement or change or two and produce it themselves to provide to a hungry market.

[Steve Clardy]

Brother?!?! Where ya been speaking of not posting in a while!!!! :)


Here and there Bro. How ya been?