Router Inaly Kit Quality?

[Charlie Kocourek]

First, Merry Christmas!!

OK, yesterday I bought a router inlay kit and immediatly took it home and tried it out. It worked of course, but it did not create a really tight fit. The fit was acceptable if I was inlaying dark wood into light wood, but if I were inlaying light wood into light colored wood the gap would show as a dark line around the inlay. Is this typical or what has been your experience with these things?

One thing I did notice was that the bushing was not tight. It has an O-ring inside of it and stays in place nicely, but it fits a little sloppy on the stem.

Right away I started thinking about how to re-engineer it to make the inlay fit tighter. I thought about maybe coating the bushing with a layer of paint or nail polish to adjust the size of it, but maybe there is a better answer. That is why I am asking you!

Thanks, Charlie

[Jamie Buxton]

Two things I've learned about router inlaying with a template:

1) Do not rotate the router. If the router bit and the template guide are not absolutely concentric (and in my experience they never are), rotating the router makes gaps at the edges of the inlay.

2) If you have a mic, check the diameter of the router bit. I once bought a bit which was supposed to be 1/8", but turned out to be .14". That played merry hob with the inlay process.

[Bryan Lord]

They can be a little cranky, but Jamie hit the main cure on the head ... don't rotate the router even if you've centered the base. On mine I usually bevel the bottom of the inlay slightly and then have to use a fine alignment tool (mallet) to get it into position. There is no gap unless I've rotated the router.

[pat warner]

" Do not rotate the router. If the router bit and the template guide are not absolutely concentric (and in my experience they never are), rotating the router makes gaps at the edges of the inlay. "
____________________________
May I make one comment? On straight line work (one edge) it makes sense not to rotate the router as you play along the templet. There are 360 radians on the collar and the fewer you use the closer the cut matches the pattern templet.
Now then, if the pattern is an inside excavation, ( a circle for example), it is essentially impossible to use only a few radians of the bushing. You'd have to rotate the router in a captured orbit like the moon around the earth to keep one radian on the templet. What to do then?
Work like crazy to get the cutter centered to the collar/bush and prove that it is (test cuts) before routing.
Routing (http://www.patwarner.com)

[Ben Rafael]

I agree with Bryan, I bevel it slightly after routing and use a mallet to fit it.
Your inlay kit should have come with something to help you center the guide bushing with the router chuck.
The kit system is a little finicky but it will work once learn it's quirks.

[Jamie Buxton]

... if the pattern is an inside excavation, ( a circle for example), it is essentially impossible to use only a few radians of the bushing. You'd have to rotate the router in a captured orbit like the moon around the earth to keep one radian on the templet.

Pat, if you keep the router always pointed in the same direction (that is, don't rotate it), both while you're cutting the hole and the inlay, the offset between the bit and the template guide doesn't matter. Say you're routing a round hole, and the router bit is offset 20 mils to your left. Compared to the template, the routed hole is 20 mils to the left on the left side of the hole, 20 mils to the left on the right side of the hole, and spot-on at the top and the bottom. That is, the routed hole is still round, it is just offset a little from the template. Similarly, the inlay keeps its shape, but is just offset from the template. It still fits seamlessly, and that's the point.

[pat warner]

"Pat, if you keep the router always pointed in the same direction (that is, don't rotate it),.............."
____________________________________________

Not meant to dictate just indicate; something to know about.
Should an operator choose to complimentary rout without rotating the router handle axis, both templets must be used, such that their (the templets) axises are in phase.
A templet that is not indexed to its mate somehow will have some built-in phase shift adding back some eccentricity error.
I would not expect to ace out a cut from complimentary templets unless the cutter is centered;
I simply can't make the trip along the pattern without some twist. You rout much better that I can.

Complimentary routed connection with continuous T&G, one where the handle axis (for this operator) was all over the place. (http://patwarner.com/images/fish.jpg)