View Full Version : pattern question
alex adkison
04-04-2008, 2:29 PM
I want to make some patterns for a chair. I have a sheet of 3/8 hardboard laying around. Any problem with a guide bearing on a flush trim bit riding something this size, or should I double it up?
Thanks
Sam Yerardi
04-04-2008, 2:49 PM
Unless you have a very, very small base diameter you should be good to go.
Peter Quadarella
04-04-2008, 3:01 PM
I've used 1/4" plywood for most of my early patterns.
David DeCristoforo
04-04-2008, 3:50 PM
3/8" should be fine. That is more than the thickness of a standard bit bearing. I use hardboard ("Masonite") for patterns because plywood can have voids and thin MDF can crumble. For shaper patterns, I use 3/4" MDF because the shaper guide bearings are much thicker and larger so the extra bearing surface makes sense.
YM
Tom Veatch
04-04-2008, 6:31 PM
... I have a sheet of 3/8 hardboard laying around. Any problem with a guide bearing on a flush trim bit riding something this size...
I don't think I've ever used anything that thick. 1/4" or even 3/16" hardboard works fine for me (or whatever the actual thickness is for that durn millimeter stuff that is neither 3/16 nor 1/4)
Peter Quinn
04-04-2008, 6:59 PM
On a router your good, for a shaper you need min 1/2". I like to make prototype patterns out of 1/4" MDF or birch ply, easier to sand and fit, then transfer these to my 'working pattern' a la David Marks.
Hard board makes a better template for repeated use, MDF seems to take an imprint from the bearing after too many passes, not always good if parts have to be joined precisely.
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