From a Woodcraft ad ...

[Dave Novak]

this is part of an email I just received:



My immediate thought was how cool is that, I could whip out christmas gifts like mad! But I got to thinking, why couldn't I make those templates myself out of mdf? I've never used a jig like this, is there something about it I'm overlooking? What sort of guide bushing would be used? I doubt I'd really save much money if I have to buy the router bits and a bushing, but at least I could design a different one for everyone in the family.

[John Jendro]

What is it?

John

[Dave Novak]

oops, here's the picture....

[Jeremy Leasure]

I can't see the picture but I'll take a wild stab and guess you're talking about the new bowl and tray templates put out by CMT. They also sell them in a kit with the required bowl and tray bit with collet extension. To get a nice smooth contour where the bottom meets the sides a bit such as this is required, and the extension will be too on anything but the most shallow of projects. I bought the bit and extension last year, and I think I'm going to pick up the templates separately simply because at $17.50 each it seems pretty cheap. It would take me a pretty good while to get the perfect curves and angles that those CNC machines cut so easily. I read on the website that they'll be releasing a series of templates soon. I'd like to see what they come up with.

If you're talking about something else, well, I guess I typed that for no reason.

[Mike McCann]

rockler released that 2 weeks ago. they still only have the kit with the two templates

[Dewey Torres]

It is actually a cool looking product with a video by that same guy who builds the cabinet in the Woodworkers Guild of America free DVD some of you got in the mail.

Also,
They do encourage templates and if you build something cool with it they encourage you to send it in. CMT has always made top notch products. I am sure this kit is no different.

click on the download tab to get to the video
enjoy

http://www.cmtutensili.com/show_items.asp?pars=PJJ~BTS~2 (http://www.cmtutensili.com/show_items.asp?pars=PJJ%7EBTS%7E2)

[Russ Massery]

I made a small jewelery box a few years ago from a plan from Woodsmith. It called for a bowl and tray bit with a bearing on the top. I made my template out MDF. The article created a run on the bit that Whiteside had to shut a line down to start making them. It was a fun project. Here's the bit I used it was a 1376B. http://www.routerbits.com/cgi-routerbits/sr.cgi?1116434819_12225+16

[Dewey Torres]

I made a small jewelery box a few years ago from a plan from Woodsmith. It called for a bowl and tray bit with a bearing on the top. I made my template out MDF. The article created a run on the bit that Whiteside had to shut a line down to start making them. It was a fun project. Here's the bit I used it was a 1376B. http://www.routerbits.com/cgi-routerbits/sr.cgi?1116434819_12225+16

Yes Russ,
This is a very similar setup. They just IMO made it easy to understand the concept and added some helpful templates.

[Keith Outten]

There are a lot of CNC router owners here at SawMill Creek. I'm sure that anyone who needed a custom template made can get some help by posting in the CNC Forum, these are so easy to make and take only a few minutes if you provide a vector graphic of your project to scale.

My ShopBot is rarely in use based on the hours in any given month and I expect the most of the other CNC owners here are in similar situations. Currently two days of CNC work keeps me busy making signs for a month so I have plenty of CNC hours per month that go unused.

Woodworkers who network jobs and specific tasks around The Creek is something that is rare I guess but it is something that I would hope to see gain some momentum.

Use the force Luke :)
.