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Thread: How Do I Make A Copy Of This???

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
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    This is a pin router attachment for router tables. Purchased from Lee Valley it is the best quality pin router I could find. I use it to edge route plaques but it is a very flexible way to route several types of jobs. You could fasten your project to a solid surface blank, follow the interior edge using the top bearing surface with the router bit underneath cutting the underside of the solid surface blank. Make sure you select the same diameter bearing to match your router bit.

    I own a CNC Router which is how I would machine your project but this method is foolproof and easy to reproduce a project like yours. Since I often route 3 to 4 hundred door signs on the average project I stopped using a router bit with a bearing because the bearings get clogged up with Corian dust very frequently.
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    Last edited by Keith Outten; 09-23-2021 at 9:05 AM.

  2. #32
    Keith, I'll def look into this. Very interesting...

  3. #33
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    I don't know why the pin router attachments are not very popular, possibly because most people are not aware of their capability but they are really handy and extend the versatility of any router table. Mine requires me to drill two holes to bolt it to the table but it could easily be fastened to a small block that could be clamped to the table so it could be removed real quick. Template routing is a great technique when it can be done easily. I am transitioning my pin router to a permanent table using the 3/4" thick Corian in the picture.

    Before any of you CNC guys ask why I don't edge prep my door signs using my CNC the answer is money. A 30" by 48" piece of solid surface material makes 20 plaques cutting them out with a 1/4" straight router bit. If I used a roman ogee router bit in my CNC I would lose one row of plaques per sheet, basically 5 plaques because of the larger diameter cutter.
    Last edited by Keith Outten; 09-23-2021 at 10:14 AM.

  4. #34
    Why not just lay a thin piece of hardboard clamped to the steel part, and use a piloted laminate trimmer (no bearing) drill a hole, route out the shape of the cavity, the steel part will template an exact copy in the thin hardboard, then clamp the hardboard to your actual part and use a top bearing bit to exactly copy the cavity onto your work piece? As stated youll have to hand work the sharp corners. If you need more thickness for your top bearing bit to ride on (shallow pocket in your final piece) or you want to accurately test the fit, use the hardboard template to route the pocket in a piece of 3/4" ply, test the fit, adjust by adding tape or opening up the pocket with a file, and when your happy route on the final part.

    Last edited by Mark Bolton; 09-23-2021 at 10:55 AM.

  5. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Bolton View Post
    Why not just lay a thin piece of hardboard clamped to the steel part, and use a piloted laminate trimmer (no bearing) drill a hole, route out the shape of the cavity, the steel part will template an exact copy in the thin hardboard, then clamp the hardboard to your actual part and use a top bearing bit to exactly copy the cavity onto your work piece? As stated youll have to hand work the sharp corners. If you need more thickness for your top bearing bit to ride on (shallow pocket in your final piece) or you want to accurately test the fit, use the hardboard template to route the pocket in a piece of 3/4" ply, test the fit, adjust by adding tape or opening up the pocket with a file, and when your happy route on the final part.

    Now that's a good idea. Will there be damage to the original's inner surface?

  6. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Arita View Post
    Now that's a good idea. Will there be damage to the original's inner surface?
    The pilot bearing will most definitely rub on the surface of the part being templated. It would require some adjusting of your template after the fact but you could most definitely cleanly tape off the inner cavity on the steel part and cut out the bulk of the material using a paper template on the hardboard leaving only a very slight final cleanup pass with the bit in the image and with very light pressure you'd most definitely come out unscathed but you'd probably be left with a slightly undersize template. My guess is with yellow masking tape it may be very little hand filing to tune your fit but no idea whether this is a nasa level it or just a good fit.

  7. #37
    Alternatively if you have the mating part to that cavity, use a template bearing set (different size bearings) to accurately template the mating part and generate a template from that.

  8. #38
    Keith why do you not use a saw to cut your blanks, id imagine CNC is painfully slow cutting with a quarter inch bit. Ive cut lots of irregular stuff hogging in solid with quarter inch bits and also snapped enough onsrud CRO285 bits as well. Excellent quality bits those are.

  9. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by Keith Outten View Post
    You could fasten your project to a solid surface blank, follow the interior edge using the top bearing surface with the router bit underneath cutting the underside of the solid surface blank. Make sure you select the same diameter bearing to match your router bit.
    I think the issue with pattern cutting the pocket from the original part here is that its so shallow. The bearing and the socket head cap screw may likely come close to not making it on the pocket depth but it may be close or worst case you could roach a screw on a 1/4" bottom bearing bit, tighten it up good, and grind most all of the head off, to make the bearing and cap screw as short as possible. I think he said the pocket was only about 1/4" deep which is pretty much chewed up by the thickness of the bearing alone..

  10. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Lake View Post
    Keith why do you not use a saw to cut your blanks, id imagine CNC is painfully slow cutting with a quarter inch bit. Ive cut lots of irregular stuff hogging in solid with quarter inch bits and also snapped enough onsrud CRO285 bits as well. Excellent quality bits those are.
    The picture below is the sign shape I use most of the time for ADA door signs. Some of them have a window machined for an insert and some don't. I machine the back side first, even the signs that do not have a window have to have the keyholes machined.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  11. #41
    Quote Originally Posted by Keith Outten View Post
    The picture below is the sign shape I use most of the time for ADA door signs. Some of them have a window machined for an insert and some don't. I machine the back side first, even the signs that do not have a window have to have the keyholes machined.
    Your sign work is always impressive. Is all that in the shield/star painted in by hand?

  12. #42
    thanks Keith, see there are only two straight cuts not four so that makes sense. I did stuff that was irregular so hog cutting with the 1/4" bits.

  13. #43
    Does it have to be a single piece? Or could you cut the inset as a hole in one piece with a coping saw or files and then attach it to a bottom layer?

  14. #44
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    The Saint Mary's logo was laser engraved and painted with a Q-Tip. I just swab the paint into the engraved areas and then run my ROS over the plaque when the paint is almost dry. The blue contour line around the perimeter of the plaque is done the same way except I use a foam brush.

    Quick Tip: I paint with enamel paint late in the day so the next morning I can easily scrape off the excess paint with a razor blade scraper. It only take a few seconds to sand the surface with a ROS to remove whats left on the surface.

    I make these from a single layer of 1/2" thick solid surface material. Place the sheet on the router table and machine the back then turn it over and cut the front before I cut out each of the signs.

    I have made thousands of these signs and adjusted my fabrication technique to cut seconds from each step in the process where I could to save time. All text and graphics are pristine, very sharp edges that look fantastic without having to use any masking material. This make the cost of solid surface less of an issue because it saves a lot time.

    The pin router is also one of my time saving steps that makes it easy to edge prep without a bearing. I now produce these signs at about 50% less time than when I started.
    Last edited by Keith Outten; 09-25-2021 at 2:23 PM.

  15. #45
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    San Diego, Ca
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    Thinking a bit out of the box here....

    Why don't you route the recess and when you get to the sharp inside corners just run the router slightly beyond the corner or predrill the corners prior to routing. Take enough material out of the corners so whatever you are placing in the recess will fit. It will look a little different but should work perfectly fine. I've seen this technique used in steel tool holder manufacturing.

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