router bridge made easy

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plywood
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router bridge made easy

Post by plywood »

thought i`d share this with you, maybe it helps someone.

the first router bridge i built was for ski cores and only measured 30cm or so in width. as i needed some new parts for a wide mold (40cm wide) i had to build a new, wider router bridge. so i came up with a new idea:

you need:
- 1 piece of angle iron, 20x20mm, 2mm thick, 2m long ...... 10$
- 4 bolts and nuts (M5 oder so) ........................................ 2$
- router with squared base

and here we go:
step 1: cut angle iron in 1 pieces of 1m lenght each.

step 2: drill 2 holes into each piece of angle iron.

Image

step 3: drill 2 coresponding holes into the baseplate of the router, on each side of course.

Image

step 4: screw the angle iron to the base plate - and make sure to either use those self-locking screws or locktite or something like this. the router vibrates quite much which can result in loosening of screws. and you really don`t want screws, bolts or router bits flying through the air.

Image

all this can be done in about 10min and you`ll be able to profile stuff up to 50cm of width approx.

advantages:
- cheap and fast
- you`ll get the baseplate close to the "bridge" than if you yoused a wooden router bridge. there you need at least 1cm thick wood to build a stable bridge.
- you don`t have to worry about slipping off the router bridge as it`s screwed to your router - bombproof.

disadvantages:
- you have to drill holes in the router baseplate
plywood freeride industries - go ply, ride wood!
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a.badner
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Post by a.badner »

how do you profile your core then? if the bridge is flat?
Richuk
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Post by Richuk »

This is a great jig - I'm getting a bit of vibration with my jig and it causes a bit of a wavy finish. I've been unable to find a dovetail cutter big enough in the UK :( otherwise I'd been on this! Perhaps I will need to purchase from ski builders store.
webboy
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Post by webboy »

a.badner wrote:how do you profile your core then? if the bridge is flat?
I don't think he's even addressed the bridge here- this is only the "sled" part that will ride over the bridge (that's if I understood correctly.)
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a.badner
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Post by a.badner »

webboy wrote:
a.badner wrote:how do you profile your core then? if the bridge is flat?
I don't think he's even addressed the bridge here- this is only the "sled" part that will ride over the bridge (that's if I understood correctly.)
i guess that makes sense. but eveyone knows that planers are the way to go now lol :)
webboy
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Post by webboy »

Could be. Funny thing though- I was just watching a Kingswood vid and I was a little surprised to see him using the router/bridge method. Wish I had cash enough for a decent planer. ;)
plywood
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Post by plywood »

sorry, took me a little while...

yeh, ok, technically it`s not the bridge, it`s the sledge to slide the router across the whole construction.

i totally agree, planers are the way to go.

BUT: when it comes to molds planers are pretty useless. i use this construction to "profile" the camber into my molds. it`s way more accurate to profile the molds in the same way as the cores instead of the regular "cut each 20mm-thick-mdf-piece-sideways-with-templates". you just glue the ribs of your mold together, more or less accurate and then you mill the camber into the whole mold with the router-bridge/guide system.
plywood freeride industries - go ply, ride wood!
webboy
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Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:14 am
Location: Sweden

Post by webboy »

Hi Plywood,

I wonder about twisting, i.e. not staying square to the bridge. Could that present any issues?

If needed, perhaps some sort of guide system would improve accuracy, though I suppose the whole point of your idea is the super simplicity. ;)
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