This is a variation on a sidewall router that was actually portable, built by a guy named Marty who has owned some ski and snowboard companies in the past, one of them was called Custom-Craft snowboards if anyone remembers that.
Anyway, the only idea I stole from him was the skate truck with the rollerblade wheel. Everything else is better .
The skate truck holds the board super flat to allow for a nice uniform sidewall cut...i hope
Pictures are worth a thousand words, so I'll shut up now , here it is...
the wheel is slightly before the cutter, in the path the board would follow, I dont know why I didn't put it directly over, it could very well go right over the cutter with no clearance issues.
The wheel wants to guide the board on a set path. I've been pushing a board along it doing some practice I guess, and trying to figure out how tight it should be. Entering and exiting the cut are going to be tough, maybe I can find a harder plastic wheel that will allow the pressure but less friction.
Like I said I cant take credit for the skate wheel setup it was 'invented' by someone else .
I'm going to build a mechanism that will open it up so I can start and finish the cut nice and smooth. I'm thinking kick-drum pedal from a nice 2500dollar Ludwig set, that's sitting in the garage , use it to pull down on the free end of the skate truck.
I'm also going to figure out how to apply this to my "hands free" router setup. It'd be nice to get that going once we have a stack of boards to cut.
well i'm lucky i still have both eyes, a face, both nutz, and no holes in my core.
I plugged this thing in and wheeeBAM!!! The collet was loose, the second it hit a substantial rpm the bit flew out, on its way out the shaft bent, it went up and took a chunk out of the skate truck baseplate, a chunk out of the side of the hole, and then settled on top of the router. I am so damn lucky that 1) the skate clamp mechanism was there to block it, and 2) that it was on when I plugged it in, otherwise i would have had my face alot closer when i flipped the switch.
I really am paranoid about all this machinery we use, and I try to be careful. I have to write down some safety checks, etc to make sure things like this dont happen in the future. Everything is getting safety cages put around it as much as possible. Routers are dangerous as hell even when they work right and cooperate.
Sucks because I was just about to cut a board. Anyone know where I can get the router bit shafts in USA like the ones Linbide sells?
One of my hobbies is flying sailplanes (un-motorized aircraft) which are stored in an enclosed trailer and assembled before each flight. Hooking up the controls and inserting wing pins are critical to safe flight. One "rule" is don't interrupt, talk to, or distract in any way the person during assembly. Once you start an assembly step be sure to completely finish it and keep the same order of actions. To date, the gliders have stayed together and flown okay after I rig.
I try to apply this same rule to other potentially hazardous activities. For me, installing rapidly spinning sharp objects falls into this category. It is so easy to become distracted and forget to perform the simplest and most obvious task.
As my friends on the firing range always say: "Safety glasses seem useless until you break a pair during use." Enough of my lecture. When is V2 going to be finished?
well it's just V1 with a new router bit shaft, which we have to find and purchase. so V1.0.3
I sawed off the bent end of the shaft, but it still had the tiniest of wobble to it, enough to vibrate the hell out of the entire table and create lots of noise.
I probably need a new bit too, but its probable that I can get it sharpened by a local tool shop.
And to think that adding the skate wheels was a last minute decision, because I couldn't find anything heavy enough to flatten the board, and when i did it bent the table down, all these factors probably saved my life.
I can probably just get any shaft as long as it has the same thicknesses, and have one end threaded.
local machinist made us a new shaft that very closely resembled what we had already.
I popped it in the router, the router is still vibrating like crazy when it hits about 10,000rpm and up. Damn made in china ryobi crap.
So I removed the bit.
We have another router, a craftsman, that we've been using for hand routing bases and cores.
The holes dont align with the holes in the table already. So I decide to just put the bit in and clamp the board to the table and freehand it.
While tightening the router bit on, the locking bar that holds the collet in place bent and chipped. Great. I probably overtightened it. Removed the locking bar, didn't have any tools to bend the "tooth" back on the locking bar. So I reinstalled it and said "screw it no guts no glory". Flipped the board over on the table, clamped it, routed that shit by hand. It worked better than I thought, i was always scared to do it that way.
We're still going to build the table. Freehanding it worked fine, this time, reducing chances of human error is always a bonus.
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