# using router to plane and taper thickness of timber



## pinehunter (Oct 18, 2016)

A small piece of timber is needed for replacement of banjo fingerboard.


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## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

Pretty nifty.


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

Nice router ski setup! Can't wait to see the finished work.


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

Nice Jig I like my Trend router also. Did you make the skis or are they store bought


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## pinehunter (Oct 18, 2016)

Hi Bill the ski/frame is home made and easily constructed with DIY tools. The maximum drilled
hole diameter is 1/2" and the threaded items are limited to M6 and M8 sizes for standard bolts.

Regards dave


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

That certainly is another way to make router skis but constant sliding of the router along the rods is bound to cause wear.
My approach is rather different, as shown.


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## pinehunter (Oct 18, 2016)

Thanks Harry for your comments. I feel some misunderstanding exists. The frame is bolted
to the table and does not move. During cutting the router is stationary and clamped to the 
horizontal rails. The sled is used to move the timber into the cutter and overlapping cuts are used
by moving the router along the horizontal rails. The two battens are used to restrain the sled when
feed directions are changed.


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## pinehunter (Oct 18, 2016)

This is the fingerboard with the
fret slots lightly cut. Final cutting
will be done when fret wire is
chosen. The fretboard is for an
80 year old mandolin banjo with
originally a 13.25" open string length. To make measuring easier
with a metric rule this has been
slightly adjusted to 336mm


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

pinehunter said:


> This is the fingerboard with the
> fret slots lightly cut. Final cutting
> will be done when fret wire is
> chosen. The fretboard is for an
> ...


Is this mandolin going to be used to play blue grass? I sure hope so. :wink:


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## pinehunter (Oct 18, 2016)

Hi Don Blue Grass should be easy. looking forward to hearing Salt Creek and Arkansas Traveller.

Regards dave


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## pinehunter (Oct 18, 2016)

The fingerboard needs to be planed on its underside for clearance over the banjo tension ring and head. The area around the tension ring will receive a circular cut. A feature in the form of concave arc will be cut on the toe of the board where it sits over the head. 
A trammel strip will be used. This rotates on a small pin through the table. The fingerboard is held with double side tape.


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## pinehunter (Oct 18, 2016)

The trammel strip was used to machine the lower end
of banjo fingerboard blank.


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## pinehunter (Oct 18, 2016)

A strip of timber 6 mm thick has been prepared with a router/sled arrangement. It will be used to make a bridge
for a mandolin banjo. One image shows the router setup and the other shows the finished strip, a bridge blank with a trial fit of fret wire as a possible string ridge and a 30mm bottom cleaning 1/4" shank bit.


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