# Routing smaller boards



## EnRouteWoodcrafts (Oct 23, 2012)

What do you find as the best way to attach a template to route a board using a flush trim bit when the board is kind of small? Double sided tape? I cant clamp it because of the size. Ill post a pic for an example of what im trying to route a duplicate of
Thanks


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi Charlie.

Depending on how small, I would attach a template with double sided tape and use a router table with starting pin. Make the template also a holding jig.


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

EnRouteWoodcrafts said:


> What do you find as the best way to attach a template to route a board using a flush trim bit when the board is kind of small? Double sided tape? I cant clamp it because of the size. Ill post a pic for an example of what im trying to route a duplicate of
> Thanks


Hi Charlie - My preferences, in order, 23 guage pin nails, double face carpet tape or hot melt glue. Actually I think the hot melt works really well, I just don't like fooling with the glue gun.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

I will 2nd the Pin Mail way,tape sucks and hot glue it will let the part move just a little bit   ,,you can route the pin nail off if you need to and will not harm the router bit.. I do it all the time.

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EnRouteWoodcrafts said:


> What do you find as the best way to attach a template to route a board using a flush trim bit when the board is kind of small? Double sided tape? I cant clamp it because of the size. Ill post a pic for an example of what im trying to route a duplicate of
> Thanks


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## EnRouteWoodcrafts (Oct 23, 2012)

the pin nail is kind of the consensus ive been getting from others as well. I will try it out. Thanks again


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

bobj3 said:


> I will 2nd the Pin Mail way,tape sucks and hot glue it will let the part move just a little bit   ,,you can route the pin nail off if you need to and will not harm the router bit.. I do it all the time.
> 
> ===


Are you using special pins Bob? My father-in-law decided to trim a piece off a cabinet that had pins in it and destroyed a $100 Freud glue line rip blade I had on the saw at the time. 
I should mention that my father-in-law should have been fitted with a shock collar at an early age that would go off whenever he got close to woodworking tools. I finally gave him my old Craftsman so that he would leave my other two alone. I gave him the Freud blade with it.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

No not that know about,about the same as the staples in a desk stapler,very small in diam.

http://www.harborfreight.com/6000-piece-3-4-quarter-inch-23-gauge-pin-nails-94709.html

Amazon.com: CADEX 23 Gauge Slight Headed Brad Nails, 1" x 4000 pk: Home Improvement

=



Cherryville Chuck said:


> Are you using special pins Bob? My father-in-law decided to trim a piece off a cabinet that had pins in it and destroyed a $100 Freud glue line rip blade I had on the saw at the time.
> I should mention that my father-in-law should have been fitted with a shock collar at an early age that would go off whenever he got close to woodworking tools. I finally gave him my old Craftsman so that he would leave my other two alone. I gave him the Freud blade with it.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

bobj3 said:


> I will 2nd the Pin Mail way,tape sucks and hot glue it will let the part move just a little bit   ,,you can route the pin nail off if you need to and will not harm the router bit.. I do it all the time.
> 
> ===


Are you using special pins Bob? My father-in-law decided to trim a piece off a cabinet that had pins in it and destroyed a $100 Freud glue line rip blade I had on the saw at the time. 
I should mention that my father-in-law should have been fitted with a shock collar at an early age that would go off whenever he got close to woodworking tools. I finally gave him my old Craftsman so that he would leave my other two alone. I gave him the Freud blade with it.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

For something like that, the best way to hold it would be a vacuum chuck. With the chuck mounted on the bench, all you would need to do is place the part on the chuck and turn on the vacuum. When routing is complete, turn the vacuum off and then lift the part off. A small vacuum pump, either venturi type or motor driven, is sufficient to do the job if the vacuum chuck seals to the part well. You can make the vacuum chuck yourself from a piece of hardwood with a 1/4" perimeter band of closed cell foam sticky backed weather stripping. Put the weather stripping down in a circle, oval, square with rounded corners, etc or whatever shape is needed for the part being made. Then drill a hole in the center of the block and connect with a hose to the vacuum pump. I have also routed a groove and used "O" ring material to make a chuck seal. If you can pull a good vacuum on an area of about 3" X 3" you cannot move the part being held with any type of routing chore, but the part will lift off easily when the vacuum is released. The chuck holds the part above the bench and there are no clamps or obstructions to interfere with routing the whole perimeter of the part.

Charley


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> Are you using special pins Bob? My father-in-law decided to trim a piece off a cabinet that had pins in it and destroyed a $100 Freud glue line rip blade I had on the saw at the time.
> I should mention that my father-in-law should have been fitted with a shock collar at an early age that would go off whenever he got close to woodworking tools. I finally gave him my old Craftsman so that he would leave my other two alone. I gave him the Freud blade with it.


Chuck - were talking the 23 guage pins, barely visible. I've walked right over them with small router bits. I can't imagine one of those taking out a glue line saw blade. 16 or 18 guage brads maybe.


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

CharleyL said:


> For something like that, the best way to hold it would be a vacuum chuck. With the chuck mounted on the bench, all you would need to do is place the part on the chuck and turn on the vacuum. When routing is complete, turn the vacuum off and then lift the part off. A small vacuum pump, either venturi type or motor driven, is sufficient to do the job if the vacuum chuck seals to the part well. You can make the vacuum chuck yourself from a piece of hardwood with a 1/4" perimeter band of closed cell foam sticky backed weather stripping. Put the weather stripping down in a circle, oval, square with rounded corners, etc or whatever shape is needed for the part being made. Then drill a hole in the center of the block and connect with a hose to the vacuum pump. I have also routed a groove and used "O" ring material to make a chuck seal. If you can pull a good vacuum on an area of about 3" X 3" you cannot move the part being held with any type of routing chore, but the part will lift off easily when the vacuum is released. The chuck holds the part above the bench and there are no clamps or obstructions to interfere with routing the whole perimeter of the part.
> 
> Charley


Hi Charley - that sounds interesting but I'm a little skeptical that it would hold a template to a workpiece. Would be great for doing edge treatments, a lot better than bench cookies I would think. Making slots probably wouldn't work though because you would lose all suction once you pierced the bottom surface.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

I often use double sided tape but pin nails work great too. It really depends on the project. The 23 Gauge pins do not have heads; they hold the project and will pull apart with ease. Grab them with pliers and they come right out leaving an insignificant hole that requires no filling.

If you are in the market for a pin nailer they are available from many companies. I suggest getting one that will take 1-3/8" pins. I like the new Bosch FNS138-23, this is something I plan to pick up in January. They are not readily available at this time.


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## mgmine (Jan 16, 2012)

For doing the edges I would use a table but to hold it down while routing a simple rubber router pad works fine.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Mike

The new Bosch looks good but it looks like it has a down fall it can't shoot the 5/8" long pins ( 1" to 1 3/8" ) or did miss something.....1" is too long sometimes.
Like for 1/4" thick molding on a door screen and other projects..

http://www.harborfreight.com/23-gauge-pin-nailer-68022.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/6000-piece-5-8-eighth-inch-23-gauge-pin-nails-94708.html

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Mike said:


> I often use double sided tape but pin nails work great too. It really depends on the project. The 23 Gauge pins do not have heads; they hold the project and will pull apart with ease. Grab them with pliers and they come right out leaving an insignificant hole that requires no filling.
> 
> If you are in the market for a pin nailer they are available from many companies. I suggest getting one that will take 1-3/8" pins. I like the new Bosch FNS138-23, this is something I plan to pick up in January. They are not readily available at this time.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

BJ, the HF model shoots 1/2" - 1"; The Bosch shoots 1/2" - 1-3/8" and the PC PIN100 shoots 3/8" - 1". The HF is a great deal for someone starting out. I have found the need for longer pins in some projects; I would rather use two or three pins in place of a brad since they disappear. I already have a PC for tiny stuff. Grex are too expensive for my tastes.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

jschaben said:


> Chuck - were talking the 23 guage pins, barely visible. I've walked right over them with small router bits. I can't imagine one of those taking out a glue line saw blade. 16 or 18 guage brads maybe.


They were 23 gauge. I have 18 and 23 gauge guns. Maybe a router bit can tolerate them. The saw blade didn't. I didn't know he had sawed through them until I used the blade after and it wasn't cutting very well. A close inspection showed chipped teeth and then I noticed the scrap that wasn't mine and found remnants of the pins.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

jschaben said:


> Hi Charley - that sounds interesting but I'm a little skeptical that it would hold a template to a workpiece. Would be great for doing edge treatments, a lot better than bench cookies I would think. Making slots probably wouldn't work though because you would lose all suction once you pierced the bottom surface.


A vacuum chuck isn't a solution for everything, but it would be good for your pictured project. If there are any areas that need to be through cut you could design a vacuum chuck for them so that the part would be held by the areas where there won't be a through cut. Using vacuum will apply up to 14.7 lbs per square inch of holding force if the vacuum pump is good. The bigger you make the chuck cavity the more downward holding force you will have. If the part shown in your picture was held by a 4" round vacuum chuck with a good vacuum pump there would be almost no way to pull the part free without turning the vacuum off first (holding force formula = pi X diameter of chuck X 14.7psi or about 176.4 pounds of downward holding force). Since you can design the vacuum chuck to fit any shape, you can make one with multiple smaller vacuum areas or any perimeter shape you desire. You can even add a spacer frame to the chuck that surrounds the part to allow placing a template over the top of the part that would attach to this frame. Small vacuum areas could also easily be designed into the top side of this frame that would hold the template in place above the part being routed. Of course, a design this involved wouldn't be worth making for a one or two piece project, but it sure comes in handy when making small production runs. 

I have some small circular "hockey puck" sized chucks that I use when routing edges of smaller parts. I made some of these by routing grooves for "O" rings which I used instead of the closed cell foam (works better for small diameters). I position these vacuum chucks so they will be under the part being routed and attach them to a board that then gets clamped to my workbench. I then use 1/4" semi-rigid vinyl tubing to connect them through a valve to my vacuum pump. I then drop the part on the chuck(s) and position it so that the chucks are all under the part, turn on the vacuum, and then rout away on the part. Then switch off the vacuum and change the part, and repeat the process. It works way better than bench cookies, which depend solely on friction to hold the part in place. You will not accidentally knock your part off of a vacuum chuck.

Sorry, my camera isn't working or I would supply pictures of some of my chucks. Most are made from solid hardwood. Some of the larger ones are made from Baltic Birch plywood. I have hockey puck shapes, rounded square shapes, and some that are shaped similar to the part that they were made for, but they are about one inch smaller to allow for the edge routing of the parts. Most have 1/4" wide closed cell sticky backed weather stripping applied in the shape desired, which acts as a sealing gasket to the part being routed. A hole drilled from inside the perimeter of this gasket is then drilled down through the board. Sometimes this hole is drilled only part way down and then it meets a hole drilled in from the edge so that the back of the chuck can be flat. For either way I epoxy a brass quick connect fitting in the bottom end of the hole that accepts the vinyl tubing that I use for the vacuum line. These chucks get attached as needed (one or several at a time) to a larger sheet of plywood that then gets clamped to my workbench. If several chucks are used I connect them together and on to the vacuum pump through T fittings. Larger specially shaped chucks are made when the part to be cut requires it and when quantity requirements justify it. 


Charley


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

Mike said:


> BJ, the HF model shoots 1/2" - 1"; The Bosch shoots 1/2" - 1-3/8" and the PC PIN100 shoots 3/8" - 1". The HF is a great deal for someone starting out. I have found the need for longer pins in some projects; I would rather use two or three pins in place of a brad since they disappear. I already have a PC for tiny stuff. Grex are too expensive for my tastes.


Hi Mike - The specs here just list 1 to 1-3/8" pins:
Bosch® Pneumatic Nailers & Compressors | Finishing Nailers - FNS138-23

Unless that's a misprint, that would be a serious shortfall.I just have the Porter Cable PN100, 1" max. Sometimes I wish that I did have a little more capacity but the norm is a 5/8" pin. Many times, when using the 1" pins, they will hit a hard spot in the wood and it's a crap shoot just where they end up sticking out.:fie:
Another issue is that they hold so well, sometimes the longer pins will break off rather than pull out. Especially true with MDF for some reason.


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