# Help with Router Depth Adjusting Ring



## morgantheship (Oct 19, 2014)

I have a Craftsman Model 315, 2 Hp Router. It has a Depth Adjusting Ring that is stuck. I have tried to turn the Adjusting Ring but it will not move. It is stuck in the down position. I have tried everything to move it. 

I have tried to lubricate it, lock the router in a vice and turn it, but nothing seems to work. I have taken off the depth lock lever but nothing seems to help in making the Adjusting Ring to move.

Are there any suggestions that anyone can offer? 

Thanks much.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Hi Russ and welcome. I've suggested a few times heating the ring gently so that it expands and I've been told it worked. I suggested using a heat gun on low power but one person said that his hair dryer on high also worked as he did not have a heat gun. If you do get it moving remove the motor and clean the corrosion from both the motor housing and the adjustment ring.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

If Charles' system doesn't work - and I believe it will - there's always dynamite.

Seems to me I had a similar problem with a Craftsman router maybe 30 years ago. IIRC I used a hammer and piece of wood to shock it loose. Probably not the best treatment, but it worked at the time.

By the way...welcome to the forum


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

cocobolo1 said:


> If Charles' system doesn't work - and I believe it will - there's always dynamite.
> 
> Seems to me I had a similar problem with a Craftsman router maybe 30 years ago. IIRC I used a hammer and piece of wood to shock it loose. Probably not the best treatment, but it worked at the time.
> 
> By the way...welcome to the forum


I know a way,but not going to tell it, too risky for the router base. I have done it as a last resort and it worked for me.

Herb


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum Russell.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Herb Stoops said:


> I know a way,but not going to tell it, too risky for the router base. I have done it as a last resort and it worked for me.
> 
> Herb


Did it involve a sledgehammer and giant pipe wrench by any chance?


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

cocobolo1 said:


> Did it involve a sledgehammer and giant pipe wrench by any chance?


mixed gases and a bright flame...


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Stick486 said:


> mixed gases and a bright flame...


Even better...probably quicker too.


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## morgantheship (Oct 19, 2014)

So far many good suggestions as to how to free up the Depth Adjustment ring. I think I will start with Charles suggestion of applying heat with a heat gun. If that doesn't work I will consider the hammer, miscellaneous gases, flames, and dynamite. But using any one of the alternative methods would require that I first check with my insurance company.

In all seriousness - thanks for the suggestions. I will attempt later this morning. I look forward to reporting back with good news.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

morgantheship said:


> So far many good suggestions as to how to free up the Depth Adjustment ring. I think I will start with Charles suggestion of applying heat with a heat gun. If that doesn't work I will consider the hammer, miscellaneous gases, flames, and dynamite. But using any one of the alternative methods would require that I first check with my insurance company.
> 
> In all seriousness - thanks for the suggestions. I will attempt later this morning. I look forward to reporting back with good news.


That makes the most sense. Perhaps you shouldn't bother with the last three...might raise some red flags at your insurance company. You know how those guys get with stuff like that.


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## morgantheship (Oct 19, 2014)

To all - the heat gun worked great. Now I know how to fix it in the future if it locks up again. I re-installed the router on the table and now in the process of setting up my bit and finger boards to hold the wood strips in place.

I mentioned in my profile that I am in the process of making a cedar strip canoe. I have all of the cedar strips cut but now I have to put a bead on one edge and a flute on the other edge. 

Thanks again for the suggestions even though I only used the heat gun.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Good luck with your canoe. I used two routers at the same time to run both the bead and cove simultaneously. That way the width of the strips remains constant.

I have made several of these in the past, if you run into any snags ask away. I may have run into the same things.

I expect you will be putting it together with epoxy.

Which plan are you using? My favourites were in the Harrowsmith book by Moores and Mohr.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

morgantheship said:


> To all - the heat gun worked great. Now I know how to fix it in the future if it locks up again. I re-installed the router on the table and now in the process of setting up my bit and finger boards to hold the wood strips in place.
> 
> I mentioned in my profile that I am in the process of making a cedar strip canoe. I have all of the cedar strips cut but now I have to put a bead on one edge and a flute on the other edge.
> 
> Thanks again for the suggestions even though I only used the heat gun.



Russell, my last resort method is to take a flat screw driver and a hammer and tap gently the space on the ring between the ears of the clamping ring to expand it a little. 
I hesitated to mention that as there is a chance the ears could be damaged or even broken off. The Aluminum clamping ring is not too strong.

Herb


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## morgantheship (Oct 19, 2014)

Keith - I am building a redesign of a Rob Roy. I purchased the plans from Sandy Point Boat Works. He calls it "Little Rob". This design is 14' and is a double paddle canoe. It will have a partial fore and aft deck and is a one-person canoe. I will be using all cedar except for some accent pieces near the gunnels which are aspen and mahogany. Once I strip it I will be sanding and then covering with epoxy and cloth. 

I am attaching a picture of my router setup with finger boards to hold the wood strip in position on the in-feed side. I am also planning to add some finger boards to the out-feed side to keep the strip straight and even. Any suggestions on that?

I am only able to route one side of the strip at a time.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Nice looking cedar. Is the epoxy,fiber glass coating the recommended treatment? I would think it would add a lot of weight to the hull for transporting. Just an observation.

Herb


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## morgantheship (Oct 19, 2014)

Herb - The cedar I purchased from Home Depot and Menards. I selected as clear as boards as possible, very few knots. I then planned it down to 0.75" and then cut 0.25" strips. 

The canoe when finished will only weight about 35 lbs. That includes the cedar strips, fiberglass cloth on both the outside of the hull as well as on the inside. This is the estimate that the manufacturer of the plans indicated. Once finished I will weight it and see how close it is to the estimate.

Russell


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

morgantheship said:


> Keith - I am building a redesign of a Rob Roy. I purchased the plans from Sandy Point Boat Works. He calls it "Little Rob". This design is 14' and is a double paddle canoe. It will have a partial fore and aft deck and is a one-person canoe. I will be using all cedar except for some accent pieces near the gunnels which are aspen and mahogany. Once I strip it I will be sanding and then covering with epoxy and cloth.
> 
> I am attaching a picture of my router setup with finger boards to hold the wood strip in position on the in-feed side. I am also planning to add some finger boards to the out-feed side to keep the strip straight and even. Any suggestions on that?
> 
> I am only able to route one side of the strip at a time.


I'lll answer this post first...I was at the Port Townsend boat show about 15 years ago, and a fellow had made the most spectacular Rob Roy I have ever seen. Absolutely flawless. It sounds basically identical to yours.

Yes, you need fingerboards on the exit as well, and a long runoff table if at all possible.

I used to make up 6,000 lineal feet at a time in my boatshop, and I had the luxury of cutting 18' long clear stock. 

I see that there appears to be quite a few knots in the wood that you have there. You will need to remove every last one of them, as every knot regardless of how small it is will be a problem.

You can buy pre-cut strips for these boats. Wooden boat magazine used to have ads in for these strips all the time.

Something else you will want to do is to dry the wood. I rigged up a light wood frame about 18" square by 20' long in my shop, covered with 6 mil poly. Put the strips inside this framework, stickered, cut a round hole in one end to match the approximate size of a small ceramic heater and another hole at the top of the opposite end of the framework such that it was a plastic flap hanging down, but not removed from the poly cover. With the heater turned on at 750 watts, 48 hours later I had 6% m.c. cedar strips, down from about 18%. If you don't have a moisture meter, don't worry about it...48 hours will really dry that wood.

If at all possible, it will really pay you to be able to have single length pieces for your boat. Which means something close to 15'. The decks obviously will be much shorter. The wood you have there doesn't seem like it will be that long with the knots taken out, so you might want to scarph joint the pieces to get the required length. Do that before you router the bead and cove. Use about a 6 or 8 to 1 ratio for your scarph.
Plus you will want to colour match these pieces as best you can, it's not that hard to do.

That ought to keep you out of mischief for a few days.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Herb Stoops said:


> Nice looking cedar. Is the epoxy,fiber glass coating the recommended treatment? I would think it would add a lot of weight to the hull for transporting. Just an observation.
> 
> Herb


Sir Herb, standard practice for covering these boots is a 6oz fabric set in clear epoxy. It all but disappears when done. The added weight is incredibly negligible and 35 pounds sounds about right for that particular boat.

My standard canoe was 16' 6" long and came in at 53 pounds all up.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

morgantheship said:


> Herb - The cedar I purchased from Home Depot and Menards. I selected as clear as boards as possible, very few knots. I then planned it down to 0.75" and then cut 0.25" strips.
> 
> The canoe when finished will only weight about 35 lbs. That includes the cedar strips, fiberglass cloth on both the outside of the hull as well as on the inside. This is the estimate that the manufacturer of the plans indicated. Once finished I will weight it and see how close it is to the estimate.
> 
> Russell


Russell, you should be very close to that weight.

I hope you will have enough beef with your strips being cut down to 1/4". I used to go to 9/32" to 5/16" to start with, and by the time you're all done with the sanding there's just about exactly 1/4" left.

Now with your smaller boat, ending up with just under 1/4" will probably be fine. It's amazing how strong that hull will be merely being covered in 6 oz. fabric.

Have you started on your mould yet?


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## morgantheship (Oct 19, 2014)

Thanks for the info on drying the wood. All my cuts are 8' in length. I was planning to scarf pieces together at various points to end up with 15' to 16' lengths. I don't want to have all of the scarfs in the same location. Good thought on the knots. I don't have a lot of them but I cut extra strips so that I could work around them. I cut a lot of extra strips so that I could select colors and keep both the port and starboard sides looking somewhat the same. I only require about 56 to 60 full length strips to complete the hull. The deck will be much shorter pieces and should not present any problem.

Yes I have my strong back complete with my stations mounted. I have just completed gluing my inner and outer stems and will be positioning the inner stems on the strong back later today. 

I have attached a few pictures for clarification. 

I have to admit that I came to this forum with only a question to solve an initial problem but I am so pleased at the assistance and help that I have received from various members. And then finding a member of this forum that has been down the same road that I am traveling on with the building of a strip canoe. I am very appreciative.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Russel... please keep us abreast of your progress with your build. I've been looking into doing a strip canoe build now for a couple of years. I'll know by mid summer if I'm going to go ahead with it. (if grandson's interest in canoeing continues, it'll be a project for us to do together). Leaning towards a 2 seater 14-16 foot, 36"-38" wide, flat bottom, very little rocker. Mostly lake/river use with strong class II being about as rough as it'll get with him for now  If I do build, going to go with Ted Moores/Canoecraft plans. 
I see you went with MDF over ply for your forms/stations? any particular reason? Any real buggers thus far? Up to where you're last 2 pics are, I don't see any real concerns as long as I'd follow instructions and pay particular attention to laying out the forms. No doubt as Keith mentions, clear quality cedar strips are a must, knot free. Any knot would be the weak link in the chain sort-ta speak. I've read on several occasions that scarfing two strips is acceptable, as long as its done well. I would definitely look into making a couple makeshift infeed/outfeed extensions to support the strips and to insure a nice even bead/cove throughout the process. Are you planning on clamping or stapling the strips? Symmetry in construction is one thing, but I"d like to go with something of a design with the wood as well. I"m thinking that staining strips prior to assembly would work. The more complex the design would require more scarfing, something I have to consider. 

Here's a link to Jason Eke's youtube video's on a build. If you havn't run across them already, you might find them of interest. 
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jason+eke


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Russel, let me suggest that you start a new thread if you decide to post your progress on the build. It'll be alot easier for folks to "search" and find for...


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Russel, let me suggest that you start a new thread if you decide to post your progress on the build. It'll be alot easier for folks to "search" and find for...


Good idea...I keep thinking "canoe" now when I'm looking for this one.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Russel, let me suggest that you start a new thread if you decide to post your progress on the build. It'll be alot easier for folks to "search" and find for...


I agree. The issue with the router is fixed so this is an entirely new subject and one that members will find interesting by itself.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> I agree. The issue with the router is fixed so this is an entirely new subject and one that members will find interesting by itself.


Yep...just waiting for his new thread title...:smile:


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## morgantheship (Oct 19, 2014)

I will start a new thread. Most likely titled "Cedar Strip Canoe Build". I have been keeping a good record of the process and procedures thus far as well as documenting each step with photographs. 

I will start that later today as I am heading back out to my shop to do some work.

??? Is there any particular location I should begin this new thread????


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

morgantheship said:


> I will start a new thread. Most likely titled "Cedar Strip Canoe Build". I


look forward to it...
thanks..


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

*Project Plans and How To, Show and Tell, *or *Woodworking Articles* would be the 3 most appropriate locations. *Show and Tell* is more of an after the fact forum where you show the finished project. If it`s going to be a work in progress one of the other two would better.


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Russel... please keep us abreast of your progress with your build. I've been looking into doing a strip canoe build now for a couple of years. I'll know by mid summer if I'm going to go ahead with it. (if grandson's interest in canoeing continues, it'll be a project for us to do together). Leaning towards a 2 seater 14-16 foot, 36"-38" wide, flat bottom, very little rocker. Mostly lake/river use with strong class II being about as rough as it'll get with him for now  If I do build, going to go with Ted Moores/Canoecraft plans.
> I see you went with MDF over ply for your forms/stations? any particular reason? Any real buggers thus far? Up to where you're last 2 pics are, I don't see any real concerns as long as I'd follow instructions and pay particular attention to laying out the forms. No doubt as Keith mentions, clear quality cedar strips are a must, knot free. Any knot would be the weak link in the chain sort-ta speak. I've read on several occasions that scarfing two strips is acceptable, as long as its done well. I would definitely look into making a couple makeshift infeed/outfeed extensions to support the strips and to insure a nice even bead/cove throughout the process. Are you planning on clamping or stapling the strips? Symmetry in construction is one thing, but I"d like to go with something of a design with the wood as well. I"m thinking that staining strips prior to assembly would work. The more complex the design would require more scarfing, something I have to consider.
> 
> Here's a link to Jason Eke's youtube video's on a build. If you havn't run across them already, you might find them of interest.
> https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jason+eke


While we're waiting for the all new, super shiny new thread to start, I'll make a comment or two about your post if I may.

Go with the longer canoe, I promise you will be far happier with it, They glide along and handle so much better.

As for the flat bottom no rocker thing, I wouldn't be inclined to do that. You might think that configuration will give you a more stable hull, but not so. It's actually the other way around.

MDF is perfectly fine for the mould stations. I actually prefer that to plywood, which seems to be a little more difficult to get perfect. You will be getting to well under 1/64" tolerances, and that's easier with MDF.

If there is any way at all that you can avoid having to scarph the strips, for Pete's sake, do it. Every time there is a joint, it tends to make that small section of wood a little stiffer. It is more difficult to bring it fair.

And that goes ten times as much for any knot. Try this...take a strip with any size knot in it, no matter how small, and bend it. Guaranteed you absolutely can not get it fair. Now try a piece of nice straight grained wood...totally different. That piece will go fair without any trouble.

I had a very long plywood bench when I was routing my strips, so that covered infeed and outfeed tables. Something as simple as a 2 x 6's temporarily set up would be good. I had one router top mounted, the other bottom mounted so both edges were done at the same time.

If you want to get fancy with staining the strips, I'm not sure how well that would work. You will be doing quite a bit of sanding, especially on the outside of the hull. Better to sort out your strips beforehand into colour sets. The better cedar usually has a range of tones from cream to dark brown. You may not get much variation in a single board, but you will from board to board.

I always used clear 2 x 6's in the longest available lengths. This was always at least 16' and occasionally 18' when I could find it. Rip the board into 5/16" thicknesses, run it through the planer, then cut that in half. You get slightly under 3/4" per strip that way. The thinnest saw blade you have will work well. The less sawdust on the floor, the more you have left for your canoe.

There is one other thing I should mention.

When setting up your moulds, treat that as though you are building the finest furniture ever. Use the best battens you can find to make sure that your stations are lined up absolutely perfectly. I cannot stress this enough, as the quality and fairness of your mould determines how your canoe will come out. A good mould can be used over and over again, dozens of times in fact. It's hard to stop at just one canoe.

As for stapling or clamping, I never used staples. Always a very thin finishing nail. I did actually design and make a clamp which worked very well for the strips. But I only made one for testing. It worked OK, but would have been time prohibitive in use for the whole boat.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

cocobolo1 said:


> While we're waiting for the all new, super shiny new thread to start, I'll make a comment or two about your post if I may.
> 
> Go with the longer canoe, I promise you will be far happier with it, They glide along and handle so much better.
> 
> ...




Thanks
Bill.....


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

*My canoe build title*

"Damn thing better float"


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## morgantheship (Oct 19, 2014)

FYI - I have started a new thread under Project Plans and How to.

Name of thread is: Cedar Strip Canoe Build


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## cocobolo1 (Dec 31, 2015)

See you there!


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