# My way of making some of my routing jigs



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I just spent the last half hour looking for a thread to fit these pictures on, and didn't find any that really fit something like these. Now if I can find the pictures. Found them, and not anywhere close to where I thought they would be. 

OK, first one. This is the master for the center part of the wooden figure banks I make. You can make out the nails in the nail pilot holes, to hold it down to the piece to be routed. Sometimes vibrationwill shake the nails loose, if they aren't too many, and not driven in enough, so better more than enough, than not enough. They'll be on the inside anyway, so won't show. I usually hve to make three to four of these if I have to make a new one from scratch - the measurements are that close.

Second: This is the bottom of the jig to hold my base for routing. Measurements on this are close also. I use my mitre saw and cut a piece 5" X 5", then set it in.

Third: This is the top side of the same jig. The bar going across it is a finger hold - I hold onto that with all eight fingers, then the two thumbs press on the edge of the 5" X 5" piece, and hold it in place, then rout. Refer to second photo - the two long slots on each side are to rout two slots in the base for the 'feet' of the piece routed by the jig in photo one. The small notch in the bottom of the jig are to mke a very slight dip in the base, to indicate the back of the base. The finished base may look identicl front to back, and it is, as much as I can make it, but there will always be a tiny difference, and that tiny difference is critical if the correct side does not go to the front - hence the tiny notch, eliminates guesswork.

Fourth. This is the bottom side of the rear top piece of my banks. 

Five: And this is the top side. You can see the bar the fingers hold onto, and the side pressed in with the thumbs. The part routed out is the coin drop at the bottom of the coin chimney, or whatever it is, never thought to name it, and the 'bar' that locks in the piece at the rear that comes out to take out the money. On this jig, and the one for the base, it is pretty much impossible to use either without having your hands on the bar and your thumbs applying pressure - this pretty well guarantees your fingers will not get anywhere near the router bit while using them. You may not be able to tell, but in one or two places, there are pieces that cover where the bit would be in the top of the jig and open, so no accidential touching. 

Six: The top of my knight jig for my chess pieces. 

Seven: Side view. A bit clearer perhaps. All of my router templates/patterns are two pieces of 1/2" plywood glued together, then nail pilot holes drilled throu, so the piece can be tacked down. 

Eight: The bottom edge. To use I set a large enough piece of wood (usually plywood) on the shelf made by the bottom (third) layer of plywood. Then it's tacked down by nailes from the top. Then the extended handle is gripped and the wood routed around. You can see where the jig is tapered, to match the bottom sides of the piece. Routs very rapidly, and neatly. Somehow I lost the rook, so have to make another master. Simple enough, after you cut out a good master rook that it. I like both sides identical, which means I get one side I like, tack that down and rout that side, then flip the piece, and use that to rout the other side also - ergo, two identical sides. Once I've got that done, I use strips of wood about 2" wide to make the whole thing. Glue a shorter strip, on a longer strip, making sure there is enough space in front of the shorter strip to be able to glue the rook. Then put the rook in place against the shorter piece, glue. When the glue dries, then trim the sides so they match the bottom edge of the rook. Rout ithe longer piece. All that's left then is another shorter piece, on either top or bottom really, but must match the bottom edge of the rook. This is what you will but the wood against, and tack down, when you rout out a chess piece. The pawn is about 2" or so tall, and the others larger accordingly. For now I just glue the routed piece on a base. Later I plan on making the pieces 2 or 3 layers thick, and for those I would be making a jig to hold them, because I do not really care to rout pieces that small by hand. Oh yeah, this setup with the 1/2" plywood can be used for 3/4" thick plywood as well. But if I was going to make a whole l ot of sets, I'd make new master jigs (or whatever you want to call them) out of 3/4" stock. Of course, if y ou had a bit long enough you could just make them to rout 1" stock, and do it in one step. Scrollsaw chess pieces? Not lately.


----------



## Harrison67 (May 30, 2012)

It could be my olden eyes, but the pics are hard to make out.

I'm seeing way too orangy, blurry pics.

Is there some setting on your camera to get rid of the orange/yellow/blur?:sad:


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Harrison67 said:


> Is there some setting on your camera to get rid of the orange/yellow/blur?:sad:


Not likely. I had to set it on close range to get them that clear, and that won't take flash. And, if I'd set it on long range, the flash would have washed them all out. That and the camera takes a great picture some times, and a lousy one the rest. I'll give a try at taking better ones later, but I doubt it will happen.


----------



## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

JOAT said:


> Not likely. I had to set it on close range to get them that clear, and that won't take flash. And, if I'd set it on long range, the flash would have washed them all out. That and the camera takes a great picture some times, and a lousy one the rest. I'll give a try at taking better ones later, but I doubt it will happen.


Hi Theo.

Which camera are you using to take the photos?


----------



## giltic (Sep 27, 2010)

I would also like to know about the camera brand and type. Perhaps we can help you with the settings.
Those objects doesn't look small enough to use macro mode. I would go a few steps away from the objects (backward) and use zoom and flash.


----------



## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

giltic said:


> I would also like to know about the camera brand and type. Perhaps we can help you with the settings.
> Those objects doesn't look small enough to use macro mode. I would go a few steps away from the objects (backward) and use zoom and flash.


I agree. Even to change the white balance to indoors would make a difference.


----------



## giltic (Sep 27, 2010)

Jes, James is totaly right. I forgot about white balance.
It just occurred to me that perhaps the shutter button was not pushed firstly only half way to allow the camera to get the object in focus.


----------



## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

White balance will help some, but I agree that macro should not be needed on this size object!

Here is one with a little color correction.


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Hi guys: My present camera is a digital Vivitar Vivicam X018. It replaced a Kodak digital camera, the screen of which cracked due to carrying mortar rounds in the same pocket. :sarcastic: Golf balls, for a golf ball mortar. 

The Kodak was great, but too pricey at replacement time, so opted for the Vivitar. The manual for the Kodak was something like four pages. The manual for the Vivitar is fifty-eight. It does tell how to set the camera up riight from the beginning. Problem is, it did not include a manual, just a small i nstruction sheet, which didn't say a word about setting it up. So once I turned it on, it seems to have a batch of glitches grafted in, permanently; wrong date, have to reset settings every time I turn it on, etc., confusion runs rampant.

However, you guys have given me a batch of new stuff to ponder on. I will be in the shop later, and hope to remember to try your thoughts. Sure can't be worse than what I'm getting now. Oh yeah, been having computer issues, and with things the way it is just now, I can get things to the printer, but can't get the printer to work - and it's definitely not the printer, because it will print a test page no problem. Ah well. I'll try to get some decent pictures for you all. Thanks.


----------



## giltic (Sep 27, 2010)

I'm sorry to say but it seems that you won't take any good shoots of your projects with this camera. Never heard for the brand Vivitar before so I did some Googling and found rather angry buyers on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Vivitar ViviCam iTwist X018 Digital Camera


----------



## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

*Sorry Theo.....*



giltic said:


> I'm sorry to say but it seems that you won't take any good shoots of your projects with this camera. Never heard for the brand Vivitar before so I did some Googling and found rather angry buyers on Amazon:
> 
> Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Vivitar ViviCam iTwist X018 Digital Camera



Sorry Theo, I doubt this camera even has a usable setting for white balance.

:sad:


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

giltic said:


> I'm sorry to say but it seems that you won't take any good shoots of your projects with this camera. Never heard for the brand Vivitar before so I did some Googling and found rather angry buyers on Amazon:
> 
> Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Vivitar ViviCam iTwist X018 Digital Camera


I just got finished experimenting with my camera, and found it is very capable of good photos. But it does take a bit of working at it; then remembering what I did from last time, to the next. I'll try again in the shop, and see how things work out. The Kodak was a lot simpler to operate, having more dedicated buttons and switches; this one has multiple use buttons, making it a LOT easier to get confused; and small, making it easy to push the wrong button. I've never found Amazon reviews anything to actually rely on.


----------



## giltic (Sep 27, 2010)

I'm glad to hear the camera problems worked out. Now we are all waiting to see photos of some new projects.


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

OK, pictures. You will never believe the trials and tribulations to take them, and get them on here. So I won't tell you. They all came out a lot better, except for the chess masters, they are just fair. Refer to my first post to see what each one is.


----------



## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Much better, Theo.......

See, the forum can improve photography as well as woodwork.....


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

jw2170 said:


> Much better, Theo.......
> 
> See, the forum can improve photography as well as woodwork.....


LOL :yes4:


----------



## giltic (Sep 27, 2010)

Much much better then the last time, I must say. Still, I think that your camera is not up for the task. I think that you should dump that camera and buy a new one. I'm sorry but I am a straight person and I like to say the truth. I can say, that you are not doing a fair job to your excellent projects with that camera.
No offense please...


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I consider any picture better than no picture. However, right now it's a moot point about the camera, AND any pictures. 

Spent some time in the shop this afternoon, doing some work, and expending a fair chunk of time taking pictures - and making sure they looked good. Came in, loaded them on the computer, clearing them out of the camera when I did. Found the pictures, started going thru them, discarding the bad ones, churning right along. Then the computer decided to do an automatic shutdown or something. Devil's own time getting it back up. When I did, no pictures. Apparently they ALL went poof, including a select few special interest vehicle pictures I'd been saving. And, as I already said, they are no longer on the camera either. That is soooo irritating, and frustrating. Amohg other things, I'd finally remember to get pictures of one of my planer sleds. Bah, and humbug. 
:fie: :cray:


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Not exactly a routing jig, rather my larger planing sled. The bottom is a piece of 2X12 as I recall. Planed it to get it nice and flat. then glued a 'backboard' against one side. On the other side glued two cams cut off of a couple of cam clamps I'd made some time ago. The way it works is, I usually plan wood on edge, so stack the pieces side by side until it fills the space, or usually when I have no more pieces to plane. Take up any space with scrap wood pieces, then pull the cam levers. The cams hold nice and tight, and then run it thru the planer, taking the wood down a bit at a time. Being as I planed the base nice and level the wood is planed nice and level also. A bit rude and crude, but works very nicely. The smaller one is made similarly, except the base is from a piece of 2X4. 

Batteries low in the camera, so no chance of getting a better picture.


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

OK, you've seen the pictures of my chess piece masters. Good way to get rid of small plywood scraps, besides making chess sets quickly. Set a straight edge down on the ledge formed by the bottom layer of plywood, tack it in place from the top, and rout, with the longish base keeping fingers well away fom the bit. 

Well, I've not been making many chess pieces, because I want to make them double thickness, two layers of plywood, making a piece 1" thick. To do that I would have to rout a piece out, glue it to a small chunk of plywood, then hold the two and rout. Did NOT like the idea of routing out small pieces, especially the pawns, with my fingers doing all the holding. So have been spending a lot of time thinking of something to hold them so I could rout it with no concern. It boiled down to either tack a handle to the top, rout piece, and nail holes show; or, figure out a rather complex jig to hold it, and probably needing two, to rout out each separate piece. So to do all the pieces in a set would mean 12 jigs. Not something to look foward to.

Then it hit me. I was trying to complicate a K.I.S.S. project. I didn't need no steenkin' jigs. All I need is a strip of plywood, long enough to glue the routed pieces to, with a gap just over 1/2" wide, so I can rout individual pieces out, and just slightly wider than the tallest piece. Leave a few inches on one end, which would be a 'handle' when the routing got that far, and later that can be used to make a chess piece or two; waste not, want not. No fuss, no muss, no finger danger. When each individual piece is routed free, there might be a little bit that needs to be touched up with the bit, but I have no issues with that. I haven't tried this yet, but see no problem with the idea.


----------



## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Not sure how well this will come out, at the time I took the picture, I was tired. This is a master for making plastic bag carriers. I used scrap 1/2" plywood pieces, glued them on a larger piece of 1/2" plywood, to the shape I wanted, then routed it. I still need to drill nail pilot holes. I will tack it on 1/2" plywood, rout that out, then glue the routed piece down, and rout again. Makes a 1" wide plastic bag carrier, and really helps when you want to carry a bunch of plastic bags at once.


----------

