# Starter pins



## overfifty (Dec 13, 2013)

I have a Wolfcraft router table and am generally happy with it. However, it does not have a starter pin or a threaded hole for one... any suggestions? Thank you, Barry.


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## boogalee (Nov 24, 2010)

overfifty said:


> I have a Wolfcraft router table and am generally happy with it. However, it does not have a starter pin or a threaded hole for one... any suggestions? Thank you, Barry.


Hi Barry

Drill a hole.
Tap the hole
Add starter pin


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Barry
Back to Basics - Starter Pin on the Router Table / Rockler How-to


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## overfifty (Dec 13, 2013)

Ya, thanks Al. Never would have thought of that... Semipro, perfect - just the resource I was looking for, thank you.


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## denis lock (Oct 26, 2007)

*Router table starter pin*

I use a three-in-one attachment - bit guard, vacuum port and starter pin (the tip of the dust shroud). Made from 16mm and 6mm MDF - pattern routed.

Denis Lock "Routing with Denis"


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## Bodger96 (Mar 18, 2014)

Sometimes the answer is right in front of us and we do not see it until someone else points it out. LOL has happened to me many times.

Regards Bob


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## BrianS (Nov 7, 2004)

Hi Barry. Welcome to our little corner of the 'net.

Here is another method. Vacuum bit guardCertainly not the only way, and very similar to what Denis suggested. I have built, and used this one, and it works very well.


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## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

I just use the fence most of the time. It's always there. If the part is too small for that, you really need some kind of holder/jig anyway.


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## denis lock (Oct 26, 2007)

Duane

The fence can't be used when you are routing curved pieces with a bearing-guided profile bit (such as a round-over or ogee) or pattern routing a curved shape. Both of the these applications should use some sort of fulcrum - either a starting pin or an attachment such as the others shown in this series of posts.

Denis Lock ("Routing with Denis")


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## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

denis.lock said:


> Duane
> 
> The fence can't be used when you are routing curved pieces with a bearing-guided profile bit (such as a round-over or ogee) or pattern routing a curved shape. Both of the these applications should use some sort of fulcrum - either a starting pin or an attachment such as the others shown in this series of posts.
> 
> Denis Lock ("Routing with Denis")


Denis, what exactly keeps a locked down fence from being used as the fulcrum point? I do it that way all the time on both my router table and shaper. It is just that, a point to hold the part against until it contacts the bearing on the bit! Nothing says the fulcrum point has to be round. The fence *is* the attachment!


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## OPG3 (Jan 9, 2011)

*Say WHAT?*

Barry (and others), Starting pins are great, but as Duane has correctly pointed-out; there is nothing that forces the starting [fulcrum] to be round. Certainly a round starter pin is the convenient method, but a 50 lb box of nails could also be used. The real need is something that is stable - which could be the properly positioned fence. I wish I had a nickel for every time I or one of my coworkers used something _clamped-down _atop of the router or shaper table.

Otis Guillebeau from Auburn, Georgia


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## del schisler (Feb 2, 2006)

go here and read about starter pin's, i use them all the time, i have the router work shop table and all that goes with it the link 

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=starter+pins+for+router+table


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## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

As Otis stated, properly positioned is the key. One fixed location for a starter pin is rarely ideally positioned.

I prefer something that I can re-position easily for different workpieces. There are several advantages to using the fence...
1. It's always there. I rarely remove my fence!
2. I don't have to keep track of a "pin" or yet another accessory/jig.
3. I can easily move it to a safe, convenient distance from the bit.
4. Don't need any extra holes in my table.
5. May or may not, depending on your fence design, help with dust collection. Won't be ideal, but hey, it's there!

It is one option, not the only way of course. For me it just works, I have used it for everything from small parts to cathedral raised panels.

PS. If you are using a pattern, the Router Workshop method is even easier. Just make the pattern longer than the workpiece. The pattern can then be in contact with the bearing before(and after) the workpiece contacts the bit! No fulcrum point needed in this case.


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## denis lock (Oct 26, 2007)

Duane

I misunderstood you post and apologise. A 'backed off' fence can certainly be used as a fulcrum for controlled approach of the workpiece to a spinning bit with an attached bearing. 

Depending on the length of the piece being routed the fulcrum point could be half the length of the router table (400 mm in my case) from the spinning bit. I prefer a fulcrum that is much closer (around 50 mm).

Denis Lock ("Routing with Denis")


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## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

No problem Denis. Either way is good, and advantages and disadvantages to both!


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## overfifty (Dec 13, 2013)

Thank you all for your ideas. I've been clamping a jig to the table as required but I'm a glutton for punishment and wanted to try fabricating a proper starter pin. Here in the land of ice and snow when I go to the hardware stores and ask for a nylon rod I get a strange look. I decided on a drilled out piece of wooden dowel, a bolt and a piece of pex pipe that spins like a nylon rod ... it sounds Rube Goldberg but it works. Cheers, Barry.


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