# My first sign



## hbk409 (Sep 14, 2008)

I made this sign for my dogs house. Made it using the craftsman pantograph, its really pretty easy to use after a few attempts and making the setup they show in the manual definatly helped. I also did a decarative trim going around the edges with a cove bit.I only did the outline of the letters as opposed to routing out the whole letter. i then sprayed it with black paint and used a plane. I think I should have sanded instead which I will probably do tomorrow as you can see there is still black spots where there shouldnt be. also i still want to stain and put a coat of poly on it


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## Check twice! (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi hbk409

I am sure Rudy will enjoy his own name plate and have the best looking doghouse in the neighbourhood.  

What type of wood did you use? I do agree with your thinking that a good sandpapering would help an already good looking piece of work.

Great job!


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

You really have done an excellent job but as paint soaks in I think sanding is for the birds. A far more efficient way is using the router ski mounted as shown. There have been several threads showing how to make skis, if you need any information, just ask.


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## Check twice! (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi Harry

You love those ski's (yup)  but they have worked so well for you, something I should consider.


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## hbk409 (Sep 14, 2008)

harry i did some looking at the sign you made with your ski's. it looks great. Question I have is your router base looks like it has the holes to slide the metal tubes for the ski's. I have a craftsman router that you can change the base on from plunge to fix but neither base have those types of holes. What would you suggested?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Can't wait for Harry's come back on this one 


about 9:00 PM I would guess... 


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hbk409 said:


> harry i did some looking at the sign you made with your ski's. it looks great. Question I have is your router base looks like it has the holes to slide the metal tubes for the ski's. I have a craftsman router that you can change the base on from plunge to fix but neither base have those types of holes. What would you suggested?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Bump


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI hbk409

Just a butt in post 

The drawing below is just one way of getting the job done, many of the routers can't take on the big rods for the Ski jig, most the holes are 1/4" or 5/16" in diam...in the router base, but this is a easy way to mount your Craftsman to the ski base,just remove your base plate from the router and then screw it to the ski jig base plate..
The BIG routers can take on the 3/8" diam.rods but the 1/2" will work very well..
I would use 1/2-13 all thread rod with nuts to lock the router plate in place but take care if you make this jig, then nuts can't go below the bottom of the plate, most 1/2" diam. nuts are 3/4" OD and just a bit more on the angle...(point to point) 

the other snapshots below , my ski jig...
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hbk409 said:


> harry i did some looking at the sign you made with your ski's. it looks great. Question I have is your router base looks like it has the holes to slide the metal tubes for the ski's. I have a craftsman router that you can change the base on from plunge to fix but neither base have those types of holes. What would you suggested?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI hbk409

Here's a quick way to make a ski jig that will fit your router,, if you don't want to make a base plate you can just buy one and put the hardwood blocks in place and it will take on ANY router  then pickup some rod and nuts and make the ski's and you have it done...

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94331

I made one today just for kicks but I use some 1/4" thick clear plastic..
The one I made can take on the 1/2" rods or the 3/8" rods that I have on hand.



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## Check twice! (Feb 11, 2008)

Were you awake all night figuring that out,,,,,,,  It is a simple but effective way of building one. I used one of those inserts for my router table and it would be great for a sled ,,,,,,, I am going to make one. Yup! 

BTW I am going to use 4" pipe for my slides,,,,,


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI John

Once the light bulb go's on I can't turn it off 

Harry and I played ping pong on this one because so many routers can't take on the rods or to say the 1/2" ( 12.7mm ) rods but now anyone that has router can make one easy..plus with the snap in insert rings one can use the guides as well and the big ring(s) can pop out of place so one can use the big bits as well..

The one I made that can take on the 1 1/2" guides that's almost 40mm ,that Harry and Tom like to use with the ski jig all the time ..

I did mount it to a battery type PC router and it works well  , I just hate the cord it's always in the way, dragging the vac. hose is one thing but the cord is real PIA..

I guess I need to come up with a sky hook ... I have tried some but most are a real PIA also.. 


" 4" pipe for my slides " == ????? joking right ???


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## Check twice! (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi Bj,,, Oh yes joking  

You made yours to take two sizes so I figured I would make mine stupid big.  
I have both sizes so will design to take both 1/2 and 3/8

I could picture 3/8 being good for small jobs and the 1/2" being good on the wider requirements. I just can't picture a 3/8 being solid enough for the 24" wide runs. Maybe, I never had a slide.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI John

The 3/8" rods work very well ,in the snapshot above you will see the 3/8"-24 rods.

They are 28" long , most of the weight of the router is on the base of the router but the rods do also support the router, I have two sets of rods 3/8 acme and 3/8" fine thread, it's hard to bend the fine thread rod...and it's almost a no no on the acme rods just more mass.

But 1/2" would be best or now one could use 5/8" or 3/4" rods for just a bit over kill for the big hvy. 3 1/4HP routers... now one will not need a big holes in the base of the router.... to make a ski jig ...I can see me making one for the big routers with the 3/4" rods...I have two new HF plates hanging on the wall now I know what I'm going to use them for.. 

Light bulb is blinking again...just need to find some small O.D. hex nuts..or make some with some flat stock.  or retap some 5/8" nuts out.. maybe 

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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hey John

If you make one how about some pictures, you do that well but I don't 


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## Dr.Zook (Sep 10, 2004)

*What colour skis?*



BTW I am going to use 4" pipe for my slides said:


> Green and yellow skis, right John?


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

I'm sorry to have missed reading these last few posts, it is my firm opinion that anyone who is serious about mastering the router must have one capable of taking rods, it makes the tool so much more versatile. I suppose that two pieces of 2" x 1" screwed to the base with holes drilled through would be one way but with reduced depth of cut.

The set-up that I just made to illustrate what I had in mind seems to work just fine, the slight tightness in the holes plus the weight of the router keep it firmly in place on the rods.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

bobj3 said:


> HI John
> 
> Once the light bulb go's on I can't turn it off
> 
> ...


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## gregW (Mar 14, 2007)

Hi hbk409,

nice work on the sign! 

bob that new router ski jig concept looks like a real good idea


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI Harry

I did kick that way around in my head but then I said most don't have long router bits to over come the wood blocks to hold the rods..

I know they can go out and buy a MLCS Router Collet Extension 
http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/router_collet.html
but I said no keep it cheap and simple other wise it's just one more jig that will not be used.. 

Ping Pong ,back to you Harry 

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harrysin said:


> I'm sorry to have missed reading these last few posts, it is my firm opinion that anyone who is serious about mastering the router must have one capable of taking rods, it makes the tool so much more versatile. I suppose that two pieces of 2" x 1" screwed to the base with holes drilled through would be one way but with reduced depth of cut.
> 
> The set-up that I just made to illustrate what I had in mind seems to work just fine, the slight tightness in the holes plus the weight of the router keep it firmly in place on the rods.


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Don't forget Bj that the original purpose was to plane the surface of a sign with paint on the surface so no great depth of cut would be required. I'm sure that if you or I encountered the same problem we would use right angle steel or even Aluminium and so hardly lose any depth of cut.


After thought.............what about the sky-hooks?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

" sky-hooks? " I have tried that type but still in the way,real PIA, I saw one that I have been playing with,,, it was on a ironing board,spring on a rod that was bent over...

But the battery type router works the best so far just a little bit low on power sometimes but it can spin 2" bits easy..and plunge right down into the stock .. ( 1/4" and 1/2" shank )


Harry 

angle stock,,,that would be a lot quicker and a lot essayer , just pickup some Alum. angle stock 1/8" x 1 1/4" x 1 1/4 drill a hole for the rod to slip in and two holes in the base part of the angle stock, drill and tap them out so it can be screwed to the base plate, all that's needed would be a 6" long piece, cut them on the band saw to 1 1/4" wide .
Slip in the rod with nuts to lock them in place and your done...

The PC is one of the routers that's hard to install and use a ski jig on, small holes and only on pair of them on one side of the router base BUT now it's duck soup to use a ski jig on the Porter Cable routers.. 

Hope this helps some one with a PC or a Sears router....

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Still need to make a pair of skis but that's the easy part 


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harrysin said:


> Don't forget Bj that the original purpose was to plane the surface of a sign with paint on the surface so no great depth of cut would be required. I'm sure that if you or I encountered the same problem we would use right angle steel or even Aluminium and so hardly lose any depth of cut.
> 
> 
> After thought.............what about the sky-hooks?


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

I did add a snapshot or two just for kicks to the last post 

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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi hbk409,

Great effort for your first sign,

One thing that you get from this forum is the enthusiasm of the members to provide solutions to any problem.

Don't worry about BJ and Harry, the play ping/pong at every chance..

But, if they didn't, new members like myself would learn nothing...

   

James


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Nice job Bj, nothing less than we have come to expect from you. Next problem please!


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

Thanks, what no more ping /pong ?

You know I enjoy it just like you do 

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harrysin said:


> Nice job Bj, nothing less than we have come to expect from you. Next problem please!


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

Bj, it just occurred to me that most members seem to have quite small shops, some no more than 10' x 10' so perhaps we should concentrate on SIMPLE jigs, let's face it Bj, Your jigs would more than totally fill the average shop!


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

I guess you are right,,, I was thinking today about reworking the pocket hole jig for the router table,, I got it down and did play with it, but it was a pain to get it off the wall of jigs..you can see the job it can do in the snapshots above,, it's so clean of a slot and it can use any type of screws unlike the normal pocket hole jig..and almost every one has a 3/8" and a 1/2" router bit that's needed to use the jig..

O well some day I will play with it again...

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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Harry

Here's the last of the snapshots for the ski jig, with the skis are in place and it's now ready to go to work...

I painted it black because I know you like black    plus it's the same as the PC router  




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## tribalwind (Oct 3, 2008)

wow, 
you guys are truly masters of router jig-making. 

so to adjust this last jig you loosen the nuts?
how about using cam-clamps to make that quicker?.. 
rockler sells them in 1/4" and 5/16" thread sizes,but they could be shop-made for any size threaded rod/nut i guess.
i got a bunch of them when rockler had them 50%-off..they exert a LOT of holding pressure,least to me.

edit: oh well...i'm blocked from posting links as i dotn have 10 posts yet...
just go to rockler . com and search "cam clamp"


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi tribalwind

Well that's 9.oo bucks each x 4 that can push the price if the jig up just a bit to high...when nuts are just .03 cents each..
But if you have them on hand put them to work I'm almost sure they would work...


http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10602&filter=cam clamp


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tribalwind said:


> wow,
> you guys are truly masters of router jig-making.
> 
> so to adjust this last jig you loosen the nuts?
> ...


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## tribalwind (Oct 3, 2008)

thanks for providing the link for me..

its actually a pair for $9, so yea about$20 for that jig with shipping(theres always coupon codes for %'s off too)..
i would wait for them to go on sale again,or make my own in the shop with wood etc.it was 4.50 a pair when i loaded up.

what about those threaded knobs you have in a bunch of your jigs?
not that the plain old nut isnt good enough as is...

edit: 
i just realized a drawback to using my cam clamp idea..
Your design allows the skis to be fixed wider or narrower along the bar..the cams need an exact bar-length since they flip over the center to tighten down..the knobs would still work i guess if the rod passed through them...assuming hand-tightness is enough..
anyways.. the plain ole' nuts prolly' best.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Matthew

KNOBS , I like to make them   I guess you could call me the knob king  so to speak... LOL LOL

I make all kinds and in many ways 

If you click on the item on the left side of this post ( My Gallery ) you will see many snapshots how to make many of them...

You can also use the search tool for knobs..

Here's just one link for them.
http://www.routerforums.com/jigs-fixtures/8291-bobj3-homemade-knobs.html
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tribalwind said:


> thanks for providing the link for me..
> 
> its actually a pair for $9, so yea about$20 for that jig with shipping(theres always coupon codes for %'s off too)..
> i would wait for them to go on sale again,or make my own in the shop with wood etc.it was 4.50 a pair when i loaded up.
> ...


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## tribalwind (Oct 3, 2008)

i did see a bunch of them that you had here,they're nice, look very,well, Handy! 
i cant bring myself to even type that royal title you have there .LOL. just aint right !!!


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