"Steve North" wrote in message
om...
Can anyone suggest a cheap alternative to the worktop jigs that are
used as templates for routing the joints between surfaces? You can see
the type I mean here http://tinyurl.com/o8fv

£100 or more is quite a lot when I will only be doing three or four
cuts.

Also I would be grateful for any general advice when routing using
this type of worktop jig as a guide.

Ohh, and lastly I had considered just routing a straight 45 degree cut
for worktops which meet at 90 degrees to avoid the need for a worktop
jig. Do you think this would just be too naff? Has anyone done this
and think it looks OK?

Thanks for any help.

Swallow hard and hire one (www.hirecenter.co.uk about £20 for the weekend) -
it's impossible without one and use new cutters. But I managed three
passable corner joins when 'doing' a kitchen upgrade with a friend and that
was the first time I'd used a router!

Peter

On 22 Sep 2003 09:54:54 -0700, (Steve
North) wrote:

Can anyone suggest a cheap alternative to the worktop jigs that are
used as templates for routing the joints between surfaces? You can see
the type I mean here http://tinyurl.com/o8fv

£100 or more is quite a lot when I will only be doing three or four
cuts.

Which part of the country are you in?

The reason for asking is that I have just purchased one of these
worktop jigs, and I would be willing to do a couple of freebies just
to get some practice in.

PoP

Steve North wrote:

Can anyone suggest a cheap alternative to the worktop jigs that are
used as templates for routing the joints between surfaces? You can see
the type I mean here http://tinyurl.com/o8fv

£100 or more is quite a lot when I will only be doing three or four
cuts.

Also I would be grateful for any general advice when routing using
this type of worktop jig as a guide.

Ohh, and lastly I had considered just routing a straight 45 degree cut
for worktops which meet at 90 degrees to avoid the need for a worktop
jig. Do you think this would just be too naff? Has anyone done this
and think it looks OK?


Not done a 45, but I *have* done a straight cut withiut a jig.

If you use a cutter diameter roughly similar to the radius on the
worktop, and stop at the 'show' end before breaking entirely through,
you can fettle the last 10mm or so on the pieces to make a very close
fitting join indeed. Any hole can be filled with colored epoxy or car
body filler and are almost invisible.

The tric is that the cut is at 90 degrees except the bit over the
radius, which is at 45 to get everything to line up. That last 45 cut
can be done with a rasp, hand saw, or even a fine toothed jig saw - or
if you are brave, the router.




Thanks for any help.

(Steve North) wrote in
om:

Can anyone suggest a cheap alternative to the worktop jigs that are
used as templates for routing the joints between surfaces? You can see
the type I mean here http://tinyurl.com/o8fv

£100 or more is quite a lot when I will only be doing three or four
cuts.

Also I would be grateful for any general advice when routing using
this type of worktop jig as a guide.

Ohh, and lastly I had considered just routing a straight 45 degree cut
for worktops which meet at 90 degrees to avoid the need for a worktop
jig. Do you think this would just be too naff? Has anyone done this
and think it looks OK?

Thanks for any help.

Not done it myself but the guy that did mine used a jig and it looks
great. Looked at buying one myself too, didn;t think about the fact you
can hire them until I'd paid someone £150 to cut two joints. Hmm!

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs here, but he used a bisuit cutter
too to ensure the tops stayed level etc. Not something I would have
thought of unless I saw him do it.

On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 21:02:52 +0000 (UTC), Billy Whizz
wrote:

Not done it myself but the guy that did mine used a jig and it looks
great. Looked at buying one myself too, didn;t think about the fact you
can hire them until I'd paid someone £150 to cut two joints. Hmm!

£75 a joint? Is that what they charge? Jeez, I'm in the wrong job!

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs here, but he used a bisuit cutter
too to ensure the tops stayed level etc. Not something I would have
thought of unless I saw him do it.

I would have thought that was a potentially useful thing to do.
Another option would be to lay in a couple of dowels across the joint.

PoP

Billy Whizz wrote in message .254.254...


Not trying to teach you to suck eggs here, but he used a bisuit cutter
too to ensure the tops stayed level etc. Not something I would have
thought of unless I saw him do it.

I think these - http://tinyurl.com/ocwb - are more commonly used
these days, especially if like me you don't have a biscuit jointer.

Steve

(Steve North) wrote in message . com...
Billy Whizz wrote in message .254.254...


Not trying to teach you to suck eggs here, but he used a bisuit cutter
too to ensure the tops stayed level etc. Not something I would have
thought of unless I saw him do it.

I think these - http://tinyurl.com/ocwb - are more commonly used
these days, especially if like me you don't have a biscuit jointer.

Steve


Can someone explain to me how you use one of those, I'm puzzled about
it.

My natural inclination was to use a piece of flat metal underneath
with holes in, screwed to the underside.


Regards, NT

On 23 Sep 2003 07:20:12 -0700, (Steve
North) wrote:

I think these - http://tinyurl.com/ocwb - are more commonly used
these days, especially if like me you don't have a biscuit jointer.

Might be worth cosying up to SWMBO for an early Christmas present.
Screwfix still have their "special offer" biscuit jointer for £34.99.

I bought one a short time ago. Maybe it isn't as good as those from
well-known brands, but at about 10% of the price.....and it works fine
for me.

PoP

The Natural Philosopher wrote in message ...

The tric is that the cut is at 90 degrees except the bit over the
radius, which is at 45 to get everything to line up. That last 45 cut
can be done with a rasp, hand saw, or even a fine toothed jig saw - or
if you are brave, the router.


A straight 45 degree cut over the radius, no jig required! - damn
where was my lateral thinking when I needed it. I like this idea. It's
definitely going to be more fiddly than using a jig and will require
patience to get it perfect but it saves me £100. I'm going to try it
on a offcut to see how it goes. Thanks NP.

Steve

Steve North wrote:

A straight 45 degree cut over the radius, no jig required! - damn
where was my lateral thinking when I needed it. I like this idea. It's

I did a worktop using this method with a jigsaw and a fine blade.

For the "receptive" half of the join I carefully marked out the main cut
and the intersecting 45" cut - made the intersecting short cut first
then the main one. (cut from the underside of the worktop unless you
have a down cut blade for the jigsaw). Then simply cut the matching
corner of the end of the other half. Finally I routed a 1/4" slot into
the mating ends of the worktop - added wood glue and hammered in a
wooden lath (a long biscuit if you like). Fitted the first half of the
worktop in place and then tapped the mating part of worktop into place
using a club hammer and a bit of scrap softwood to protect the end of
the worktop. The join was not as "perfect" as you will get with the
template - but a good deal less unsightly that those nasty joining strips!


--
Cheers,

John.

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PoP wrote in message . ..

Which part of the country are you in?

The reason for asking is that I have just purchased one of these
worktop jigs, and I would be willing to do a couple of freebies just
to get some practice in.

PoP

Thanks for the offer PoP

We're both in the same situation though because although I have used a
router before, I have never used one with this type of jig so I need
the practice myself!

Steve