Well, I see the dorks and geeks are back. Geek used in the
original meaning, not the present day meaning.
geek \geek\ (g[=e]k), n. 1. A performer in a carnival, often presented
as a wild man, who performs grotesquely disgusting acts, such as biting
the head off a live chicken or snake.

I saw a real live geek when I was in my 20s. Sat in a pen with a
hundred or so snakes, and a few chickens. Would bi the head off of one
or the other every once in awhile. Much higher social status than the
little geeks coming around here.

A few days back I posted on router table woes. The beaing on my bit
died. Turned out that this time I needed to get the router out of the
table bfore I could get the leverage to get the collet loose. OK, I'll
do that then put it back with the new bit in and rout out some bases for
the router, then modify the table to take the bases, so I can just slip
the router in an out in a few seconds.

Wrong. Turned out it's a two-man job to get the damn router back
in. It was held to the router top with three screws. I don't remember
how I got it in there. Never had problems loosening the collet up
before, so it didn't come up. I think I may have screwed the router to
the top then glued the top in place. Hey, it worked that way for years.

Well, figured I'd just cut a hold in the old top, glue another top
over that, with a cutout so I could drop in a base attached to the
router. Wrong again. Turned out not enought height over the table to
do that - my bandsaw is above it - for those that don't know, I've got a
small shop and have to maximize space.

Rather than make a totally new table dcided to cut a gap in the
table right thru the front so I could slide the router in. I figured
I'd have to do some bracing, but that wouldn't be a biggie. Cut the
gap, about six inches wide, and going on a foot long. Turned out I'd
done some overkill on the original table and both sides are still solid,
no bracing needed. Heh heh.

I'd been planning on making the new top out of one piece of
plywood, but have got another project planned for the big piece, so the
top is three pieces, not one. One long piece for the back, and two
smaller pieces for the front pieces. I made the new gap for the base a
bit narrower in front, so the base will be "locked" in place. I'll
finishg gluing the two smaller top pieces in place today, and get on to
making some router bases. I'm going to set up three routers with bases;
one with a 1/4" pattern bit, and two with 1/2" pattern bits, so if a bit
self-descructs I can have another in within a couple of minutes.

I'd been thinking about something along these lines for some time,
but just hadn't gotten around to it. This has turned out so much
simpler, faster, and easier to do, than I'd ever even dreamed. Makes me
wish I'd done it long ago. I will have to buy some screws to hold the
bases to the routers, which will probably boost the total cost of the
router table to somewhere between $3 and $4. Gods above, woodworking
is getting expensive. LMAO



JOAT
Politician \Pol`i*ti"cian\, n. Latin for career criminal

Hah. The router table top is all glued down, and the router base
fits just about perfect. Did find one of the screw holes was drilled
about 1/16" off, but a swipe or two with a small rat tail file will cure
that. And, have two more bases started. But, after thinking about it,
I'll make a fourth, just in case. The top is about three inches wider,
and two deeper. The bit is now a shade closer to the front of the top
than before, which puts it out in the light more. I'll have to get some
more screws, putting the total cost of the table (including the original
costs) to around $3. Beats the Hell out of buying one. All in all,
came out nicely, I'm quite pleased.



JOAT
Politician \Pol`i*ti"cian\, n. Latin for career criminal

And the world waits.

Wed, Jun 28, 2006, 8:40pm (EDT-1) (John) doth mumble:
And the world waits.

Then it had better start looking for a ride, because I've aleady
moved on.



JOAT
Politician \Pol`i*ti"cian\, n. Latin for career criminal