I had some work to do for someone. They have these dollies for AV
equipment, and he wanted new handles routed into the dollies.... simple
right.

Well when I saw them, I knew I had to remove the wheels, and somehow
needed to round over the topside which has doublers. I don't have a trim
router so how was I going to do it.

Well the first problem wound up being that after removing the bolts the
wheels would not come off at all. I suspect they painted them and put
them on too soon. A stiff putty knife was not able to break the bond. I
was just digging into the paint and wood deeper and deeper as it dove
under.

So a simple project was turning into a bit of a challenge. I had made a
template to route the shape, but w/o removing the wheels, I was not able
to clamp it. The router did not fit between the wheels with a solid
base, so I switched to my plunge base and do to the flat on one side was
just able to fit. But I still could not shape it w/o clamps. And I did
not want to tape it on for fear of pulling the finish off.

My sabre saw didn't fit between the wheels either. So I drilled the ends
using a 1.5 fostener, then used the sabre saw standing like a plunge
cut.. (kept catching on the wheels).

For the top side, I mounted a router bit in my drill press and set the
speed to the fastest speed. I used my DRO to lower the bit to the same
height every time then locked it in.

Sometimes a piece of cake job, can be a real challenge.

http://imgur.com/a/oUmXO

about 2 hours and glad it's over.

--
Jeff

woodchucker wrote in
:

I had some work to do for someone. They have these dollies for AV
equipment, and he wanted new handles routed into the dollies....
simple right.

Well when I saw them, I knew I had to remove the wheels, and somehow
needed to round over the topside which has doublers. I don't have a
trim router so how was I going to do it.

Well the first problem wound up being that after removing the bolts
the wheels would not come off at all. I suspect they painted them and
put them on too soon. A stiff putty knife was not able to break the
bond. I was just digging into the paint and wood deeper and deeper as
it dove under.

So a simple project was turning into a bit of a challenge. I had made
a template to route the shape, but w/o removing the wheels, I was not
able to clamp it. The router did not fit between the wheels with a
solid base, so I switched to my plunge base and do to the flat on one
side was just able to fit. But I still could not shape it w/o clamps.
And I did not want to tape it on for fear of pulling the finish off.

My sabre saw didn't fit between the wheels either. So I drilled the
ends using a 1.5 fostener, then used the sabre saw standing like a
plunge cut.. (kept catching on the wheels).

For the top side, I mounted a router bit in my drill press and set the
speed to the fastest speed. I used my DRO to lower the bit to the same
height every time then locked it in.

Sometimes a piece of cake job, can be a real challenge.

http://imgur.com/a/oUmXO

about 2 hours and glad it's over.


Looks good.

Could you have filled the space between the two pieces with a piece of
wood (to give the saw a free area to ride on), and cut the hand holds
with a longer sabre saw blade? You'd have to got through the top,
naturally.

Puckdropper

On 7/17/2016 6:35 PM, Puckdropper wrote:
woodchucker wrote in
:

I had some work to do for someone. They have these dollies for AV
equipment, and he wanted new handles routed into the dollies....
simple right.

Well when I saw them, I knew I had to remove the wheels, and somehow
needed to round over the topside which has doublers. I don't have a
trim router so how was I going to do it.

Well the first problem wound up being that after removing the bolts
the wheels would not come off at all. I suspect they painted them and
put them on too soon. A stiff putty knife was not able to break the
bond. I was just digging into the paint and wood deeper and deeper as
it dove under.

So a simple project was turning into a bit of a challenge. I had made
a template to route the shape, but w/o removing the wheels, I was not
able to clamp it. The router did not fit between the wheels with a
solid base, so I switched to my plunge base and do to the flat on one
side was just able to fit. But I still could not shape it w/o clamps.
And I did not want to tape it on for fear of pulling the finish off.

My sabre saw didn't fit between the wheels either. So I drilled the
ends using a 1.5 fostener, then used the sabre saw standing like a
plunge cut.. (kept catching on the wheels).

For the top side, I mounted a router bit in my drill press and set the
speed to the fastest speed. I used my DRO to lower the bit to the same
height every time then locked it in.

Sometimes a piece of cake job, can be a real challenge.

http://imgur.com/a/oUmXO

about 2 hours and glad it's over.


Looks good.

Could you have filled the space between the two pieces with a piece of
wood (to give the saw a free area to ride on), and cut the hand holds
with a longer sabre saw blade? You'd have to got through the top,
naturally.

Puckdropper


I could have,
There were metal plates rivited to the wood, and they would not come
out. So the saw would be unsupported as well past that filler piece. But
still would not be able to route. Wish I had a working trim router.

--
Jeff

On Sunday, July 17, 2016 at 7:12:46 PM UTC-4, woodchucker wrote:
On 7/17/2016 6:35 PM, Puckdropper wrote:
woodchucker wrote in
:

I had some work to do for someone. They have these dollies for AV
equipment, and he wanted new handles routed into the dollies....
simple right.

Well when I saw them, I knew I had to remove the wheels, and somehow
needed to round over the topside which has doublers. I don't have a
trim router so how was I going to do it.

Well the first problem wound up being that after removing the bolts
the wheels would not come off at all. I suspect they painted them and
put them on too soon. A stiff putty knife was not able to break the
bond. I was just digging into the paint and wood deeper and deeper as
it dove under.

So a simple project was turning into a bit of a challenge. I had made
a template to route the shape, but w/o removing the wheels, I was not
able to clamp it. The router did not fit between the wheels with a
solid base, so I switched to my plunge base and do to the flat on one
side was just able to fit. But I still could not shape it w/o clamps.
And I did not want to tape it on for fear of pulling the finish off.

My sabre saw didn't fit between the wheels either. So I drilled the
ends using a 1.5 fostener, then used the sabre saw standing like a
plunge cut.. (kept catching on the wheels).

For the top side, I mounted a router bit in my drill press and set the
speed to the fastest speed. I used my DRO to lower the bit to the same
height every time then locked it in.

Sometimes a piece of cake job, can be a real challenge.

http://imgur.com/a/oUmXO

about 2 hours and glad it's over.


Looks good.

Could you have filled the space between the two pieces with a piece of
wood (to give the saw a free area to ride on), and cut the hand holds
with a longer sabre saw blade? You'd have to got through the top,
naturally.

Puckdropper


I could have,
There were metal plates rivited to the wood, and they would not come
out. So the saw would be unsupported as well past that filler piece. But
still would not be able to route. Wish I had a working trim router.

--
Jeff

You might want to check out my response to Leon in this thread:

"Trim Router: Rigid Fixed Base vs. Grizzly T27139 Plunge - Opinions?"

Leon suggested the Rocky 30 trim router from MLCS. I called and found that
they just introduced a kit with both a fixed base and plunge base, currently
on sale for $94.95.

You can't find the kit on their website yet, but you can order SKU 9060
on the Quick Order page. I just ordered mine a few minutes ago.

Woo-hoo - A new project, a new tool!