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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

A while back I asked for advice here about routing with a trammel setup. I finally got around to doing it and I'm pleased to say it worked out very smoothly.

My goal was an arc that was 35" wide and had a rise at the midpoint of 4.5".. SketchUp made this child's play to figure out. Simply drawing the curve and right-clicking on it got me the radius (36-9/32") with no calculations.

But then I had to implement it, of course. That went well also. I made marks on my 1x12 oak 35" apart and a mark 4.5" inches in from the edge at the center of what would be the arc. I then turned the trammel upside down and measured along the center line 36-9/32" from the edge of the router bit and marked the spot for the pivot pin.

I intended to use a 10 penny nail for the pin, but it fit just slightly loosely in the hole I drilled. This probably would have made almost no difference, but I found another item that fit the hole perfectly - the drill bit itself. The smooth shank, of course.

I made 5 or six passes, using the stepped dial on my plunge router to set the depth for each pass. In the end, the curve passed exactly through the marks I had made originally. Success!

Thanks to all who offered advice.

Greg
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 4:26:26 PM UTC-4, Greg Guarino wrote:
A while back I asked for advice here about routing with a trammel setup. I finally got around to doing it and I'm pleased to say it worked out very smoothly.

My goal was an arc that was 35" wide and had a rise at the midpoint of 4.5". SketchUp made this child's play to figure out. Simply drawing the curve and right-clicking on it got me the radius (36-9/32") with no calculations..

But then I had to implement it, of course. That went well also. I made marks on my 1x12 oak 35" apart and a mark 4.5" inches in from the edge at the center of what would be the arc. I then turned the trammel upside down and measured along the center line 36-9/32" from the edge of the router bit and marked the spot for the pivot pin.

I intended to use a 10 penny nail for the pin, but it fit just slightly loosely in the hole I drilled. This probably would have made almost no difference, but I found another item that fit the hole perfectly - the drill bit itself. The smooth shank, of course.

I made 5 or six passes, using the stepped dial on my plunge router to set the depth for each pass. In the end, the curve passed exactly through the marks I had made originally. Success!

Thanks to all who offered advice.

Greg


Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gdguar...h/40749516093/

Video:
https://youtu.be/C4UYbndf0pQ
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 3:29:19 PM UTC-5, Greg Guarino wrote:

Video:
https://youtu.be/C4UYbndf0pQ


Excellent!! Good job.

Now I'm gonna fuss you. You need to set up that work table, in the background. I suppose you might be pressed for space, but against the wall is no place for that table.

Your shop kinna looks like mine, but less so, in that, a little bit of everything scattered about. Those are the best shops, though. Keep up the good work.

Sonny
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 4:26:26 PM UTC-4, Greg Guarino wrote:
A while back I asked for advice here about routing with a trammel setup. I finally got around to doing it and I'm pleased to say it worked out very smoothly.

My goal was an arc that was 35" wide and had a rise at the midpoint of 4.5". SketchUp made this child's play to figure out. Simply drawing the curve and right-clicking on it got me the radius (36-9/32") with no calculations..

But then I had to implement it, of course. That went well also. I made marks on my 1x12 oak 35" apart and a mark 4.5" inches in from the edge at the center of what would be the arc. I then turned the trammel upside down and measured along the center line 36-9/32" from the edge of the router bit and marked the spot for the pivot pin.

I intended to use a 10 penny nail for the pin, but it fit just slightly loosely in the hole I drilled. This probably would have made almost no difference, but I found another item that fit the hole perfectly - the drill bit itself. The smooth shank, of course.

I made 5 or six passes, using the stepped dial on my plunge router to set the depth for each pass. In the end, the curve passed exactly through the marks I had made originally. Success!

Thanks to all who offered advice.

Greg


Nice job and thanks for the video.

I added one of these to my router and it sure does help. Of course, you
need to layout where the hose will go, especially on a long rout like
yours. It sucks (no pun intended) when the hose gets caught mid-rout.

https://www.oneida-air.com/contractor-tools/router-hood
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

The problem is that my only really large power tool has a Toyota emblem on it. And it takes up most of the garage. I have muddled through these past several years, not without my share of frustrations.

However, I am hoping to be about two years from retirement and I intend to set up a much larger shop elsewhere during that time in preparation. Can't wait.


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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 3:29:19 PM UTC-5, Greg Guarino wrote:
On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 4:26:26 PM UTC-4, Greg Guarino wrote:
A while back I asked for advice here about routing with a trammel setup.. I finally got around to doing it and I'm pleased to say it worked out very smoothly.

My goal was an arc that was 35" wide and had a rise at the midpoint of 4.5". SketchUp made this child's play to figure out. Simply drawing the curve and right-clicking on it got me the radius (36-9/32") with no calculations.

But then I had to implement it, of course. That went well also. I made marks on my 1x12 oak 35" apart and a mark 4.5" inches in from the edge at the center of what would be the arc. I then turned the trammel upside down and measured along the center line 36-9/32" from the edge of the router bit and marked the spot for the pivot pin.

I intended to use a 10 penny nail for the pin, but it fit just slightly loosely in the hole I drilled. This probably would have made almost no difference, but I found another item that fit the hole perfectly - the drill bit itself. The smooth shank, of course.

I made 5 or six passes, using the stepped dial on my plunge router to set the depth for each pass. In the end, the curve passed exactly through the marks I had made originally. Success!

Thanks to all who offered advice.

Greg


Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gdguar...h/40749516093/

Video:
https://youtu.be/C4UYbndf0pQ


Good plan. Great execution. Looks like a win!
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Sat, 27 Apr 2019 16:03:30 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

The problem is that my only really large power tool has a Toyota emblem on it.
And it takes up most of the garage.
I have muddled through these past several years, not without my share of frustrations.
However, I am hoping to be about two years from retirement and I intend to set up
a much larger shop elsewhere during that time in preparation. Can't wait.


... another option -
Look / ask around your area for a seniors woodworking center -
- there are 2 or 3 within a 30 minute drive where I live -
you will benefit from the quality machines and dust collection
and the comradery. I've lapsed my membership but a few years ago
my local small-town club was ~ $ 100. per year.
This link is for a larger center nearby @ $ 225. per year -
click on the thumbnail photos to link to more pics of their works.

http://kwwcc.org/

John T.

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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On 4/27/2019 3:26 PM, Greg Guarino wrote:
A while back I asked for advice here about routing with a trammel setup. I finally got around to doing it and I'm pleased to say it worked out very smoothly.

My goal was an arc that was 35" wide and had a rise at the midpoint of 4.5". SketchUp made this child's play to figure out. Simply drawing the curve and right-clicking on it got me the radius (36-9/32") with no calculations.

But then I had to implement it, of course. That went well also. I made marks on my 1x12 oak 35" apart and a mark 4.5" inches in from the edge at the center of what would be the arc. I then turned the trammel upside down and measured along the center line 36-9/32" from the edge of the router bit and marked the spot for the pivot pin.

I intended to use a 10 penny nail for the pin, but it fit just slightly loosely in the hole I drilled. This probably would have made almost no difference, but I found another item that fit the hole perfectly - the drill bit itself. The smooth shank, of course.

I made 5 or six passes, using the stepped dial on my plunge router to set the depth for each pass. In the end, the curve passed exactly through the marks I had made originally. Success!

Thanks to all who offered advice.

Greg


It's all in the prep. Good job!
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 11:12:05 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2019 16:03:30 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

The problem is that my only really large power tool has a Toyota emblem on it.
And it takes up most of the garage.
I have muddled through these past several years, not without my share of frustrations.
However, I am hoping to be about two years from retirement and I intend to set up
a much larger shop elsewhere during that time in preparation. Can't wait..


.. another option -
Look / ask around your area for a seniors woodworking center -
- there are 2 or 3 within a 30 minute drive where I live -
you will benefit from the quality machines and dust collection
and the comradery. I've lapsed my membership but a few years ago
my local small-town club was ~ $ 100. per year.
This link is for a larger center nearby @ $ 225. per year -
click on the thumbnail photos to link to more pics of their works.

http://kwwcc.org/

John T.


That looks like a great thing. It does not seem as if there are any shops like that convenient to NY City where I live. I found one several years ago in Connecticut, about an hour's drive from home. I thought at the time that it might even be worth the drive - there's a woman who rents time there who comes up from NYC on the train! - but I never actually tried it. An hour each way for a guy who isn't (quite) retired yet makes it a less attractive proposition.

I am a part owner of a small building with space in the basement that is only used for storage at the moment. Between now and my retirement, I intend to set that up as a shop. There is more than enough space and it's walking distance from home.
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 4:53:56 PM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 4:26:26 PM UTC-4, Greg Guarino wrote:
A while back I asked for advice here about routing with a trammel setup.. I finally got around to doing it and I'm pleased to say it worked out very smoothly.

My goal was an arc that was 35" wide and had a rise at the midpoint of 4.5". SketchUp made this child's play to figure out. Simply drawing the curve and right-clicking on it got me the radius (36-9/32") with no calculations.

But then I had to implement it, of course. That went well also. I made marks on my 1x12 oak 35" apart and a mark 4.5" inches in from the edge at the center of what would be the arc. I then turned the trammel upside down and measured along the center line 36-9/32" from the edge of the router bit and marked the spot for the pivot pin.

I intended to use a 10 penny nail for the pin, but it fit just slightly loosely in the hole I drilled. This probably would have made almost no difference, but I found another item that fit the hole perfectly - the drill bit itself. The smooth shank, of course.

I made 5 or six passes, using the stepped dial on my plunge router to set the depth for each pass. In the end, the curve passed exactly through the marks I had made originally. Success!

Thanks to all who offered advice.

Greg


Nice job and thanks for the video.

I added one of these to my router and it sure does help. Of course, you
need to layout where the hose will go, especially on a long rout like
yours. It sucks (no pun intended) when the hose gets caught mid-rout.

https://www.oneida-air.com/contractor-tools/router-hood


That looks pretty interesting. Not expensive either.

I hate when cables and such get snagged. I have a ceiling-mounted rack that holds lumber, tubing and the like. At some point I put some hooks on the bottom of it. I use those to hang lights and also to hang power cords for the tool I am using. It keeps it up and out of the way. I make sure there's just enough slack to allow the required movement.

I think I may have "discovered" that idea when I was making a bookshelf unit some years back. It made the sanding so much easier.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gdguar...7632376881493/
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Sun, 28 Apr 2019 17:15:19 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

On Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 11:12:05 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2019 16:03:30 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

The problem is that my only really large power tool has a Toyota emblem on it.
And it takes up most of the garage.
I have muddled through these past several years, not without my share of frustrations.
However, I am hoping to be about two years from retirement and I intend to set up
a much larger shop elsewhere during that time in preparation. Can't wait.


.. another option -
Look / ask around your area for a seniors woodworking center -
- there are 2 or 3 within a 30 minute drive where I live -
you will benefit from the quality machines and dust collection
and the comradery. I've lapsed my membership but a few years ago
my local small-town club was ~ $ 100. per year.
This link is for a larger center nearby @ $ 225. per year -
click on the thumbnail photos to link to more pics of their works.
http://kwwcc.org/
John T.



That looks like a great thing. It does not seem as if there are any shops like that
convenient to NY City where I live. I found one several years ago in Connecticut,
about an hour's drive from home. I thought at the time that it might even be worth the drive -
there's a woman who rents time there who comes up from NYC on the train! -
but I never actually tried it. An hour each way for a guy who isn't (quite) retired yet
makes it a less attractive proposition.
I am a part owner of a small building with space in the basement that is only used for
storage at the moment. Between now and my retirement, I intend to set that up as a shop.
There is more than enough space and it's walking distance from home.


My first woodworking "course" was an adult night course
at a Toronto high school. Week 2 I walked in with a small
truckload of rough cut pine & cherry from a back-home sawmill -
just to get it planed for future projects ....
The city folk who bought their little pieces of finished lumber
at the city build-it-store were quite impressed ..
the shop teacher less so ..
John T.

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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 8:15:23 PM UTC-4, Greg Guarino wrote:
On Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 11:12:05 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2019 16:03:30 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

The problem is that my only really large power tool has a Toyota emblem on it.
And it takes up most of the garage.
I have muddled through these past several years, not without my share of frustrations.
However, I am hoping to be about two years from retirement and I intend to set up
a much larger shop elsewhere during that time in preparation. Can't wait.


.. another option -
Look / ask around your area for a seniors woodworking center -
- there are 2 or 3 within a 30 minute drive where I live -
you will benefit from the quality machines and dust collection
and the comradery. I've lapsed my membership but a few years ago
my local small-town club was ~ $ 100. per year.
This link is for a larger center nearby @ $ 225. per year -
click on the thumbnail photos to link to more pics of their works.

http://kwwcc.org/

John T.


That looks like a great thing. It does not seem as if there are any shops like that convenient to NY City where I live. I found one several years ago in Connecticut, about an hour's drive from home. I thought at the time that it might even be worth the drive - there's a woman who rents time there who comes up from NYC on the train! - but I never actually tried it. An hour each way for a guy who isn't (quite) retired yet makes it a less attractive proposition.


Look up Makerspace. There appears to be one with a woodshop in Brooklyn. There
must be more than just these 5 Makerspaces in NYC. Google around a bit.

https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/dcip/...u-should-know/

Where in NYC do you live? I grew up in Flushing, right across the street
from Queens College. I was lucky enough to have had a huge amount of green
space right outside my front door. On the college land where we used throw
the Frisbee in the summer and sled in the winter now stands a 5 story
building. You could practically spit on it from my old front stoop. I'm
glad I moved before it was built.



I am a part owner of a small building with space in the basement that is only used for storage at the moment. Between now and my retirement, I intend to set that up as a shop. There is more than enough space and it's walking distance from home.




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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Sun, 28 Apr 2019 21:34:55 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 28 Apr 2019 17:15:19 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

On Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 11:12:05 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2019 16:03:30 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

The problem is that my only really large power tool has a Toyota emblem on it.
And it takes up most of the garage.
I have muddled through these past several years, not without my share of frustrations.
However, I am hoping to be about two years from retirement and I intend to set up
a much larger shop elsewhere during that time in preparation. Can't wait.


.. another option -
Look / ask around your area for a seniors woodworking center -
- there are 2 or 3 within a 30 minute drive where I live -
you will benefit from the quality machines and dust collection
and the comradery. I've lapsed my membership but a few years ago
my local small-town club was ~ $ 100. per year.
This link is for a larger center nearby @ $ 225. per year -
click on the thumbnail photos to link to more pics of their works.
http://kwwcc.org/
John T.



That looks like a great thing. It does not seem as if there are any shops like that
convenient to NY City where I live. I found one several years ago in Connecticut,
about an hour's drive from home. I thought at the time that it might even be worth the drive -
there's a woman who rents time there who comes up from NYC on the train! -
but I never actually tried it. An hour each way for a guy who isn't (quite) retired yet
makes it a less attractive proposition.
I am a part owner of a small building with space in the basement that is only used for
storage at the moment. Between now and my retirement, I intend to set that up as a shop.
There is more than enough space and it's walking distance from home.


My first woodworking "course" was an adult night course
at a Toronto high school. Week 2 I walked in with a small
truckload of rough cut pine & cherry from a back-home sawmill -
just to get it planed for future projects ....
The city folk who bought their little pieces of finished lumber
at the city build-it-store were quite impressed ..
the shop teacher less so ..

^^^^^^^^^^^

Understood. I don't think I would be either.
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Sun, 28 Apr 2019 17:15:19 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

On Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 11:12:05 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sat, 27 Apr 2019 16:03:30 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

The problem is that my only really large power tool has a Toyota emblem on it.
And it takes up most of the garage.
I have muddled through these past several years, not without my share of frustrations.
However, I am hoping to be about two years from retirement and I intend to set up
a much larger shop elsewhere during that time in preparation. Can't wait.


.. another option -
Look / ask around your area for a seniors woodworking center -
- there are 2 or 3 within a 30 minute drive where I live -
you will benefit from the quality machines and dust collection
and the comradery. I've lapsed my membership but a few years ago
my local small-town club was ~ $ 100. per year.
This link is for a larger center nearby @ $ 225. per year -
click on the thumbnail photos to link to more pics of their works.

http://kwwcc.org/

John T.


That looks like a great thing. It does not seem as if there are any shops like that convenient to NY City where I live. I found one several years ago in Connecticut, about an hour's drive from home. I thought at the time that it might even be worth the drive - there's a woman who rents time there who comes up from NYC on the train! - but I never actually tried it. An hour each way for a guy who isn't (quite) retired yet makes it a less attractive proposition.

I am a part owner of a small building with space in the basement that is only used for storage at the moment. Between now and my retirement, I intend to set that up as a shop. There is more than enough space and it's walking distance from home.


That's my plan as well, though the basement is in my house. ;-) The
only time I have is vacation, really. Fortunately, my employer has a
really good PTO benefit (but not _that_ good). I'm ready now but I
have about a year-and-a-half to go until I can convince SWMBO. ;-)
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Default Cutting a curve with router and trammel

On Sun, 28 Apr 2019 17:25:16 -0700 (PDT), Greg Guarino
wrote:

On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 4:53:56 PM UTC-4, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 4:26:26 PM UTC-4, Greg Guarino wrote:
A while back I asked for advice here about routing with a trammel setup. I finally got around to doing it and I'm pleased to say it worked out very smoothly.

My goal was an arc that was 35" wide and had a rise at the midpoint of 4.5". SketchUp made this child's play to figure out. Simply drawing the curve and right-clicking on it got me the radius (36-9/32") with no calculations.

But then I had to implement it, of course. That went well also. I made marks on my 1x12 oak 35" apart and a mark 4.5" inches in from the edge at the center of what would be the arc. I then turned the trammel upside down and measured along the center line 36-9/32" from the edge of the router bit and marked the spot for the pivot pin.

I intended to use a 10 penny nail for the pin, but it fit just slightly loosely in the hole I drilled. This probably would have made almost no difference, but I found another item that fit the hole perfectly - the drill bit itself. The smooth shank, of course.

I made 5 or six passes, using the stepped dial on my plunge router to set the depth for each pass. In the end, the curve passed exactly through the marks I had made originally. Success!

Thanks to all who offered advice.

Greg


Nice job and thanks for the video.

I added one of these to my router and it sure does help. Of course, you
need to layout where the hose will go, especially on a long rout like
yours. It sucks (no pun intended) when the hose gets caught mid-rout.

https://www.oneida-air.com/contractor-tools/router-hood


That looks pretty interesting. Not expensive either.

I hate when cables and such get snagged. I have a ceiling-mounted rack that holds lumber, tubing and the like. At some point I put some hooks on the bottom of it. I use those to hang lights and also to hang power cords for the tool I am using. It keeps it up and out of the way. I make sure there's just enough slack to allow the required movement.

I think I may have "discovered" that idea when I was making a bookshelf unit some years back. It made the sanding so much easier.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gdguar...7632376881493/


This system is pretty slick.

https://www.rockler.com/4-tracks-for-rockler-ceiling-track-system
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