How hard is this router project?

6 years ago

I want to make these for my daughter, but I have never yet used a router. Ona level 1 to 5, 5 being the hardest how had would these be to make?

I am a beginner woodworker.

I have used miter saw, table saw, jig saw power drill and hand toolsat home for 2 years to make things for home.

I have used a router, jointer and planner, but only in a cabinet door making class.

Thank you!

Featured Answer

rwiegand

6 years ago

Can you find a maker space with a CNC router? That's probably how these were made, and the easiest way to do this. Other than that you'd want to make a template for the router to follow, and use a collar on the router to follow the template, The round holes I'd do on a drill press.

Making the template will be a fair amount of work. I'd drill the ends of the elongaed holes on the drill press than use a jigsaw to cut the straight sides, finishing up with files and rasps to get them straight. They'll need to be oversize of your final holes by the difference between your router bit and collar diameters.

Doable? Yes, certainly. Easy? Not so much. Piece of cake with a CNC router. Watch some youtube videos on template routing. The good news is that once you make the template you can make dozens of the final product.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

Anna Cunningham
Original Author
6 years ago
Yes, that does not sound easy at all. I had no idea..... I will try the round one at home, but I think I am just going to buy the rectangle one.

There is a place in the city with a CNC router, but the trip is long, and I might do it when I have time, just to learn, but cannot do now.

Thank you!
Related Professionals
New Orleans Cabinets & Cabinetry · Westminster Cabinets & Cabinetry · New Braunfels Cabinets & Cabinetry · Lynchburg Cabinets & Cabinetry · New Haven Carpenters · Keene Carpenters · Bridgeport Carpenters · Lancaster Carpenters · Vancouver Home Remodeling · College Station General Contractors · Murrieta General Contractors · Sterling General Contractors · La Grande General Contractors · Petersburg Bathroom Remodelers · Bakersfield Bathroom Remodelers
kudzu9
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I've been doing woodworking for over 50 years and have a lot of experience with power tools, including many different routers. I would not attempt that project with any of my routers, and for someone with your level of experience it would be a frustrating disaster, and possibly dangerous. I've tried something like this in the past, and one of the problems, even with a perfect template, is that even the sharpest bits can cause burn marks in the holes. I agree that the only way to go is a CNC router.
Anna Cunningham thanked kudzu9
salex
6 years ago
Agreed on a CNC for these projects. Otherwise you would need to spend a LOT of time on a template and also, ideally, have a plunge router (which I mention only in case you haven't bought a router yet - in which case I'd recommend a small one with both a fixed and a plunge base).
Anna Cunningham thanked salex
toxcrusadr
6 years ago
The second pic can be fairly easily done with a Forstner bit on a drill press.
Anna Cunningham thanked toxcrusadr
Anna Cunningham
Original Author
6 years ago
I am going to attempt it :)
PRO
A.W Carter
6 years ago
This is something we could build with our 3&5 axis CNC Machine.
kudzu9
6 years ago
Anna-

Did you follow through on this project?