# Looking for advice on finishing this routing jig.



## Schoffleine (Jun 7, 2010)

I need to plane a piece of wood, but don't have a planer. Figured my router could do it and, low and behold, others had the same idea. However, most everyone's worked in 2 dimensions since they all had plunge routers. I'm working with an old Stanley router that doesn't plunge, so I have to adjust the jig itself to accommodate various thicknesses of boards. This is what I came up with so far:










The rods will be threaded and the rails are just going to be a block of wood sandwiched between two runners (other blocks of wood) with a traditional router base stuck between two blocks of wood with a groove cut out.

What I'm hung on is the adjusting in the third dimension. My idea so far is those little star things underneath the upper support. There'd be four of them, and I'd adjust them individually for my various heights and use a built in level to know if it was level or not. I figured for the star things I'd just use a nut, cut out a star shape with a hexagonal hole in the middle, and epoxy the nut in the middle. The thing I'm concerned with, and what I can't figure out on my own, is how to prevent slippage of the nut? I don't know a lot about nuts, washers, and how they all interface with one another, so I was hoping for some advice on that front. How can I prevent the star thing (which may as well just be treated as a nut) from slipping along the threaded rod while I'm using the jig? Would I just add another nut (and washer I guess?) on the other side of the support?


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## BigJerryWayne (Aug 23, 2012)

I don't have a planer yet either. These are a couple of things I have been looking at. My router is not a plunge router.

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/61264

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/78118

http://lumberjocks.com/projects/77891


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

Is your concern that the nuts will want to vibrate and slowly move down the threaded rods? Nylock nuts (nuts with a nylon insert) will prevent that.

But, to be frank, I don't get your design at all. The three links that Jerry gives all show variations on this type of surfacer/thicknesser. I have done this myself, but for material that was too large for my planer. In fact, you can do some pretty big stuff with one of those.

Are you, perhaps, trying to design one that is universal, in that it can be adjusted for various thicknesses and sizes? Most of us probably throw one together for a particular project, not bothering to make a universal machine. Oh, a plunge router isn't really necessary, if you make the jig large enough that you can start the router off to the side or end of the material. Of course you'd still have to adjust depth for each pass of the router.

Good luck with this, in any case.


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## Schoffleine (Jun 7, 2010)

> Is your concern that the nuts will want to vibrate and slowly move down the threaded rods?


Yup.



> Are you, perhaps, trying to design one that is universal, in that it can be adjusted for various thicknesses and sizes?


That's the idea. I don't want to have to throw one together each time and work out finding the exact amount of shims needed for each project, and what the router depth needs to be to adjust for whatever scrap I find lying about. I just want to be able to set up the jig and go.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

In that case, nylocks are probably your best bet. Use them in combination with fender washers. But your knob arrangement suggests you want to make adjustments without using a wrench. You can buy various kinds of knobs with threaded inserts, but I'm not familiar with any that incorporate a nylock.

You don't need a lot of friction to prevent the nuts creeping down. I'll give this further thought.


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## Schoffleine (Jun 7, 2010)

Yah I want it to be adjustable without a wrench. Speed and ease of use is the goal of this, so I can't use a thin and thick nut either.

I was thinking a helix washer (or maybe even just a regular washer) would work, or perhaps one of those washers that dig into the wood (I forget their name). There's also that washer type that's flat but has lots of tiny metal parts that bend down as the nut tightens down. I'd try them all but can only find a helical washer and regular washer at Lowes. They have nylock as well but it won't work for what I want unfortunately.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

Another way to make a nut stay is to put 2 nuts together (one is tightened against the other). If one had the handle/knob, the other could just be a nut. In combination like that they are called jamb nuts. But you do need a wrench for the one without the handle. Jamb nuts can be very tight and non-moving, yet move freely as soon as one is loosened from the other..


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

Further thoughts: You can buy "clamping knobs," meaning you don't have to make your own. But I don't recall seeing any greater than 3/8". If your threaded rods are bigger, I guess you'll have to make your own. For a jamb nut, you could use a big wing nut (thereby not needing a wrench), or make your own. I often find wing nuts not providing enough "wing" to be able to torque them much without a tool. So I take a piece of steel bar (1/8" to 1/4" thickness-thicker is better), and drill and tap the hole. I can make the wings as big as I want, for leverage. I clamp the bar in the vise and bend the wings up (or down-depends on perspective) so they clear the thing I'm clamping. You could make both nuts-upper and lower-this way. Cheap, easy, and effective. You can do the same thing by welding a nut to the bar. For a 1/2" threaded rod I'd go to at least 1" wide bar.


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