# Shop Fox D3118 Router Inlay Kit



## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I have one of these and I have not had very good luck with it. Maybe I'm not doing something right.

It's pretty easy to cut our the hole that you will place the inlay into. However, when trying to cut the inlay, I have a lot of trouble controlling the router to give me a clean, accurate cut.

I've essentially given up.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

No idea who made mine but all the inlay projects I've posted here were made with one of these. The tricky part is that one piece, field or inlay is protected by the pattern and the other is not. This second one should be the less critical if you can arrange it that way. They have limitations like tight inside corners, but for what they are and what they cost you can do a lot with them. I did a blog on my somewhat unconventional method of using them.
http://lumberjocks.com/shipwright/blog/18834


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## woodworkerscott (Sep 12, 2010)

MLCS makes a great one for the money and is reliable, backed with great customer service. Give it a try.


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## Joedcatman (Nov 14, 2009)

Way to go Dez! You just figured it out for me. I've been driving myself nuts trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Thank you - thank you - thank you….


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Rich, One thing to possibly help you when cutting your inlay would be to use a climb cut (clockwise around your template). By doing this, the bushing is more likely to stay pressed up against the template.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

Rance- 
I agree that clockwise is the way to go when routing inside a template or frame. However, this is not a climb cut. A climb cut will pull the router along, and can be dangerous unless you are only removing a tiny amount of wood. The router rules I live by are "counterclockwise end grain first, unless you are inside a frame then clockwise" I find that is an easier way to remember it than left to right.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Well, sortof.  You end up with sortof a climb on the side of the inlay. Important to know with regard to grain direction. But yeah, technically, you are right.


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

I bought mine at HF and it works fine. Looks like the same thing.(fits my T4)The inlay on the boxes in my projects was done with this.


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

Thank you for the review.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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