hey, in this episode i’ll build a router jig to flatten wood, so if you don't have a planer like me this can be a great solution! let's getstarted! i started by cutting a piece of plywood to 60 by 40 cm to match the size of the aluminium tubings.
routers woodworking basic, this 6 mm plexiglass acrylic has 50 cm so the maximum width that it can cross side to side over the rails is 24.5 centimeters. i'm marking the holes for some bolts that will attach
the rails to the plywood base. the holes were transferred to the plywood, making sure everything was nice and square. i recessed the holes for the heads and attached the bolts with washers and nuts. to prevent the plexiglass from flexing, i attached some aluminium corner. it was cut to size and the ends were filed to remove the burrs. i put it all together just to check. the assembly was made with sixteen bolts and marked the points to drill. i filed the left burrs and gave all the pieces a light sanding to remove scratches
and give it a nicer smooth and matt finish. you don’t need to sand, it’s just for the sake of appearence. the holes were marked in the plexiglass. the drill bit has a smaller diameter than the bolt so you can cut threads in the plexiglass. it is crucial to tap the holes really slowly when using a powered driller. i peeled off the sticky paper from both sides and attached everything carefully with a screwdriver to prevent any cracks.
i removed the base plate from my router to transffer the screw holes to the plexiglass. marked the front with a white pencil because the holes are not symetrical. then i found the middle point of the acrylic by the diagonals and checked if all distances were equal. reinforced the lines and traced the diagonals of the router plate. then transferred those four inside points to a piece of paper and connected the dots to find the middle of the router plate. i overlapped the two central points and placed the router plate in alignment
with those four previous marks. here’s the right places for the screw holes. it’s not crucial to get the router absolutely in the middle of the top jig but i like to keep things lined up whenever possible. i drilled and flipped over to countersink so the heads of the screws can sit flush. i gave it a try and noticed some scratching on the plexiglass, so i decided to attach two wood strips with double sided tape to the top of the rails. gave it a light sanding with fine grit sandpaper and put some beeswax paste. i assembled everything and inserted a 2 mm bit to mark the centre of the router in the plexiglass, and as you can see everything is lined properly.
this also serves as a pilot for the forstner bit. you have to drill very slowly and apply some lubricant, otherwide you may crack the plexiglass. and now it’s time for testing! i had to raise up the base because my router bit wouldn’t go all the way down. i attached the board with double sided tape and put some paper shims to stabilize it. don’t forget to use a respirator, glasses and ear plugs when working with power tools and air dust! the surface is a bit rough because my bit it’s not in good shape and soft pine tends to chip a bit but the board is dead flat!
now you can flip over and router the other side. if you have any questions feel free to leave them on the comments below and thanks for watching.
