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Routing grooves in 4x4 wood post
- Thread starter Texas_Signmaker
- Start date
Boudica
I'm here for Educational Purposes
Yah Tex, don't let this be you!
signage
New Member
Tex said right her he would figure the tool into his pricing! Sign making didn't create any wood working terms they use what has been done for century in wood working to make a sign!
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
I appreciate all the advise here. Normally I wouldn't venture into this kind of job because I'd rather just stick to what I know... but it's for a local sign company that uses me a lot so I thought twice about turning it down. I got the router, straight bit and a guide for a hair under $200. I figured in the bid $300 for the tool and bit so it's enough to cover. The router was on sale on Amazon. I'd like to expand my wood working skill so this project will be fine. They want 1/2" MDO sign in those 4x4 posts, and the top two corners of the sign are rounded, so I can use the jig saw for that part....
Notarealsignguy
Arial - it's almost helvetica
Tex, routing a channel is S101. Like asking why your vinyl is shrinking.
gnubler
Active Member
Then he's asking in the right place...
Johnny Best
Active Member
Bosch 12 Amp 2-1/4 HP Plunge and Fixed Base Corded Router Kit with Bonus Guide, Dust Extraction Hood and Adapter 1617EVSPKRA1054 - The Home Depot
The Bosch 1617EVSPK 2.25 HP Plunge and Fixed-Base Router Kit is a versatile kit for a broad range of applications, including precise bit plunging, edge forming, slot cutting, laminate trimming and dovetail
www.homedepot.com
I like Bosch tools over Dewalt.
Johnny Best
Active Member
In 1963 you learned this in Shop Class, but did not use a router but a oblique blade depth hand tool. Also not pressure treated at that time, never heard of that back then. The hand tool worked pretty well.
Tex is a back door signman, looking and learning as he goes. He does not get stressed working 60 hours a week.
Hahahaaaa......... told ya. You're just full of these kinda comments.
bob
It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Use the right tool for the job. Assuming the groove you need to cut is wider than 1/8" then the right tool in this case that would be a dado blade in a table saw. Failing that, a router mounted in a rigid router table. All other methods are stunts. Trying to cut a parallel dado with hand held tools not only is a stunt, it's a real good way to hurt yourself. Note that a blind dado will need to have the blind end finished with a chisel.
No matter how you cut the groove, driving a lag bolt edge-on into plywood is always a crap shoot unless you properly pre-drill the post and sign board. Also tricky unless you have some mechanism to keep the drill centered on the groove and perpendicular to the post. If it were mine to do, I'd drill the posts groove side up with a pilot hole in a drill press. Then insert the sign board into the groove and, using the hole you made on the drill press as a guide, drill the existing pilot hole into the sign board with a hand-held drill. Carefully. Then, in a drill press, re-drill the pilot hold in the post with a clearance hole. Done this way the whole thing should fit together perfectly.
No matter how you cut the groove, driving a lag bolt edge-on into plywood is always a crap shoot unless you properly pre-drill the post and sign board. Also tricky unless you have some mechanism to keep the drill centered on the groove and perpendicular to the post. If it were mine to do, I'd drill the posts groove side up with a pilot hole in a drill press. Then insert the sign board into the groove and, using the hole you made on the drill press as a guide, drill the existing pilot hole into the sign board with a hand-held drill. Carefully. Then, in a drill press, re-drill the pilot hold in the post with a clearance hole. Done this way the whole thing should fit together perfectly.
Moze
Active Member
omg....a router with an edge guide and a double fluted straight bit and you'll be done in 10 minutes. There's more than one 'right tool for the job'. That's the entire purpose of a straight bit. - to cut grooves. Gino described the process perfectly. You don't need a table saw and dado blade lol.
rjssigns
Active Member
Yup, router all the way. I run a Bosch and have had it for years. It's somewhere north of 3hp. As others have said it makes a mess. Somewhere there's a photo of me dadoing posts and I'm literally up to my knees in shavings.
BTW wear a good dust mask and if possible work outside far far away from the shop.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
Got the router in yesterday... Will give it a go today.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Is it a plunge router, so you can set your depth and lock it in ??
Just be careful and practice on an old scab piece first. Your main concern will be to keep the fence/guide right up against the outside of the post. If that varies, you'll have a crooked rout. Once the rout takes shape, it's not easy to get a new groove going..................
Just be careful and practice on an old scab piece first. Your main concern will be to keep the fence/guide right up against the outside of the post. If that varies, you'll have a crooked rout. Once the rout takes shape, it's not easy to get a new groove going..................
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
I don't know about plunge, but the depth is fixed and I can adjust it by turning the dial or collar.
MikePatterson
Head bathroom cleaner.
A plunge router has a spring loaded shoe aka base.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
No mine does not have that.
MikePatterson
Head bathroom cleaner.
just set the depth short and ease it in using the fence to stabilize the cut. Then you can drop it full depth and make another pass.