>

> Over and under router table? Sounds like a shotgun, and maybe
> more dangerous. It is bad enough if your wood binds when feeding it
> past one set of cutters at a time. Consider carefully, and then consider
> again what might happen if the wood gets snagged by one router, and
> is then forced into the other router. It can only come out in either
> of two directions -- away from you or back at you. Murphy's law says
> it will come directly at you, and with great force. (How strong are
> those router motors?)

> You suggested setting the guides a bit tight. It sounds like
> a prescription for disaster.

> I'm sure the idea of cutting both edges at once sounded appealing
> at first. There are commercial milling machines that do stuff like
> this. I've seen them.

> But when I started thinking about how to build a SAFE jig for
> doing it, I realized there were more safety problems than I wanted
> to solve.

> One of the joys of strip building is the ease and safety in which
> it can be is done. After all, you are working with little pieces of
> wood and staples. Risking injury should not be a part of the picture.
> Safety should come first, last and always.

> Besides, there are other ways, and better ones, to solve the
> problem.

> Simplest solution here is to forget power tools and use paint
> instead of varnish. If you still insist on a natural wood finish,
> read on.

> O.K. now, if the problem is getting the strips to match from
> side to side, then what you want to do layout your strips in the order
> you want to apply them, ahead of time. You don't need to match more
> than 5 or 6 strips at a time, and that is pretty easy to do. Hang
> three or four strips on one side and take a break while the glue dries.
> The strips typically will overhang the ends ( both bow and stern).
>

> The overlap is what keeps you from doing a strip on the left
> side, and then a matching strip on the right. you would have to trim
> each strip before the glue sets -- a messy job. So you do a few on
> one side, wait for the glue to set, and then saw off the overhanging
> part of your strip. With that waste out of the way you can hang the
> strips on the other side. Here is where you want to make sure that
> the width of the strips on the left side matches the width of the
> strips on the right side. If the three on the left match the three
> on the right, go match up another batch of 6 or 8 strips, and apply
> half of them to one side of the boat. By switching back and forth
> between the two sides you build up the strips evenly. If one side
> should start to get ahead of the other, you can see it quickly, and
> correct this by using a slightly narrower strip on the high side.
> The next course of strips should then end up even.

> In a really awful scenario, let's say your strips taper. That
> is, lets assume you have cut them from a plank that was 1 inch thick
> at the north end, but only 1/2 inch thick at the south end. (Don't
> worry the salesman said, it averages 3/4 inches thick).

> Now let's make it pretty: As you rip your strips from this awful
> material keep them in order, or at least in the same direction. Then
> take pairs of strips and flip one end for end (the end that was poiting
> south now points north.) You will now have a pair of strips for the
> left side that will line up nicely with the pair of strips on the
> right side.

> If your problem is not quite so dramatic, you can also opt for
> running your strips through your saw again. If they vary in width
> (over their length), just rip them into narrower strips. There is
> nothing magical about strips being a certain width. If you use narrow
> ones you just use a few more. Actually, narrow ones may be easier
> to bend and fit. Now, with a SINGLE router, you can do much the same
> thing, if you set the fence right, and feed the stock properly. Most
> router fences would probably be set so that they were near the cutting
> blade. In this setup, the wood would be pushed against the infeed
> fence, and slid across the table. The outfeed fence would be adjusted
> to support the wood after it had passed the cutter. The fence is typically
> in two pieces so that infeed and outfeed sides can be spaced properly.
> Well, you can do things more simply. Clamp a straightedge to your
> router table somewhere around 3/4 inch from the router blade. (You
> can adjust this, of course, to whatever you want, depending on the
> width you want your strips to be.)

> When you slide your strips along this new, home made, fence you
> will automatically cut a bead (or flute, or cove) and at the same
> time the router will remove excess stock, so after the first pass
> you'll have one finished edge, and all your strips will be the same
> width. In this setup, if you ran the strip through a dozen times,
> they would end up just as thick as they were after a single pass.
> By using the `back` or uncut edge as your guide, you are having your
> router work like a surface planer.

> After the first edge is shaped, set your split fence up the way
> it should be.

> Something I haven't tried, but I am thinking of, is to not rout
> (shape) the second edge until just before I am going to insert the
> strip. Then, if the strip has to taper a bit, I can use my hand plane
> to get it close to size, and then feed the whole thing through the
> router, cutting a nice cove shape on it to match the existing bead
> shape on the strip that is already placed. If it is still too fat
> to fit, I'll just run it past the router again and take off a bit
> more material. By cutting material on the side that is against the
> fence, now, I am using the router like I would use a jointer/planer.
> If I run the strip through a dozen times I'll have a long toothpick.
>

> I hope I've explained this well. I should probably have drawn
> lots of pictures, but....

> Best of luck and stay safe. Paul Jacobson

>

//////////////////////////////// OK... more explanation is in order. The "over and under" reference was my way of describing how the two routers are mounted to the table. I had the same concern about two routers "fighting" each other for directional control, until Pete Ford set me straight. If you go to the Strip Builders BBS at http://www.by-the-sea.com/newfound/wwwboard/wwwboard.html you will see several references to this type of table, and Pete has a web site with pictures.

The first router is mounted UNDER the table in the conventional manner and cuts the the bead in the normal way using a regular fence. After passing the first cutter, the strip encounters the second fence which is adjusted *very accurately* (sorry, "tight" is my Limey jargon for the same word) to pick up on the bead edge, just ahead of the flute cutter which is running in a router mounted ABOVE the table. This way, both cutters are running correctly oriented against the strip as it is fed in. (You asked about the routers... one is a tired old old Sears 1 3/4 HP, the other is a new Porter Cable 1 1/2 Hp.) I created an adjustment for the position of the second cutter which allowed me to set the width of the strips at the thinest cross section of the original boards.

I AM very concerned with safety, and probably should have stressed that more in my first response. I don't use feather boards ever since I launced a piece of oak through the water heater in my garage (busting several "feathers"). Instaed, for several years, I have used those hard rubber wheels mounted on "one-way" bearings. I don't remember the real name of the things, but they are made by Western Commercial Products of Tulare, CA. They are still in the catalogues. Once you mount them to a dummy fence, you can set them up and adjust tension in seconds.

I've beaded and *fluted* a whole bunch of perfectly dimensioned (23/32" width) yellow and red cedar, and white ash strips for my "Expedition" with no scary moments.

Now, if I can just get the last couple of coats of varnish on the Chesapeake 17, I can start putting the strongback together....

Happy paddlin'

PS. In a former life, I used to set up the fixtures on those oily old milling machines.