Tennessee Valley Woodworkers
Vol. 17/ Issue 6
June 2002
Editor: Tom Gillard Jr. 
Meeting Notice:
The next meeting of the TN Valley Woodworkers
Will be held, June18th, at 7:00 p.m. in the
Duck River Electric Building, Decherd, TN
All interested woodworkers are invited!
The following people have agreed to serve as contacts for their particular
skills. If you have questions, suggestions
for activities, or other comments relating to these skills, please
call these folks. Their interest is to help the
club better serve their area of expertise. Your participation
with them will help them achieve that goal.
Alice
Berry 454-3815 Design
Phil Bishop
967-4626 Finishing
Tom
Church 967-4460 Turning
Harry May
962-0215 Carving
Bob
Reese 728-7974 Sharpening
Ross Roepke
455-9140 Joinery
Maurice Ryan 962-1555 Health and Safety
President: Bob Leonard
V. President: Doyle McConnell
Secretary: Barbara Keen
Treasurer: Henry Davis
Publicity: Maurice & Ruth Ryan
Newsletter Editor: Tom Gillard Jr.
Coffee County Fair : 3rd week in September
Fall seminar :October time frame
Christmas party: December 6
Templates for Success
A straight router bit can cut out just about any shape you want. All it needs is a little guidance from you.
The first time you use a router, you're delighted to realize that it's capable of doing almost anything you want it to do. Soon after that, you're dismayed to realize that it's also capable of doing what it wants to do, such as veering off course when you try to freehand it along a line.
This is where templates enter the picture. You can turn a humble piece of hardboard into a template, or pattern, for a decorative design, structural part, geometric feature, or any other shape.
As you make the template, you can fuss over the details until they're just right, or toss it and start again. Once you perfect the template, you can use it to produce the same shape, and you can do it countless times.
When you rout a raised shape onto the surface of a project, the grain flows without interruption. That gives you a well-crafted effect that you can't get by cutting out the shape with a scrollsaw and gluing it on.
Template routing comes in handy for all kinds of applications,
such as lettering, inlays, and shaping identical furniture parts. Here,
we'll discuss how to make decorative shapes.
Choose your equipment
Template guide bushings turn your router into a pattern follower.
A guide consists of a round plate that attaches to the router sub-base
and a tube, or bushing, that protrudes below. The cutting end of the bit
projects through the bushing, and the outer rim of the bushing rides along
the edge of the template.
Template guides come in two basic styles, as shown at left. The most
common type screws into place and fits a wide range of router brands and
models. The other clicks neatly into place-but fits only Bosch routers.
In both styles, you can buy several sizes of bushings to correspond with
router bits of various diameters.
Woodcraft (800/225-1153) carries a threaded brass set, part number
127110, with seven guides for $32.50 and a threaded, steel set from Porter-Cable,
part number 04F52, also with seven guides for $39.99.
A seven-piece set of Bosch "Clic" template guides, part number
RA1125, is available for $29.99. Call Highland Hardware at 800/241-6748.
The set includes an adapter that allows you to put threaded guides on Bosch
routers, too.
A plunge router does a great job in template work, and becomes especially valuable when you want to save both the "positive" shape that you cut out and the "negative" shape that's left behind. We'll return to that concept in a minute.
The plunge design allows you to start and stop each cut vertically. With a fixed-base router, you're almost certain to create a slight imperfection as you pivot the bit into place.
Make your preparations
In most cases, 1/4" tempered hardboard makes the best choice
for template material. It's inexpensive and easy to work with.
How are you going to draw the shape you want? If you're not too handy with a pencil, you can find lots of useful samples from scrollsaw pattern books and kids' coloring books. Print out the shape, trace it, or copy it on a photocopying machine. Doing this enables you to enlarge or reduce it. Remember that the diameter of the template bushing limits your ability to rout into narrow slots and sharp inside curves. You might have to modify the shape slightly.
Affix this pattern to your template material with spray adhesive. Cut around it with a scrollsaw. To make usable positive and negative pieces, drill a 1/16" hole on the pattern line, thread your scrollsaw blade through, and begin to cut, as shown in the photo at left. You'll have a positive template that you can use to make a raised shape, and a negative one that's suitable for making a recessed version of that same shape. After completing the cut, remember to file or sand smooth the tiny dent left by the starter hole.
If you don't have a scrollsaw, take great care with a handheld jigsaw, and finish up with a coping saw if necessary. Carefully clean up any rough spots with files and sandpaper to guarantee a smooth finished product.
Now, cut it out
A rubber or foam pad will hold your workpiece in place on your
benchtop while you rout. Stick the template on the workpiece with a few
dabs of hot-melt glue. If you're going to rout all the way through the
workpiece, attach it to a backer board with hot-melt glue.
Use a straight or spiral upcut bit with the same cutting diameter
as the bushing to produce a piece nearly the same size as the template.
Or, try a V-groove bit to create a carved look. Set your bit to the desired
depth, and rout counterclockwise around a positive-image template, or clockwise
around the inside of a negative-image template. Make sure to
keep the bushing pressed firmly against your template at all times.
To make a recessed shape, use the arrangement shown here. If you want
the shape to stand proud of the surface, go with the set-up shown in the
photo at left. Once you're done routing, pop the template off the workpiece
with a chisel. “’WOOD’
On-line”
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WOODWORKING EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
12 in. Drill Press
10 in. Table Saw
Wood Shaper with 14 cutters
12 in. Bandsaw
6 in.x 48 in. Belt/Disc Sander
All the above equipment is Craftsman.
Also a Central Machinery 8 in. Grinder.
For details contact Henry Davis
@ 393-3191
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PICNIC
Come out and join us for an afternoon of fun, food and fellowship on
Saturday June 22nd. 5:00pm Please bring one of your favorite foods
to share with everyone. If you want to make something to be included
in the auction, please bring that, too. Benny's woodworking is going
to have a presence at the picnic, too. This means you should bring
plenty of money to spend. Bring a lawn chair just in case and
pray for cooler weather.
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SHOW AND TELL:
Crocia Roberson: Sample of different types of wood from Costa Rica
Loyd Ackerman brought in 3 jewelry boxes of different sizes that he
built. He said he was inspired by an article in American Woodwork
and made his first one 4/5 of the size the article showed.
John Mayberry brought in a very old table that was refinished
at the last seminar. It was cherry wood and they used tar and mineral
spirits to dye it and Shellac for the finish.
Ken Miller brought in a dining room chair that he built and said the
various angles were a big challenge. It was made of cherry.
Harold Hewgley displayed a bowl turned out of Paulownia.
Tom Church brought a bowl he had bought that was turned and wood burned.
He also showed a large cherry bowl he had turned from a tree that had a
big lump on it and he used this lump for the bowl.
Mary Ellen Lindsay carved a tweety bird sign out of basswood. She also
carved a picture of a man and a dog from New Hampshire Popular.
Ken Gould made an electronic Hawaiian guitar to exchange for a man
making him a forge. It had inlaid frets. It was made from cherry
from John Green’s basement and Maple and Indian rosewood.
Jim Van Cleave showed a jewelry box with a figured cherry top and walnut
framing. He also carved a design on the front of the box.
Ray Luster brought in a relief carving of a bear and surroundings,
2 carved guns stocks and a carved picture of Martin Luther King with the
“I have a Dream” carved on the side of it. It was done in Popular.
Phil Bishop brought in pictures of an antique for which he is building
the bottom and a 4-poster bed that he is making a canopy.
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May Meeting guests:
Raymond Luster, Tullahoma
George Harris, Winchester
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OLD BUSINESS: Last month the bylaws and constitution changes were read
and they are now ready to be voted on. The vote was taken and
the new bylaws and constitution are now in effect.
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will be held at Dean and Andy's shop on October 19. Ken Gould has agreed to serve as Chairman, with Bob Lowrance and Steve Shores as Committee Members. The presenters will come from the membership.
NAME TAGS
The subject of name tags came up at the last meeting. Our name tags were made by K&S TROPHIES , 510 Country Club Drive , Tullahoma. They were about $5.00 including tax the last time we checked. When in Tullahoma you can go by and have one made. The tags are 1" x 3" with white letters on a blue background. Just tell the folks that you want a Tennessee Valley Woodworkers name tag. If you are never in Tullahoma, Henry Davis will be happy to take care of it for you, see him at the meeting or give him a call at 393 - 3191.
To show our appreciation to our loyal and faithful members your Executive
Committee has again this year decided to give a prize to one lucky member.
To be eligible to win the lathe just sign the drawing register at each
regular club meeting that you attend between now and December. That means
that if you attended the January meeting and attend every meeting from
now through November your name will be in the drawing 11 times.
WEB SITES of INTEREST
Scott Phillips Video Help sessions
Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft
Appalachain Center for the Arts
Forest Products Lab. 1999 Wood Handbook
Saw Blade Sharpening Services: Branching Out is now offering their
services as a drop off spot to have your saw blades sharpened. The
blades will be picked up (Tuesdays), sharpened, and dropped back off at
Branching Out. The Leitz Tooling Systems out of Collierville, TN
will do the sharpening. Call (393-0525) or stop by for details.
10 % OFF Fine Woodworking
Books from Taunton Press
…We’re open Monday thru Saturday
Webmaster:
Tom Gillard Jr.
