How to make a router plane
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- This topic has 16 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by Doug Finch.
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It’s a nice idea @Clifford, but I think using a Router on wood is the last thing in most peoples minds.
That was 7-pages of comments from Collectors and Investors. They”re not struggling to find a way to make one.I’ll start the bartering, shall I? I know how it goes…
Does it come in it’s Original Box?
Original Receipt?
Signed by the Stanley Bros.? ‘cos I only want a ‘user’.
All ‘Bells and Whistles’? I’ll need the Fence.
How much? £65? For MINT / NEW / UNUSED Vintage-71?
What’s your best price?
I’ll give you £35!I was watching that discussion myself, unable to justify the purchase of a new or used router. I ended up making a router similar to this one, and it works surprisingly well. Not everyone lamenting the price of a tool is an investor–some of us really do want to use them.
“Using a router on wood is the last thing on most people’s minds.”??
What else would you use one on? Maybe I’m misunderstanding you?
Though it does seem that a poor man’s router (much as I don’t care as much for them) is a much easier solution if it is to be a user.
Hi @David,
(I didn’t intend to hijack your thread @Clifford, sorry).I was (somewhat sarcastically) airing my frustration, having spent an inordinate amount of time trying to sell SIX Routers to buyers who mostly weren’t the least bit interested in using them for woodworking. They wanted the prestige of Tool-ownership, Display value, and Financial investment. So learning how to make one, and getting on with the job of routing wood, isn’t their desire.
Of course there are those who’ll want a tool complete (myself included) I understand that, but these ‘buyers’ were declining a mint vintage plane from 1970’s which has never been used because ‘It has some scratches on the knobs’. This explains to some degree these silly prices. It isn’t a Router they’re seeking, it’s the Box, the Label…
The Paul Sellers effect on Routers was fuelled to some degree by his fantastic display of vintage tools. We all drooled at those Preston Routers. He’s trying to address that by going back to basics, but the seed is sown. Try selling a Stanley-Chapman Plane for £1. You can’t.
One Router sells on eBay at £85, the next is listed at £95. There’s no option for finding one elsewhere (as OP @CWhite said) so it sells, at £95. The next starts at £105.
Mine were £55-£65 and I was STILL getting “What’s your best price mate?, I’ll give ya £35 for it”.
Do these look overpriced to you?Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.@dbockel2 I used the poor man’s router for tenons on my workbench legs, but overall, I didn’t get a great finish and found it difficult to use. Most likely user error, but I decided before I cut my recesses I would try to make something a little easier to use. With a veritas iron I was able to make something that worked really well in an afternoon, and the leg recesses in my workbench aprons came out very clean.
4 February 2018 at 7:36 pm #461952I made a router from a lump of oak, using a 6mm Veritas cutter, and after a bit of tweaking of the design it works very well indeed. Next time, I’m going to see if I can add a depth screw — it should be reasonably straightforward I think, if I can find a usable ready-made piece to use as the thumb-nut.
http://fitz-publicdisplays.blogspot.co.nz/2017/11/router-plane-revisited.html
If I can source a piece, I’d like to try making the base plate from a piece of lignum vitae, though in truth that might be a bit of overkill.
5 February 2018 at 11:47 pm #462761Here’s a link to someone selling their homemade router plane on eBay
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F222818692373
For the hardcore traditionalist, here’s how to make a traditional “old woman’s tooth” router:
http://www.cornishworkshop.co.uk/wwrouterplane.html
Dave
7 February 2018 at 12:20 am #463411Here is one made from hard maple. The iron is a Veritas 1/4”. Mortising the blade makes it very rigid. I screwed the two pieces together until everything was working and then glued them together. The dowels were installed to fill the screw holes.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.27 March 2018 at 12:46 pm #510384I made this router plane after getting frustrated with the overpricing of everything I saw on ebay. @alan141, I didn’t think yours were overpriced, but I never saw anything like those while I was in the market.
Mine is made from some scraps of burled walnut and the sole plate is maple (logs I mill myself). The knobs are cherry knobs from I got when I collected wood from some old furniture. I turned them down a bit on my drill press – I don’t have a lathe.
The blade is a Veritas. What you can’t see is that I took a triangle file and cut a 90 deg slot in the back, then epoxied some brass strips in it – to keep the blade squared to the cutting direction. The adjustment is just 1/4-20 all thread, a nut and two washers JB Weld’ed together. I use this thing regularly and am surprised at how well it works.
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