This pitiful hand router…
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- This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 7 months ago by Antoni B..
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Hi, I wonder if You could voice your oppinion on what I can do with this humble hand router I got for a bargain.
After cleaning it I found that one “arm” has got a crack. I know that TIG welder would do the job, but I am thinking if I can just superglue it as it is 🙂 Low viscosity cyanoacrylate glue should make its way down to the seam, and there should be enough “meat” to hold everything securely. Good idea or not?
Also, the blade (or tooth) is a DIY job, and it is somewhat soft. I actually tried to harden it, but with no great success. It is possible to purchase matching iron? The shaft is 6 mm in diameter. It is a difficulty in particular, because there is very little clearance under the sole, and the actual tooth “have to” be very shallow.
- This topic was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Antoni B..
19 March 2018 at 11:07 pm #502176Nice looking routeri wouldn’t bother with the super glue it won’t do the trick. Probably safer than tig is silver solder or brazing. Some brazing rods look iron colored. Brazing is lower temperature and has less risk of warping.
http://www.leevalley.com/us/home/Contact.aspxYou could solve the room under the plate and the cracked arm with a wooden sole addition, which is something easier to do. Note Paul has a wooden sole on at least one of his.
As to the iron, sharpen it and see how long it keeps an edge. Even annealed steel will work for a bit.
Veritas has a round shanked bit for their small router.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=57677& It looks like something near 1/4” -6mm
email them and ask. I have found them very responsive. Send them the picture.
http://www.leevalley.com/us/home/Contact.aspx
- This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Larry Geib.
@lorenzojose This is a good idea with Veritas blade. It is also available from dealers in Europe, so it should be easier for me.
Adding a wooden sole… Yes, that’s a point, but I wanted to keep this router for small work, and adding wooden sole seems to me as an “enlargement” of a tool working range.
There is unusually little room for a blade in this plane, about 2mm (>1/8) or so. Is it ok? It could be possible to grind some material underside and make it a bit bigger. And the iron sticking past the sole surface (even in the lowest possible position) caused breaking in one arm, probably.
For silver soldering/brazing… Guys at local store told me that silver solder is not very good for cast iron. Brazing with brass should be much better option (as it is well establish and acceptable way to repair e.g. sculptures and decorative items). But it would require acetylene/propane-oxygen torch, and common “MAPP” torches used for copper pipes would be too weak. And it would be extremely hard to find someone with acetylene torch where I live…
Autoweld/kwikweld?
- This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by Antoni B..
29 May 2018 at 9:50 pm #548262Made my own rise and fall router works perfect…….for the cutter I use an Allen key…..that’s in uk not sure what they are called in other countries…..used hexagonal grub screws
20 June 2018 at 3:03 am #548622What a neat little router! I would use it without trying to repair it. The moment you put heat on it to braze or weld it it will become weaker at that spot. I was told by a welder once that any cast iron that needed to welded had to be heated red hot for a successful weld job. It will take an experienced welder to make the attempt and it may warp with the heat. Either way it’s not broken yet, if it does break then you have no choice but to try and fix it, if you try and repair it first you may never get to even use it.
It appears to be a well executed but poorly designed tool, probably a one-off. My guess is that it’s a piece of what we used to call “government work”–a personal project made in a shop (in this case a foundry) while the boss wasn’t looking.
To get this tool working properly, I think that the best plan would be to add a sub-base either of wood, tempered hardboard, or metal around 3 or 4 mm thick. It wouldn’t have to be any wider or longer than the base of the tool as it is now and could be attached using screws, adhesives or soft solder.
Dave
21 June 2018 at 12:12 pm #548658My router is an old Stanley 71 and it has a broken base. I considered silver soldering it but came to the conclusion that it was just too risky. Cast iron can be very unpredictable. I bought a Veritas cutter for it and found out that is was actually a little too long for the Stanley, so I elected to add a 3/8″ oak base which stabilized the plane and solved the cutter length problem. I also used a little CA glue at the crack. I wouldn’t try that as a standalone fix, but it has worked great with the router attached to the wood base. In the picture, the pencil is pointing at the crack. Hope this helps.
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long time I haven’t done anything with this router. But after that I realized that there’s blacksmith in my nearby. So I took it to his workshop and he just welded the base with powerful welder and a special cast iron rod. Now it works just right, and I used it succesfully in a few tasks 🙂Attachments:
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