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I
am back at the table and and starting to assemble the orange plastic parallelogram. This
little device will help in planning and locating multiple tails on any width boards.
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The assembly really goes
pretty easily once I realize my big hands and clumsy fingers can really hold the little
orange plastic rivets - and there was one extra, just in case you loose one (…Moi??)
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A
small wood screw fastens the parallelogram into place on the wood wall plate. I am getting
closer to making some cuts.
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It is
time to work on mounting the router. I am using my favorite plunge router — the
Hitachi M12V. I have never used it outside a router table, so this will be a new
experience for me.
I have installed another WoodRat product, the Plunge Bar. It is easy to
install and is recommended by the WoodRat people since it allows one-handed plunging,
leaving the other hand free to work the WoodRat.
It takes a bit of getting use to and gets in the way when changing bits, but
I think it will be a good add. Otherwise, it can come off in a
snap.
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It is time to
mount the router to the base plate. The arrows point to two locator holes in the plate.
These are reference marks for the E/W axis. I have used the Hitachi's base plate to align
the router base to these two holes. You can see the faint circle I have drawn as the
inside diameter of the base plate.
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With the Hitachi's base
plate correctly positioned, I mark the four holes for the mounting screws.
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I size the drill by the holes in the Hitachi's base plate and carefully
drill the four holes.
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I have flipped the base
over so that I can countersink the holes. I carefully countersink each hole checking it
frequently with a machine screw. I want the head to be just under the surface. I do not
want to countersink any more than I have to — it will only weaken the installation.
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I made a
special trip to the hardware store for M5 machine screws that were shorter than the ones I
had. The original screws were just a bit too long for the thin base plate.
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In my hand, I have the
turret device for stepping the Hitachi's plunge mechanism. The WoodRat instructions
suggest this be removed, so I did so — but not before I tried to work around it. That
is near impossible, so into the parts box it goes.
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I had a couple of dust
collector ports and decided to mount this one. I will be moving the shop in a month or
two. By that time I should have a good handle on this machine — and probably
will mount a real dust collector connection (maybe into the stud wall.) The WoodRat video
shows the piping they use. It is square tubing that I am not familiar with but will check
it out. It does make for a very clean looking installation.
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Well, what do
you think? This is my WoodRat installation ready to make its first joint — but that
is going to be tomorrow. The arrow points to the thermometer which was registering 80o
plus — I make mistakes at that temperature, so tomorrow it is.
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