Remember a few weeks back I was asking about a template/guide to route a trough along a deck seam so that I could inlay a strip to make the seam tight and nice lookin ?
Dino from http://www.eurekazone.com/ came along and told me about his Smart Router Guide system. I immediatly saw the beauty of this tool and ordered one !
Man! am I glad I did because it made the job so easy and precise, with no problems at all ! So, I’m giving Dino a good plug for his wondeful invention !
Here is the area. You can see where it jogs around the house. I could’ve made-up a guide using some straight edges or whatever, but I knew there had to be a well-thought-out guide somewhere ..
this is all 1×6 ipe.
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so, we went from right to left, and started where the jog was. In pic 47 you can see where we screwed a stop block down to the deck to stop the cut at the correct spot. Dino says he has a stop now that actually attaches to the guide.
Something else is that the router doesn't bump along over the slightly uneven boards near as bad as it would've had I been riding the router directly on the decking.
You know, doing the route was very smooth and safe because we had confidence in the router bit staying exactly on-path. We didn't have to hold the router in a Death Grip either. Very nice tool ! I'm going to find other uses for it I bet.
Edited 4/16/2005 7:36 pm ET by Joe Wood
Here's a long run of decking, maybe 32'. What we did was butt 18s and 14s end to end, and did a route across the seam. Came out pretty nice !
I made a wider route here because my guys had laid down boards with Anchor Seal staining the top surfaces at the board ends (without trimmimg the ends first), and we couldn't remove em well enough, so the route had to cover all the stains. Scraping , then warm water and dish soap got off alot, and sanding got alot more, but you could still see the stains and I didn't want to sand too deep.
Anyway, a big Thumbs Up! for this Guide ! And a Thumbs Up to Dino too. He actually called me twice to make sure I completly understood everything. Best Customer Service I've Ever had when ordering a tool, or practically anything else !
Thanks Dino !
For sawing and cutting this guide is good. I'm not so sure about routing. There's no stops built in for repeatability. There's some slop in the side play. For a deck it may be fine but I don't expect to use it for cabinet making. I'm not sold on its functionality over a straight edge. You can easily shim straight edges to vary the width of the cut. Maybe you can "route your name with it" but if this is a benefit it depends on how often you need to do this. It doesn't have built in repeatability to route your name the same twice.
When the router guide arrived it didn't fit the track. I had to adjust it to make it fit. I expect I'll need to make some modifications to make the fit permanent (like drill in alignment pins) The router guide was recently redesigned so expect some time for the bugs to work out.
Be very cautious if you order this from eurekazone directly that you get is what you ordered. I ordered the entire kit over a month ago and I still don't have all the pieces. I randomly get shipments and have to contact eurekazone to find out where the rest of the order is. Dino may say one thing, and do something entirely different and not let you know why or what is going on. I would suggest going to a trusted retailer that carries this over directly from eurekazone.
I didn't have any of those problems. Everything fit snug and there wasn't any slop anywhere. What I did was to drill some mounting holes thru the top of the track, and screwed it down to the deck every 5' or so.
I'm a real happy customer.
Ripped,
I've gotten quie a few items from Dino including two SmartGuide setups, a SmartTable, and a complete router guide system and never had anything that wasn't flawless. The slop you're referring to I suspect is designed in, as I understand it from my conversations, to prevent binding. I've used my router guide extensively to do some pretty exacting dadoes and it's been dead nuts right on.
Have you addressed your issues to Dino at Eurekazone directly? He's always come through for me, even if it's been a matter of just chit chat to get me through the setup.
PaulB
Edited 4/16/2005 9:53 pm ET by PaulB
Paul.
Ripped case was deferent than yours. And he's "wake up Dno" call is just.
You better send your SRK in. If you think that was good, wait until you use the new one. Is fully adjustable and extendable in any direction.
We just post the new directions.View Image
CONTROL KNOBSA: Control Knob: Use it to control the sliding arm movement. If you need to route flutes, multiple dados, or wide dados, just move the sliding arm in or out. There is no need to move the guide rail.B: Sliding Arm Alignment Knob: for smooth & zero play movement. When Routing perpendicular to the guide rail, you will need a smooth and precise movement.C: Height adjustment Knobs: the EZ smart router kit has to stay level to the work surface and the guide itself. You will see that sometimes, depending on your application, you have to adjust the height of the EZ Smart Router Base. Lower the base when using with the EZ Smart, Raise it when using with the edge guide or circle maker. (Use the top holes on the router base, the two extra bottom holes are for future developments)
Edited 4/16/2005 10:46 pm ET by YCFriend
Ripped.
You right about the whole thing. My mistake was that I try to update the whole product line and send you the latest system. While we're moving the shop.
We post on the site that we will have some delays on some items. And we even stop all shipping until April 21st. Just to make sure we don't have this problems.
The new router system is fully adjustable in any direction. It is design for repeatability. You have few extra holes at the sled for accepting any and all gadgets for your specific needs.
on the new router system that you have you will be able to have unlimited traverse movement-circle making-line drilling-duplicating-and a brake that it will be connected to the sled for build in braking or you can use it as a router stop.
I like your idea (like drill in alignment pins) and we already have few extra holes drill and tap in case you need to do that.
And another thing that you will have with your new router system is micro- adjustments for wider than your router bid dado.
Thanks for your feedback and your support.
YCF Dino
Edited 4/16/2005 10:43 pm ET by YCFriend
ripped.
You may have to take another look at the instructions and don't be afraid to adjust the router. You don't need a pin if you tight the bolts. I rout few hundred dados and I have no problem. If it was any problem it will show up on Joe's deck and in my work. I think the problem is that you're afraid to tight the adjustment screws. The plastic is UHMW. Very strong and you tight against an 1/8" aluminum plate.
Thanks.
YCF Dino
Here's how it turned out. The route didn't wander at all, not a gap anywhere.
We used real tiny screws (plus glue) to hold the inlay down, couldn't countersink them for plugs (inlay's only 5/16" thick) so we filled the tiny holes with sawdust and glue.Used Seasonite to seal this deck. Real pretty ipe, and soon it'll go a beautiful silver.nothing like having the right tool to do a nice job !
It looks nice Joe.
Joe.
Is not the tool here. Tools help but the Art and the craft is all yours my friend.
Nice job.
Bravo.
Hi Joe.
Sorry. i forget some times.
The SRK works with a jointer too.
Here you go. This time go with Bosch.
http://www.eurekazone.org/photos/dinoproducts_1648.JPGhttp://www.eurekazone.org/photos/dinoproducts_1647.JPG
This is the first ever portable guided presEZion jointer.
And is free. Imagine that.
YCF Dino
Joe,
Nice work on that deck. I've also had great results with the EZ jig. Question for you: Maybe this is from my 3 yrs up in New England, but what kind of barrier is going to stop water from getting into the stucco. Here, I have found that the tighter a deck is to the house the more rot I will find when replacing doors. Just a thought. Again beautiful wood working!
Mark
Well MD, the deck's not attached to the house, and the beam alongside the house is an inch off of the walls, so any water drains right away (that scrib's not That tight!).
besides, it never rains in Southern California ..
Excellent, Sir.
Mark
You can see it in these framing images. I try and not attach to the house when I don't Have to.
Thanks Joe. I've become so guarded about water intrusion from the deck ledger trapping it that I typically build the deck independent of the house. Yes, it means more footers but its also some piece of mind. When I do attach it I leave gaps between the bolts so water can pass through and then air will be able to dry the wood out.
I have yet to replace a door off a deck that doesn't show a rotted house ledger, sill and floor joists.
Thanks for the pics. Here's some from last week's mess.
Mark
Well MD, the deck's not attached to the house, and the beam alongside the house is an inch off of the walls, so any water drains right away (that scrib's not That tight!).
That is cool.
Nice job Joe.
You made the EZ look good.
Thanks.