Not really a trick router, but a very cool kind of set-up: Because all I used to do was completely mill and prehang and set doors and jambs and if other’s doors had problems I would fixem, A Porter-Cable trimrouter with an offset base set-up with an 1/8″ roundover bit pulled back just a touch from full cut, is the coolest thing to put a “sanded” edge on any board or door edge. And if you have to tune an edge still hanging, after you plane part of it, the router will go almost everywhere without removing that door.
Even the beveled edges on doors this works great, this is the reason the bit is pulled some. The acute angle edge will not be over routed and any other square edge done will have only an “eased” look but still feel sweet to the hand and it holds paint better.
If you pull the bit back just a touch like this it will look “sharp”, but not be. If you are milling a bunch of parts and really want the finish feel, this is the way to go. I have this router in my Porter-Cable door planer box and this ALL it’s used for…..it’s so handy to pull it out and go.
Replies
I like it when people enjoy their work
I like to use a 3/16" pulled back. Gives a little more "round," and isn't as much a PITA to set as a 1/8." Sometimes the base will shift, and you'll get a nice "step" right in the middle. Hasn't happeded with the 3/16."
That won't happen with the off-set base router, it is adjusted with an allen wrench because it's purpose is really for laminates using solid carbides self-pilots or using small bearing bits. This router was setup with the 1/8" soley for the edge easing of doors, which I learned from a very, very experienced guy named Dan....he had everything and I followed most of his examples in many ways.
My router has had this same setup and bit for about 10yrs. and the only time it needs setting is if I renew the bit.....it's a beautiful thing, LOL.
I've got a couple PC lam routers that I use for everything. Gotta find that offset base again....
I used to also have a Bosch triple base kit but it burned in a garage fire, along with the VAST MAJORITY of my other tools, I'm slowly getting things again. That was like losing a child at the time (not really, I know that feeling personally), but when I started to concentrate solely on billionaire door installations, this router stayed setup this way and it still is.......I really believe the 1/8" is the best, Pulled back about a 1/32", just to leave the SLIGHTEST flat. If you do doors the 1/8" is really necessary thing on that acute strike bevel, it will leave the strike/stop door edge with just a bit of an ease off it. The other guy who likes a 3/16" says he likes it and I have just not tried that one, it probably works good adjusted right. They are a very handy thing to be able to just pull out when you want put a human friendly edge on a sharp one.
The reason I chose the offset base is that they stayed flat over those hinge mortises and it gets to the floor or at the jamb along the top if I tuned a door without removing it from the jamb.
For anyone doing door tunes, a hinge-mortising handplane is the handiest thing, too....you can back out the screws on a hinge and tune the depth perfectly without pulling out a chisel.
Edited 2/21/2006 7:34 pm ET by zorrosdens
Zorro,
I've been wanting a mortising plane. Do you have the Lie-Nielsen? I should probably just build one and save the $100 for some tool I can't make myself.
-KitTechnique is proof of your seriousness. - Wallace Stevens
Nice to talk with a fellow San Diegan, I grew up in Cardiff-by-the-Sea. Been in SC since 2000. I'll e-mail you my cell #.....be easier to chat about this plane and the uses and a few tricks to do to it to make it the sweetest thing when you want to pick it up and work it. E-mail coming.
Hey Zorro,
I'll give you a call this weekend...
-KitTechnique is proof of your seriousness. - Wallace Stevens
Sounds good, Kit.