Greetings everyone. I’m currently building a 10" longboard that has a 1/2" T-band stringer (just two pieces of 1/4" basswood glued together–no foam in between) and I’m basically ready to install the fin box. Given the width of the stringer, I’m a little concerned about the router jumping around on me… I’ve seen people drill holes along the stringer prior to routing to make it a little easier–I’m cool with doing that, but figured I would open the discussion up to you guys and see if there were any other recommendations. Cheers!
Routers are actually made for working on wood. The key is to work gradually, don’t set your router at full depth and jam it into the stringer like you could with raw foam. Start with shallow passes, and ease into the stringer, working your way down with progressively deeper cuts.
Big plunge routers work best for setting fin boxes in a stringer. You don’t have to keep adjusting the depth. I’m using a laminate router now and I have to make pass, stop add a little cutting depth, then take another pass then do it again until I get to the proper depth.
A big plunge router with a base plate jig is so fast compared to using a small laminate router.
I set my full depth and then leave the router loose in the base so it slides. I use my hand as a clamp so it’s rapid adjust and no need to keep stopping and starting.
That’s the best method with a plunge router on a stringer. Don’t lock it. Just use your hand/grip to hold the router at depth on the first pass. Loosen up a bit and let the depth go deeper at each pass.
