thought i’d share with you all how i get killer glue lines on my balsa skins…
it is pretty easy to do using a router with a bottom bearing pattern bit.
all my bulk balsa seems to be coming in at just over 4 1/16" wide…
so i rip two pieces of 3/4 ply (i would have used mdf if i had any around) to 3 15/16" wide by about 60" long… these two pieces will act as the guide and rest for the rounter…
next i sandwitch my sheets of balsa between the two pieces of ply and then using a square make sure the top and bottom pieces of ply are in perfect aligment, the balsa will be overhanging a bit on each side so you can trim both sides at once… clamp to my work bench and tirm away…
remove balsa and crosscut on my chop saw…
the photos will explain better then i can…
you’ll be amazed at how much easier glueing up the sheets is… if i get a piece that is super bent or has a really wrecked edge i just hang it over on one side so that i get one good edge, useful for the outter pieces on the glue up…
Thats a great idea! There’s no way I can mess that up. I’ve found getting really clean edges to be very difficult (but not anymore!) Thanks for sharing.
That’s exactly how I’ve been cutting the edges on the ply I’ve been using for my boards though I use two pieces of H section aluminium to sandwich the wood between, I’m still getting a slight bow on the edges and I’ve checked the edges of the aluminium for true. Any ideas?
check to be sure that the bit is 90degrees to the base… if it is not that it could be the bit itself or your getting deflection at the tip of the bit… is it a 1/4" shank or 1/2" shank? if it’s the smaller that could be part of the problem, 1/4" shank bits bend like crazy espically during heavy cuts…
awhile back i was building laminate countertops like crazy and i got really into “mirror” cutting… basically your cutting each side of the joint at the same time with opposite sides of the router bit. high stress but makes a perfect joint…
I do mirrir cutting with my 110"x1/32" joewoodworker fancy veneer and his japanese veneer knife just like he shows on his website. It doesn’t work so hot all the time if you are right on to the straight edge
maybe a baby circular with an appropriate blad emight work better up against the straight edge.
I like your router jig idea though…
do’em all at the same time…
no wonder you don’t have any gaps…
How about your rail technique though?
I’m sure I’m not the only one interested in making that an easier process…
the router i’m using is a 1/2" shank, bearing guided flush trim bit. I think it must be that the whole jig thing bends slightly as I reach the middle part, with the pressure from pushing the router along.I’ll try screwing the bottom half of the jig to my table next time rather than just clamping it, see if that cures it.
thanks for the tip…i had something similar in mind for a while and finally got around to trying it…got mixed imperfect results…so my bro looks at the rig and suggests i use the router base as my guide against a straight edge…but my std router base was too large so i bought a trim router (been eyeballin them for a while anyway) with a small square base…what a difference…now i truly have straight, parallel and square boards…
pic of basic setup is attached…clamps removed for clarity…the metal straight edge (48") is also used to clamp down the sheets…im sure the router base can be modified via custom attachment to simplify the setup a bit but its good for now…just another way of skinning a cat…
Yeah, aren’t those little laminate trimmers handy little guys though. And they work really nice with any 1/4" shank bit, roundover bits, etc.
As a bonus, if you were making yourself a small-scale shaping machine or duplicator, I think those would be the way to go. I mean, it’s not like you’re routing deep into teak or something…
