Router ?'s - Slot-cutting, Countersinking, etc.

[mkdevo]

hello all,

well, i finally started working on my cabinet (control panel) last weekend! this weekend i'm looking to rent a router, and i have a couple questions:

- i'm using 3/4" MDF and competition joysticks. should i countersink?

- also, players 1 & 2 are going to use Oscar's restrictor plates. will this affect the way i install the sticks? (i don't have joystick mounting plates - do i need them?)

- i'd love for my trackball plate to NOT show on top of the CP. how do i do this? countersink? how?

- slot-cutting for t-molding: while i plan on using the router, i saw someone saying it was easy to do with a circular saw, which i already have. is it easy? and how exactly do you do it? wondering because apparently it's tough to find the slot-cutter router bit locally?

- lastly, what kind of router and accessories do i need to get to do all this? plunge router? router table? what?

sorry, i'm very new to the world of tools, and i've never used a router before.. below is a pic of what i have so far. i haven't trimmed it down at all yet, so it's not gonna be as deep as it is in the pic, but you get the idea.

thanks in advance for the help!

[SirPeale]

You know, I've got my own question.

My father-in-law, who has been working with wood for the last 30 years of his life, adamantly states that there is no such thing as a 1/16" slot cutting bit.  He claims that such a thing would be too small, and would be too flimsy to work.

Now...as I've been hanging out here an awful lot   I've seen too many mentions of this bit to dismiss it, but I just can't ignore the man's skill.  Is he just mistaken, or is there some trick to the bit that I'm unaware of?

[rampy]

You know, I've got my own question.

My father-in-law, who has been working with wood for the last 30 years of his life, adamantly states that there is no such thing as a 1/16" slot cutting bit.  He claims that such a thing would be too small, and would be too flimsy to work.

Now...as I've been hanging out here an awful lot   I've seen too many mentions of this bit to dismiss it, but I just can't ignore the man's skill.  Is he just mistaken, or is there some trick to the bit that I'm unaware of?

Well they have 'em here mlcs woodworking where I got my slot cutting bit...   *shrug* it's where I got mine.

Rampy

EDIT older thread of interest/info

[mkdevo]

You know, I've got my own question.

My father-in-law, who has been working with wood for the last 30 years of his life, adamantly states that there is no such thing as a 1/16" slot cutting bit.  He claims that such a thing would be too small, and would be too flimsy to work.

Now...as I've been hanging out here an awful lot   I've seen too many mentions of this bit to dismiss it, but I just can't ignore the man's skill.  Is he just mistaken, or is there some trick to the bit that I'm unaware of?

yup, that one's in the faq:

http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/a/ab/aman/slotting.htm?L+coastest+dkxv1470ff213621#cart


edit: whoops! rampy beat me to it! *shrug*  

[rampy]

hello all,

- i'd love for my trackball plate to NOT show on top of the CP. how do i do this? countersink? how?
- lastly, what kind of router and accessories do i need to get to do all this? plunge router? router table? what?

sorry, i'm very new to the world of tools, and i've never used a router before.. below is a pic of what i have so far. i haven't trimmed it down at all yet, so it's not gonna be as deep as it is in the pic, but you get the idea.

thanks in advance for the help!

You should/could recess the mounting plate ( I guess you'd need the happs flush mounting plate ) ... you can use the mounting plate to set the depth of the router that you don't have yet. =P  trace the outline of the plate, and set up some guides or freehand carefully...

I wouldn't think you'd *need* a table router... a plunge router is nice, but optional... so hypothetically, depending on how many cabinets/other projects you'll do in the future -> maybe get a ryobi or whatever on sale at HD.  (or rent/borrow one from a friend)

You'll probably spend nearly as much on different bits (16 beans here, 10 bucks there) as the router =P

You'll need to cover the control panel regardless with *something* for that flush look.  What did you plan on doing? Artwork/underlay with Lexan on top?  Laminate (a router is handy for that)? Some of that new fancy vinyl oscar's discovered?  

some of those decisions will factor into your (do i route out joysticks or not) decision.   which is largely a feel thing.  

Good luck!

Rampy

[mkdevo]

ramp -

i have the 3" trackball mounting plate from happs HERE.

i'll definitely be renting the router, as i'm not ready to buy one (yet)... already bought a jigsaw and a sander of my own for this project..

i'll be covering the CP eventually (artwork/lexan), but not right away.

thanks for the tips.. looking forward to more..

[rampy]

ramp -

i have the 3" trackball mounting plate from happs HERE.

i'll definitely be renting the router, as i'm not ready to buy one (yet)... already bought a jigsaw and a sander of my own for this project..

i'll be covering the CP eventually (artwork/lexan), but not right away.

thanks for the tips.. looking forward to more..

that's the flush one.  You can rent from True Value, Ace, or Home Depot... it's around 20 beans a day (24 hours).  You'll still need to buy your own bits though.

I feel your pain on the tool buying.  You may wish you sprung for a circular saw too =P  (cutting straight lines was difficult for me with my 15 dollar walmart single speed junk jig saw)

Good luck!

rampy

Regarding the mounting plate stuff, have you read over all the info at OscarControls re: mounting etc?

[SirPeale]

You know, I've got my own question.

My father-in-law, who has been working with wood for the last 30 years of his life, adamantly states that there is no such thing as a 1/16" slot cutting bit.  He claims that such a thing would be too small, and would be too flimsy to work.

Now...as I've been hanging out here an awful lot   I've seen too many mentions of this bit to dismiss it, but I just can't ignore the man's skill.  Is he just mistaken, or is there some trick to the bit that I'm unaware of?

yup, that one's in the faq:

http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/a/ab/aman/slotting.htm?L+coastest+dkxv1470ff213621#cart


edit: whoops! rampy beat me to it! *shrug*  

Oh, I'm not debating that they exist.  I've seen plenty of posts that declare that they do.  I'm just wondering if there's some trick to them, or is my FIL just uninformed?

[skirge66]

I mounted my trackball flush to the surface of my cp...you will need to route a 1/16" area out where the mounting plate sits.

now Icovered mine with formica so a little slop didn't bother me, because after the laminate was installed you just can't see it.

I do have 1 restrictor plate from oscar I didn't recess this for a couple reasons 1) it is an odd thickness and I did't feel like messing with it. 2) the corner mounting bolts for the plate are raised from the surface slightly, and I wasn't sure how bad it would mess with the laminate. 3) I bought the black dimple textured plate, which goes well with my colors anyhow. 4)I bought a full set of plates to interchange, and it would just be easier to deal with.  I think oscars restrictor plates are great.

bought a 1/16" slot cutting bit, from the same place as rampy linked above...quick service very happy with them. cutting the slot was simple to do, took about 10 min to do the whole cp. As for other router bits all I've used so far are a 3/4" straight cutting bit which I used to route a 1/4" recess on the backside of the cp for my competition sticks and the 1/16" recess on the front side for the trackball and analog flight stick
the only other bit I've used is a laminate bit for trimming the formica.

[HeadRusch]

So the 1/16th bit is the one we're after for cutting t-moulding slots?