For those suggesting use of a CNC to speed up production, thanks for the suggestion. A CNC requires much more time and babysitting than most people realize. This entire batch of 20 boards took 45 minutes to go from rough cut lumber to rounded over handle. There’s just no way a consumer CNC could go faster, even if it was previously calibrated and set up. If you disagree, we invite you to try it, film it, hit that upload button, and tag us. We’d love to see it! 😉
I would only use the CNC for the template, that way your template is perfect. Then, process each board like you are, or with improvements to your process based on suggestions. :)
Time to upgrade to a professional grade CNC router table if you want quick, precise repeatability. Speed is the key to profitability. If you can make 500 In a day vs 50 by hand you’re golden. I’ve got a friend who owns a screen printing tee shirt company who just got a 200k machine to manufacture masks and the volume he can produce a day is paying for the machine and netting him a nice profit margin. And he gets quality results. They started with a sewing machine by hand and went from a few masks a week to thousands a day. You just have to be willing to take your business to the next level. Build it, and they will buy.
I was thinking that also. Do the drilling first. And also, I know that the jig is oversized to fit bigger boards later, but you could make a stop block on one side for the edge of the board to align against. It only needs to be at the end of the board not the full length of the jig. So a small 2" block in conjunction with the dowel David mentioned would make setting/aligning the boards in the jig quicker. You can incorporate the stop into the jig itself by making it adjustable.
Here's my 40 plus years of woodworking input. Your template should be perfect from the start. The flaws created by a not perfect template cause the loss of time and lessens the quality of your product. The time it takes to correct your one template will save you. Time is money! Never lower your standard! Tip: You used the bandsaw to freehand a straight line. Use the band saws fence to add in cutting a straight line. A properly aligned fence and properly tensioned band saw blade works perfect every time. Certain woods extract oils from within. End grain will always burn faster than long grain. Slow your speed down on your router. Speed equals heat buildup. Not using a variable speed router, then add an after market speed control unit. Don't slow your feed rate in the corners. Wipe the edge of your boards down with Naptha or Laquer Thinner to remove surface oils prior to routing. I spray my flush trim bits down with a Dry Teflon spray. This helps to reduce friction. All this will help to reduce burns marks but minimizing them is key. Then it's up to the light touch of a spindle sander to deal with those inside corner burn marks that may still happen. I am disappointed that you never took the time to learn how to use software to make your CNC a viable workshop tool. I mastered Vectric's V-Carve software in less than 6 hours. The days of hand making template patterns is behind me and I use the CNC to produce parts for mass production these days. Good luck!
Given the girth of the ultimate spiral pattern bit (which is the whiteside bit they are using) a router that doesn't have adjustable speeds shouldn't even be part of the conversation. :) That thing is almost an inch wide, having it running at the same rpm as a 1/4 inch shank roundover bit is just WAY too fast.
In your video, I could not help noticing that your handle in your template was not straight. I could take my eyes off of it from scene to scene in Hope's the flaw would disappear. I agree with the remarks above. A perfect template equals much better results. In your videos you keep on talking about your quality products. I know that you are striving to increase production by decreasing product build time. I believe that you should devote more time making quality products than reducing your time making so so quality items. Dont get me wrong here. I think you both are doing an excellent job passing on quality information to your followers (that is why I follow you as well). I am just making an observation that as a consumer I would have preferred seeing this item with a straight handle.
You guys have great ideas. Love the videos. I do a lot of router work with templates too. I always have a hard time getting the right distance from the actual size cut on the bandsaw. Just happened to see you use a washer with your pencil marking to keep the distance correct. Pure genius. Every little tip helps. Thanks!
First, I love what you guys are trying to do and think it is awesome you are sharing your process with all of us. The sled is a brilliant idea. Someone else said this also but I just wanted reinforce it. That is a pretty big bit, so play around with the speed of the router a bit. Bigger bits generally work better when they are slowed down, and this could really help with the burning... thus saving some sanding time. Can’t wait to see the final process. Good luck!
A few things, but first... Jigs for the win! But to improve the jig and speed things up: 1) Have a cnc cut out the jig, out of a hardwood or laminate... Will last longer without deformation. 2) a smaller diameter bit for the router will let you skip the rough cut on the bandsaw, spiral up cut to clear out or even a compression bit to give clean edges and reduce sanding. 3) vertical handles on your jig will let you have better/safer control while pushing the thinner bit completely through the material (again without rough cutting) at a speed fast enough to not have any burn. Love your guys' channel!
One way to help reduce burning in the corner is to have a larger radius on the board. The burning can occur when the router bit is spinning but the router is not moving which occurs momentarily in the corner as you transition from the horizontal edge to the vertical edge. Metal CNC machinists never use the same radius cutter as the corner radius to avoid chatter mask (similar to the burning on wood). Hope this helps. Awesome channel!
A couple people already mentioned drilling the hole first and putting a dowel in the template for registration. That would help speed things up, as well as a temporary spacer to make sure the board is straight in the template. I say temporary so you can swap it out based on the size of boards you are making if you do a different size. Also, I would suggest drilling out the corners of the handle. Make a jig for the drill press so that you just flip the board over, drill both holes in the exact right spot, then you don't have to worry about the burning. Ideally, you would use the same drill bit for all 3 holes and make one jig to align everything. Someone else also mentioned using the bandsaw fence to make quick work of your offcuts and making sure your template is perfect. Extra time there, will prevent time on every board after. Just a couple ideas, hopefully, you find something useful! Good Luck!
If you offset the handles, it would add interest to the board (non-symmetrical) and also allow you to nest the handles next to each other on your board reducing waste. Like a yin-yang symbol.
On your drill press, when you drill the hole in the handle is a great place for a template that will hold and register the handle in the same place every time to drill the hole. It will save time and reduce the amount of thinking you need to do while drilling 50 holes in the exact same place.
You two are way smarter about business then most makers - I have been doing this stuff forever, and every time I watch one of your videos I learned three things.
How long does it currently take you to make one board from start to finish? If it were me, I’d use the CNC to cut the boards, and while it is busy with the second batch, work on finishing the first batch. And use the CNC to make finishing templates to make your work easier.
Not sure if this was said already.... but in regards to the “wavy” handle that you mentioned having to take more time to sand.... dont cut it with the bandsaw. If you want a straight line, cut it on the tablesaw. Thats the straightest line you’re ever gonna get. Or you can do what i do more often, use a track saw. I find that the tracksaw is better because your over cut line (due to the blade being round there’s one side of the board with a longer cut) is on the top where you can see it as opposed to on the bottom like with a table saw. Just an idea and how i like to get the straightest lines possible. Good job guys!
Here is my suggestion and it will actually double your routing speed. Make the jig twice as long. Have it setup where two cheese boards are butted end to end. Then modify your clamps to hold down both boards at the same time. Add a board to use instead of the rubber hold down piece. You can do this will the 4 clamps you have by adding a single clamping board on each side. Then you can trim route 2 boards before the need to setup another 2 boards. You need a handheld router for your finishing. Build a basic alignment jig for the final drilling so it is centered on the drill press. Looked like you were eyeing that.
Yknow when people say all that bs about subscribing? Why do they even need to do it when you have the first 20 seconds of this video as a perfect example of why people smash it out of pure joy 🤣😜 what a premise.. excited to see what this channel is about.. instantly 🤣🤣🤣
Don't know if anyone mentioned this or not but you're burning the corner because you're stopping. Make the corner a bigger radius than the router bit, maybe twice. You won't have to stop to make the turn. If you're handle is wavey, cut the template on the table saw instead of the bandsaw. Push it in, pull it back, flip it and do the same. Then cut the radius on the bandsaw with a narrow blade. Just be careful not to cut to far in with the tablesaw. If it's into the curve it will show up. Hope this helps.
Have you tried using your CNC machine to route the handle and drill the hole? You will need to add some registration stops on the CNC spoil board. Depending upon the size of the CNC bed, you could mount multiple boards. As one board is done and routing is being done on another, the finished board can be removed and replaced with another ready for machining.
The line up to drill the hole can be sped up with an alignment jig, stop blocks on either side of the handle. The initial cut of the handle and shoulders can be done with a table saw on a stack of boards, on edge.
Adding a cleat to the clamp board. So you don't have to all ways center , and jig out the drill press using the clamp board . Btw great work. I am currently building a wood shop my self. Yall are great inspiration.
To speed up the bandsaw portion of cutting the handles, would stop blocks and edge guides help? This way you don’t have to worry about cutting too far and the cut lines would be straighter. Maybe do this for the jig as well to get better lines?
Might be worth adding some stop blocks, so that you don’t have to check when you are placing the board on the jig. I’ve got two ideas. 1. Permanent block at the other end of the jig, ensures positioning and repeatable size. 2. Place the jig against a block, the put the board on and butt up to the block. Saves time checking with your hand.
As a fellow woodworker working on starting a business your videos are awesome!! Thank you for sharing!! Also I was wondering where do you you get your boxes made that you put you cutting boards in those are awesome and I have been thinking about doing that with some of my projects. Thank you in advance and I wish you both the best on your business venture!!
Before I read other entries I have a thought/suggestion for you. To cut various handle shapes make the handle part of your jig removable. Shape as many different handles as I wish, each with registration pins to fit into the main jig body & held in place by a flathead countersunk bolt (to clear the router). A generic square handle is OK but there are so many creative shape you can make. What do you think?
Wood resin can build up on your cutting tools, router bits included. This is 1 cause of burn markes. Clean with kerosene or denatured alcohol to remove. Router bit speed also should be adjusted larger diameter bits need slower speeds, smaller bits need higher speeds. When batching out products your bit can get hot from prolonged cutting so either find a way to cool the bit down or let the bit rest, this will make your bit last longer and less likely to burn. Wood to cutting bit surface area changes from outside to inside corners. Low surface area contact on outside corners and high surface area contact on inside corners. More surface area contact means less heat escape and more area for friction heat to build. Before doing inside corners would be the best time to let the router bit cool down. To avoid burning on outside corners reduce your pressure into the bit while cutting the corner. Follow the line leading to the outeside corner extending past the corner is good practice when cutting to make sure you don't dig into your corner and burn, this requires 2 passes to complet the cut. Hope all that helps and was clear to understand.
You could use a Mid sized CNC for adding enhancements to your boards, eg flower profiles in corners, or 3D cheese wedges & 🍞 bread. Will enhance your boards & increase value for nominal cost per board. You could also use a "cove box" bit on fast CNC to hollow recess top face of your boards approx 1/2" from edge, 3/8" deep. Stop foods sliding off & catch crumbs like a plate normally would.
You’d be surprised how much time it will eat up to change the router table from the template bit to the round over at the end. Save yourself the time of changing the bits by having your final round over set up in another small trim router (the Bauer trim router from Harbor Freight is super cheap and plenty capable for this purpose). Let the round over just live in that router as a dedicated tool so you can just grab it and go.
I agree, but maybe not a Bauer ;) A Bosch 1.25 HP mini router is a great little go to for this type of finish detail work, and its not terribly expensive.
I just cut down a BUNCH of time in my business by making a large router table with trim routers mounted into it attached to foot pedals. When efficiency is brought into the picture, changing bits not only takes time, it is an opportunity to slow down/take breaks/get distracted where you should be working.
I would also agree with this comment. The cabinet shop I used to work for had two Bosch colt routers set up dedicated for edge rounding. One had a 1/16" round over bit, the other had a 1/8" round over bit. It's amazing the time savings in having tools set up for one specific task. Grab, use, and back on the shelf for the next project with no slow down in production. We also had this same philosophy with large hand held routers. One had a dedicated flush trim bit for trimming face frames where they joined the visible plywood sides.
My suggestion would be to connect the clamp handles on one side to eachother, so you only need one movement per side to clamp down your work instead of each clamp individually. Love your work and info, I'm learning a lot from this.
Just some comments on what I see: 1) You made some of the boards with a different wood down the middle. That makes a nice touch. Consider doing that for all the boards even when the wood is the same. During the glue-up, the center section could be the exact width and length of the handle with the side boards the length of the board. That way, you save wood and cutting time removing the excess wood. 2) Consider making boards two at a time with the handle piece sticking out from each end. Route the handles before separating the boards, do most of the finishing while still connected, and then cut the boards apart an finish the cut ends. 3) As suggested, make a drill press jig so the the holes in the handles are identically placed. Same for the placement of the brand on the board. A small jig to hold the iron ln position is easily made. 4) Consider making a second router table dedicated to a round-over bit to smooth all the edges and inside the drilled hole. 5) Just because the handle you are proto-typing is common on Pinterest that doesn't make it your handle design. Consider making a special design that distinguishes your boards from all the others. Perhaps wavy finger insets. Your template approach will make it easy to make them all the same. 6) Centering the board in your jig is problematical. Make your jig either adjustable in width to accommodate different board sizes or make a few jigs, one for each size. That way you'll get precise centering every time. 7) Consider making a 'blood groove' on the opposite side of the board so it could be used as a cutting board as well. Another way to differentiate your charcuterie boards from others in the marketplace. Make a template that clamps down to the center of the board with enough vertical clearance to allow a trim router to easily pass under. Think of a folding setup, the center is the support and has some non-slip material on its surface, The left side is a U-shaped piece the flips down to position the template on the board or maybe is the template, the right side is the clamp that swings over and hold the board in place. 8) No matter what material you make the template from, consider soaking the edges with some hardening material such as CA glue to preserve the edge. Even with ball bearing bits, some wear will occur over time.
To eliminate the burning create a second template that is a hair larger. It will burn and Hogg off most of the material. Second pass with original template will eliminate the burn marks and leave smooth finish. Any time I route something tricky like Roman ogee edge I do it in 3 passes. 3 rd pass is super light. Just keep an eye on grain direction. Sometimes a “climb” cut is in order.....cheers!
Hi, First - I really like what you are doing! Second - I love when you talking about integrations and good enough. I have IT development background and I have feeling that way how you develop your process in my world are called - Agile :D You are creating thing what is good for customers, but still seeking for improvements in process and product. You are another example that this approach works not only in IT field! Good luck with sales and cant wait for future videos!
Use screws to hold the board onto the template, and put the screws in areas that will be drilled or cut away. One screw in the handle that will eventually be drilled out would add speed and repeatability.
Oh my goodness you guys you have no idea how much you have helped me. I am currently remodeling a new home and moving from an apartment with a Nov 30th date for move out of the apartment. Everything you are saying maybe for selling a product but also good advice for the situation I'm in also. Needed to hear a lot of what you had to say. My life at the moment is like a cat's in a room full of rocking chairs. lol
Put a fence and a stop on the band saw to cut the waste corner so you don´t have to mark where to cut and can cut faster because is just push until stops and flip it to cut the other side, do it in batches rip cuts first and then the cross cuts, this way you can go closer to the line, remember that the less material you trim with the router process will be faster and cleaner.
Suggestion for your intro. “... through hurricanes for research and build furniture for fun.” Add “and profit” after fun. While y’all demonstrate the “fun”, you are also ultimately building furniture for “profit” based on your business plan.
Your focus here is solely on productivity and that comes with potentially serious risks. I used to have five fingers on my left hand but because I was more focused on productivity than safety I don't have those fingers anymore. When the video shows you on the bandsaw the blade is fully exposed. Accidents never give advance notice. A simple slip or distraction and ... well, you get the picture! Don't sacrifice safety for productivity. An advantage of working with a partner is the ability to look out for each other. Best wishes to you both as you grow your business.
Throw clamps. Been using them for decades. Attached to a master board, with registration stops for both the pattern and the part. Drop the blank into your holder, drop the pattern in on top. or bottom depending upon the bit and follower used,, (fixed follower ie collar,, or ball bearing follower,, either attached to the cutting bit or again the collar. No pencil required once running. Just slip the part and pattern into the jig and throw the throw clamps. Yep, I finished watching and you arrived at the same point. I have produced thousands of parts that way,, and produce 12 specialty parts when required. Gravity works !!
1) Put a stop at the back of the sled, you will have consistent offset overhang for the template routing. 2) connect the clamp handles on each side with a board or some other connection, now you only have two clamping operations rather than four. 3) look into a second routing table so that you don't have to break down your routing setups - you might do the round over with one of the new compact battery powered routers.(but those have dust issues that you might want to consider.) 4) connect the contact pads on the clamps with a board, more contact area, less likely to leave circle imprints 5) figure out where your bottle neck is - if it's the router make multiple sleds so that the time the router time is cutting is increased. (one sled unloaded / loaded while other is in use.) 6) make a bandsaw template, so that you simply cut, flip cut, - better repeatability and probably have both jigs on the bandsaw at one time 7) since you are routing the bandsaw cut surfaces anyway, you could use a more aggressive blade in the bandsaw that would cut faster, since that cut will not exist in the final product 8) jig your drill press so that you don't have to align then drill. With all the jig templates, make sure that you give yourself sawdust relief, so that it doesn't build up. I don't think it would matter for these operations because you aren't interconnecting it with something else, and if one meat board is a smidge smaller than than next the world doesn't end. I take that back, they are interconnecting with the jigs further in the process, so yeah sawdust relief is important. Hope that helps, --Mark
Using a cnc router to cut the handle or entire perimeter. Then you can setup enough fixtures where you change the blank as fast as it cuts. You could also use a shaper and template to cut multiple at once witout the power limitations of a router. May not make sense for a small production run but a shaper would be useful for more projects. Last thing, if the template has a stop pin for depth, the final result would be more consistent.
If you try lowering the RPMs of your router and moving the workpiece through a little faster, you should reduce or eliminate the burn marks. Reducing the speed will create less heat and moving the piece faster will reduce the to the board is in contact with the bit.
Thank you very much, I'm considering starting a woodworking business in Quebec/Canada and this was very inspiring/informative. Did you consider trying to rig a bearing or something similar on a spindle sander? If you can pull this off you should be able to follow the template when sanding which may allow you to speed up this process for the sanding part. I don't have any ideas on how to avoid the sanding (remove burning) so that's the best suggestion I can come up with.
This is a great video. IDK if this has been said but if the cuts on the bandsaw are the same (assuming 3" in from the side and 3" down from the top) you should be able to just set a fence and a maglock switch stop block and just go to town. No need to trace lines.
I noticed that your template is one size fits all with registration lines to make sure the boards are centered. You only make a few different size boards so my suggestion is to make a jig for each size. Add a foot at the bottom of the jigs too. Then you just slap the blank in and go, no wasted time making sure it's perfectly lined up. Add a dowel pin as David Walden suggests and you can probably eliminate the clamps as well. I'm going to try this!
Nice video... here's a few thoughts... 1) Before you cut trace your handle, drill your peg hole. 2) Put a pin (bolt) in the handle tracing fixture. Then use your peg hole to register your stencil for your handle tracing. 3) Putting a pin (bolt) into the routering jig will help register your board when you're trimming the handle on the router. 4) I see your getting some burns on the inside corner of your handles. It means you're being too aggressive or your wood is too thick. You might try pushing in your board towards those inside corners, not taking away all the material. Then when you rout away the inside corners, there'll be very little material and the bit won't have to work so hard. Tit for tat... What video editing software do you use to make your videos? Where do you get your background music stock?
You could make the side boards that the clamps are attached to adjustable. That would permit you to slide the side clamping boards and then tighten those down with some threaded knobs. Then you adjust the distance between the boards so then you can use the same sled for multiple different width cutting boards.
When making boomerang blanks, we use a template that has screws that protrude about 1/8-1/16" through the surface at the corners. This allows you to press the template down onto the blank and it will bite in and hold the piece. Then just use a top bearing router bit. I've even built handles into some of the templates to hold/control better.
An efficiency improvement: Mount the branding iron to the drill press arbor (mount in such a way it doesn't easily rotate) and set a two sided fence to align your boards corner. Then use the drill press handle to pull the iron down to a repeatable location and with a more consistent pressure.
My thoughts, #1)Use the fence and a stop on your bandsaw to remove the bulk without have to trace on each one. #2) Find the optimal speed and feed for your routing operation to avoid burning on the wood and thus prevent more sanding. #3) I would set up a secondary router table, something basic or the router clamped in a vise to do the rounding over. it doesn't have to be fancy or powerful since its only a roundover. #4) Possibly use a high quality brad point bit instead of a forsner bit for the hole. they seem to drill a lot faster and since your going through you don't need a flat bottom hole. you can also add a stop to your jig so you don't have to mark or line up the part.
Great ideas! What about rounding the corners of the handle to match the curve of the router bit so it flows smoothly and decreases burning and sanding.
About 100 boards' worth. We'll address that once we start keeping an inventory of lumber for larger projects. These little boards aren't affected by small acclimation changes.
Every new piece in the jig in and out takes time. Are all of your board the same width? Looking at your jig it takes time to clamp the 4 toggles down. If the side walls of the jig are the same width as the board and you ran a backer wall across the back, you could just hit one toggle clamp to hold it down. Or drill out the jig like a pegboard and use pegs as pins in those holes to make an adjustable set of walls around the work pieces.
Purchase or build a second router table for rounding over the edges. This way your not changing the setup, and two people can be working at the same time. One cutting and one rounding over edges. After all one day, you’ll have multiple employees. Have Jonny Builds make you a steel sled. 😁
Create a negative template to put the template in vertically. Drop the rough cutting board in and it self-aligns thanks to gravity. Close the clamps. Done. Should save time.
U both are awesome. Wife and I lost the garage do to cabinets that get to go into a whole new kitchen remodel. Dragging all the tools to the driveway. Neighbors love me
I am thinking about using your design, but I am going to use a few adjustable miter tracks so I can do different widths of boards and offset handles if I choose to do it. Love the channel, keep it up. You guys are a great inspiration.
The first glaring thing I see that can help with speed is you currently have two sides to your sled, but you don't have a back stop, if you make a longer sled and put a third "side" on the sled, you could just slide the board in and you wouldn't have to worry about checking for alignment on the front where the template portion is.
I agree, you just beat me to it. Having the third side (back or bottom, which ever you'd call it) would instantly align the boards as long as they were all the same size blanks. Nice job J/D!
The only thing I could see going wrong with that is, if the boards were different lengths it wouldn't line up with the handle template. They could use shoulder stops or a piece of plywood with blocks that they could butt the jig against and pop the piece in, but if the bandsaw work is inconsistent that might keep it from lining up correctly.
@@natoe33 that's an interesting point. I think the hard part of doing it this way is that you are also flush trimming the shoulders at the same time. I don't know if the boards are all one size or if they are doing multiple sizes, if it were me and I was doing multiple sizes I'd invest the hour or two to make multiple sleds personally.
If you do your pattern routing before you cut the total width of the board, you'll be able to trim the tearout (if any on the right hand side) without losing the design width. Also if you are getting tearout on the end of the handle, just make the handle rounded.
I noticed you have burn marks on many of your boards after routing out the handles. Sanding burn marks takes lots of time. I wonder if you would save time by making two passes. The first one would take off most of the waste. The second pass would clean up the cut without burning if you moved the sled faster past the bit on the second cut so it wouldn't burn. You'd have no burn marks to sand off. I saw your short intro on what I think might have been a C-130. Thanks for your service, Davis. I am a retired F-15, F-5 USAF pilot and appreciate your video.
Reduce sanding time on the inside cut of the handle by increasing the radius cut from 90 degrees as you're adding too much load and chip out to the bit. You would need to make smaller cut passes multiple times adding more time, or change the radius and you'll notice significantly reduce or eliminated burn marks. To be honest, I use a 2 1/2" diameter Fostner bit to cut my inside cut so I don't have to router them until I do the round over on the top and bottom edge. It's one more step at the drill press, but significant time saving for sanding. It's great you're trying to learn short cuts as you go along. One thing I would like to point out, consumers who understand hand-craft products don't want perfection, those little minor imperfections are what give the product a little character and evidence of being hand-made. Perfection means it came off an assembly line and there are million like it!
Extend your template at the top and bottom to allow you to cut the round over for the corners all at one time. Also, round the handle corners at the same time. That takes two steps down to one.
Use a robo-sanding bit in ur drill press after the router table. Fastest way to repeatedly remove burn marks from an inside radius. Also I know u want to maintain the same quality but is it possible to slim the boards down a bit. Less surface area on the router bit - less heat- less burn.
I know you mentioned the CNC would be slower. Rather than CNCing out the template or the whole board, just finish the handle. If your boards are going to be a standard width/format, you could make some registration marks in a jig that is fixed to the table and only run the program for the handle. This way you could still be cutting out the boards, changing them out and having the cnc do the finishing on them. Heck you could even trace the shape on the spoil board, zero it to the center of the handle, cut the outline, drill press the hole, round over the board and you are done.
The burning on the inside corners of the routing is fundamentally due to changing chip load. While cutting on a straight edge, the router bit is loaded on a small arc,relative to depth of the scallop being cut. On the corner, the load increases to 90+ degree arc of cut. It is the trapped chips being dragged through those 90 of bit radius that is smoking your wood. Solution: increase the radius of inside “corners” on your template to be greater than the bit radius. This way your cutter is making a sweeping turn (albeit tight) rather than stopping to make a hard left.
Make your first pass on the router table, as you are. Then slide the board just a smidge further on the sled and run it again. This'll allow for a nice finishing pass with minimal wood removal, but should remove the burning and leave a nice edge.
Alter your template to have a more gradual, wider radius in the curved corner where the handle meets the board. Your burn marks are due to stopping and changing direction. If you can make that pass more fluid, in one movement, your burn marks will be greatly reduced or eliminated.
Use a CNC to create a “perfect” template with straight lines. You might even have this done fairly inexpensively at a local shop that already has a CNC. You could even incorporate a hole for a registration dowel as suggested in another comment.
Consider losing that external handle and make it an internal one or do away with it all together. Handles like that stick out and cause the board not to be very counter-top friendly, often bumping into things. A simple jig for cutting and rounding the internal/grip handle(s) would work well in speeding your process. Cutting a slight bevel along the bottom edges for esthetics and adding some non-slip rubber/silicone pads/feet. Lastly, don't forget to add various types of woods for different patterns and eye-appeal. You're on your way! Best to you guys in the future!
How about building on your idea...instead of clamping a board onto your template, you add add 3 “sides”. You’d cut your boards to specific size that drops into your template with sides, then only have to rout the handle side.
Notes your comments about the CNC however changing design is a cinch and so quick. You would need to design multiple templates, one for each design so a CNC would give a huge ammonia to of flexibility.
I really like your videos. When you get to a point that you can afford it a CNC router would simplify cutting boards out. I have a Laguna IQ and it works great.
If the boards are all the same dimensions, You don't need the clamps, just make a guide with a close fit. Or 2 o 3 if you handle different sizes. If you do need the clamps and have an air compressor, use a couple of pneumatic clamps. Place the board, press the pedal, route, press pedal, remove board. By the way, if you went CNC, you would still need to do this to hold the board down on the CNC table.
To eliminate the burn, you need to move more smoothly at a pace you'll figure out. The hard corner in your handle is a stop point and will almost always burn. Make your template handle with sweeping curves to eliminate stops at corners. It will eliminate the need to sand out burn and the actual routing will be faster. It will also be a nicer looking handle but the primary benefit will be speed and efficiency.
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For those suggesting use of a CNC to speed up production, thanks for the suggestion.
A CNC requires much more time and babysitting than most people realize. This entire batch of 20 boards took 45 minutes to go from rough cut lumber to rounded over handle.
There’s just no way a consumer CNC could go faster, even if it was previously calibrated and set up. If you disagree, we invite you to try it, film it, hit that upload button, and tag us. We’d love to see it! 😉
I would only use the CNC for the template, that way your template is perfect. Then, process each board like you are, or with improvements to your process based on suggestions. :)
Yes! Gonna make a template template with the laser! Thanks to everyone for the idea
Time to upgrade to a professional grade CNC router table if you want quick, precise repeatability. Speed is the key to profitability. If you can make 500 In a day vs 50 by hand you’re golden.
I’ve got a friend who owns a screen printing tee shirt company who just got a 200k machine to manufacture masks and the volume he can produce a day is paying for the machine and netting him a nice profit margin. And he gets quality results. They started with a sewing machine by hand and went from a few masks a week to thousands a day.
You just have to be willing to take your business to the next level. Build it, and they will buy.
Had a cnc - sold it for exactly the se reasons you stated.
Gotta respect the level you’re on. Can’t go too fast, can’t go too slow.
If you add a dowel/peg to the template the size of the hole your drilling and drill it first you will have a faster registration point each time
I was thinking that also. Do the drilling first. And also, I know that the jig is oversized to fit bigger boards later, but you could make a stop block on one side for the edge of the board to align against. It only needs to be at the end of the board not the full length of the jig. So a small 2" block in conjunction with the dowel David mentioned would make setting/aligning the boards in the jig quicker. You can incorporate the stop into the jig itself by making it adjustable.
Here's my 40 plus years of woodworking input. Your template should be perfect from the start. The flaws created by a not perfect template cause the loss of time and lessens the quality of your product. The time it takes to correct your one template will save you. Time is money! Never lower your standard! Tip: You used the bandsaw to freehand a straight line. Use the band saws fence to add in cutting a straight line. A properly aligned fence and properly tensioned band saw blade works perfect every time. Certain woods extract oils from within. End grain will always burn faster than long grain. Slow your speed down on your router. Speed equals heat buildup. Not using a variable speed router, then add an after market speed control unit. Don't slow your feed rate in the corners. Wipe the edge of your boards down with Naptha or Laquer Thinner to remove surface oils prior to routing. I spray my flush trim bits down with a Dry Teflon spray. This helps to reduce friction. All this will help to reduce burns marks but minimizing them is key. Then it's up to the light touch of a spindle sander to deal with those inside corner burn marks that may still happen. I am disappointed that you never took the time to learn how to use software to make your CNC a viable workshop tool. I mastered Vectric's V-Carve software in less than 6 hours. The days of hand making template patterns is behind me and I use the CNC to produce parts for mass production these days. Good luck!
Given the girth of the ultimate spiral pattern bit (which is the whiteside bit they are using) a router that doesn't have adjustable speeds shouldn't even be part of the conversation. :) That thing is almost an inch wide, having it running at the same rpm as a 1/4 inch shank roundover bit is just WAY too fast.
In your video, I could not help noticing that your handle in your template was not straight. I could take my eyes off of it from scene to scene in Hope's the flaw would disappear. I agree with the remarks above. A perfect template equals much better results. In your videos you keep on talking about your quality products. I know that you are striving to increase production by decreasing product build time. I believe that you should devote more time making quality products than reducing your time making so so quality items. Dont get me wrong here. I think you both are doing an excellent job passing on quality information to your followers (that is why I follow you as well). I am just making an observation that as a consumer I would have preferred seeing this item with a straight handle.
You guys have great ideas. Love the videos. I do a lot of router work with templates too. I always have a hard time getting the right distance from the actual size cut on the bandsaw. Just happened to see you use a washer with your pencil marking to keep the distance correct. Pure genius. Every little tip helps. Thanks!
Increase the radius by your handle, will eliminate the burning and save on sanding. Will also make your bit last longer with less heat build up.
An idea if possible to lower the speed of the router.
@@rnunes350z Yes, lowering spindle speed will do the job - AND make the bit last longer.
Or increase feed rate. The bit is sitting in the area too long. Keep the router speed but push through much faster... Peck into the corners if needed
Reducing router speed will reduce applied torque as well... These bad boys excel at higher speeds
First, I love what you guys are trying to do and think it is awesome you are sharing your process with all of us. The sled is a brilliant idea. Someone else said this also but I just wanted reinforce it. That is a pretty big bit, so play around with the speed of the router a bit. Bigger bits generally work better when they are slowed down, and this could really help with the burning... thus saving some sanding time. Can’t wait to see the final process. Good luck!
A few things, but first... Jigs for the win! But to improve the jig and speed things up:
1) Have a cnc cut out the jig, out of a hardwood or laminate... Will last longer without deformation.
2) a smaller diameter bit for the router will let you skip the rough cut on the bandsaw, spiral up cut to clear out or even a compression bit to give clean edges and reduce sanding.
3) vertical handles on your jig will let you have better/safer control while pushing the thinner bit completely through the material (again without rough cutting) at a speed fast enough to not have any burn.
Love your guys' channel!
One way to help reduce burning in the corner is to have a larger radius on the board. The burning can occur when the router bit is spinning but the router is not moving which occurs momentarily in the corner as you transition from the horizontal edge to the vertical edge. Metal CNC machinists never use the same radius cutter as the corner radius to avoid chatter mask (similar to the burning on wood). Hope this helps. Awesome channel!
A couple people already mentioned drilling the hole first and putting a dowel in the template for registration. That would help speed things up, as well as a temporary spacer to make sure the board is straight in the template. I say temporary so you can swap it out based on the size of boards you are making if you do a different size. Also, I would suggest drilling out the corners of the handle. Make a jig for the drill press so that you just flip the board over, drill both holes in the exact right spot, then you don't have to worry about the burning. Ideally, you would use the same drill bit for all 3 holes and make one jig to align everything. Someone else also mentioned using the bandsaw fence to make quick work of your offcuts and making sure your template is perfect. Extra time there, will prevent time on every board after. Just a couple ideas, hopefully, you find something useful! Good Luck!
If you offset the handles, it would add interest to the board (non-symmetrical) and also allow you to nest the handles next to each other on your board reducing waste. Like a yin-yang symbol.
You nailed it. More interesting handles also would bring more money in. Sosrry to say but this is as simple as it goes
On your drill press, when you drill the hole in the handle is a great place for a template that will hold and register the handle in the same place every time to drill the hole. It will save time and reduce the amount of thinking you need to do while drilling 50 holes in the exact same place.
You two are way smarter about business then most makers - I have been doing this stuff forever, and every time I watch one of your videos I learned three things.
How long does it currently take you to make one board from start to finish? If it were me, I’d use the CNC to cut the boards, and while it is busy with the second batch, work on finishing the first batch. And use the CNC to make finishing templates to make your work easier.
I love the washer trick. I forgot about that. Cool jig. Still rocking the makita track saw?
Not sure if this was said already.... but in regards to the “wavy” handle that you mentioned having to take more time to sand.... dont cut it with the bandsaw. If you want a straight line, cut it on the tablesaw. Thats the straightest line you’re ever gonna get. Or you can do what i do more often, use a track saw. I find that the tracksaw is better because your over cut line (due to the blade being round there’s one side of the board with a longer cut) is on the top where you can see it as opposed to on the bottom like with a table saw. Just an idea and how i like to get the straightest lines possible. Good job guys!
Here is my suggestion and it will actually double your routing speed. Make the jig twice as long. Have it setup where two cheese boards are butted end to end. Then modify your clamps to hold down both boards at the same time. Add a board to use instead of the rubber hold down piece. You can do this will the 4 clamps you have by adding a single clamping board on each side. Then you can trim route 2 boards before the need to setup another 2 boards.
You need a handheld router for your finishing.
Build a basic alignment jig for the final drilling so it is centered on the drill press. Looked like you were eyeing that.
This is how cigarettes are made. The butts are on both ends and are cut as part of a final step.
Great video
Would you happen to have a link for the router table used in this video?
Thanks
Carlos
Yknow when people say all that bs about subscribing?
Why do they even need to do it when you have the first 20 seconds of this video as a perfect example of why people smash it out of pure joy 🤣😜 what a premise.. excited to see what this channel is about.. instantly 🤣🤣🤣
Simple. Just have Jenny smile at you regularly. That'll give anyone a burst of energy
Don't know if anyone mentioned this or not but you're burning the corner because you're stopping. Make the corner a bigger radius than the router bit, maybe twice. You won't have to stop to make the turn. If you're handle is wavey, cut the template on the table saw instead of the bandsaw. Push it in, pull it back, flip it and do the same. Then cut the radius on the bandsaw with a narrow blade. Just be careful not to cut to far in with the tablesaw. If it's into the curve it will show up. Hope this helps.
Have you tried using your CNC machine to route the handle and drill the hole? You will need to add some registration stops on the CNC spoil board. Depending upon the size of the CNC bed, you could mount multiple boards. As one board is done and routing is being done on another, the finished board can be removed and replaced with another ready for machining.
Really like the way you guys work together. Very encouraging content.
I am a drum restoration junkie. Once I was looking for a jig to cut snare beds. This works similar. Great idea. Thanks for posting.
Interesting! Hope it works!
This is exactly what I needed to hear right now. Time to stop improving, and start selling. In the next 12 hours, I will finally be on the market.
try to find a cheap oscillating spindle sander , they do a great job on the edges and the handle. Will help with the burns from the router/shaper
The line up to drill the hole can be sped up with an alignment jig, stop blocks on either side of the handle. The initial cut of the handle and shoulders can be done with a table saw on a stack of boards, on edge.
Adding a cleat to the clamp board. So you don't have to all ways center , and jig out the drill press using the clamp board . Btw great work. I am currently building a wood shop my self. Yall are great inspiration.
To speed up the bandsaw portion of cutting the handles, would stop blocks and edge guides help? This way you don’t have to worry about cutting too far and the cut lines would be straighter. Maybe do this for the jig as well to get better lines?
Might be worth adding some stop blocks, so that you don’t have to check when you are placing the board on the jig. I’ve got two ideas. 1. Permanent block at the other end of the jig, ensures positioning and repeatable size. 2. Place the jig against a block, the put the board on and butt up to the block. Saves time checking with your hand.
As a fellow woodworker working on starting a business your videos are awesome!! Thank you for sharing!! Also I was wondering where do you you get your boxes made that you put you cutting boards in those are awesome and I have been thinking about doing that with some of my projects. Thank you in advance and I wish you both the best on your business venture!!
Before I read other entries I have a thought/suggestion for you. To cut various handle shapes make the handle part of your jig removable. Shape as many different handles as I wish, each with registration pins to fit into the main jig body & held in place by a flathead countersunk bolt (to clear the router). A generic square handle is OK but there are so many creative shape you can make. What do you think?
Wood resin can build up on your cutting tools, router bits included. This is 1 cause of burn markes. Clean with kerosene or denatured alcohol to remove. Router bit speed also should be adjusted larger diameter bits need slower speeds, smaller bits need higher speeds. When batching out products your bit can get hot from prolonged cutting so either find a way to cool the bit down or let the bit rest, this will make your bit last longer and less likely to burn. Wood to cutting bit surface area changes from outside to inside corners. Low surface area contact on outside corners and high surface area contact on inside corners. More surface area contact means less heat escape and more area for friction heat to build. Before doing inside corners would be the best time to let the router bit cool down. To avoid burning on outside corners reduce your pressure into the bit while cutting the corner. Follow the line leading to the outeside corner extending past the corner is good practice when cutting to make sure you don't dig into your corner and burn, this requires 2 passes to complet the cut. Hope all that helps and was clear to understand.
You could use a Mid sized CNC for adding enhancements to your boards, eg flower profiles in corners, or 3D cheese wedges & 🍞 bread. Will enhance your boards & increase value for nominal cost per board.
You could also use a "cove box" bit on fast CNC to hollow recess top face of your boards approx 1/2" from edge, 3/8" deep. Stop foods sliding off & catch crumbs like a plate normally would.
You’d be surprised how much time it will eat up to change the router table from the template bit to the round over at the end. Save yourself the time of changing the bits by having your final round over set up in another small trim router (the Bauer trim router from Harbor Freight is super cheap and plenty capable for this purpose).
Let the round over just live in that router as a dedicated tool so you can just grab it and go.
I agree, but maybe not a Bauer ;)
A Bosch 1.25 HP mini router is a great little go to for this type of finish detail work, and its not terribly expensive.
I just cut down a BUNCH of time in my business by making a large router table with trim routers mounted into it attached to foot pedals. When efficiency is brought into the picture, changing bits not only takes time, it is an opportunity to slow down/take breaks/get distracted where you should be working.
When we have the floor space, multiple routers will definitely be the way forward! Thanks for the suggestion 😊
I would also agree with this comment. The cabinet shop I used to work for had two Bosch colt routers set up dedicated for edge rounding. One had a 1/16" round over bit, the other had a 1/8" round over bit. It's amazing the time savings in having tools set up for one specific task. Grab, use, and back on the shelf for the next project with no slow down in production. We also had this same philosophy with large hand held routers. One had a dedicated flush trim bit for trimming face frames where they joined the visible plywood sides.
My suggestion would be to connect the clamp handles on one side to eachother, so you only need one movement per side to clamp down your work instead of each clamp individually.
Love your work and info, I'm learning a lot from this.
Just some comments on what I see:
1) You made some of the boards with a different wood down the middle. That makes a nice touch. Consider doing that for all the boards even when the wood is the same. During the glue-up, the center section could be the exact width and length of the handle with the side boards the length of the board. That way, you save wood and cutting time removing the excess wood.
2) Consider making boards two at a time with the handle piece sticking out from each end. Route the handles before separating the boards, do most of the finishing while still connected, and then cut the boards apart an finish the cut ends.
3) As suggested, make a drill press jig so the the holes in the handles are identically placed.
Same for the placement of the brand on the board. A small jig to hold the iron ln position is easily made.
4) Consider making a second router table dedicated to a round-over bit to smooth all the edges and inside the drilled hole.
5) Just because the handle you are proto-typing is common on Pinterest that doesn't make it your handle design. Consider making a special design that distinguishes your boards from all the others. Perhaps wavy finger insets. Your template approach will make it easy to make them all the same.
6) Centering the board in your jig is problematical. Make your jig either adjustable in width to accommodate different board sizes or make a few jigs, one for each size. That way you'll get precise centering every time.
7) Consider making a 'blood groove' on the opposite side of the board so it could be used as a cutting board as well. Another way to differentiate your charcuterie boards from others in the marketplace. Make a template that clamps down to the center of the board with enough vertical clearance to allow a trim router to easily pass under. Think of a folding setup, the center is the support and has some non-slip material on its surface, The left side is a U-shaped piece the flips down to position the template on the board or maybe is the template, the right side is the clamp that swings over and hold the board in place.
8) No matter what material you make the template from, consider soaking the edges with some hardening material such as CA glue to preserve the edge. Even with ball bearing bits, some wear will occur over time.
To eliminate the burning create a second template that is a hair larger. It will burn and Hogg off most of the material. Second pass with original template will eliminate the burn marks and leave smooth finish. Any time I route something tricky like Roman ogee edge I do it in 3 passes. 3 rd pass is super light. Just keep an eye on grain direction. Sometimes a “climb” cut is in order.....cheers!
That's exactly how successful people have revolutionized industry since our beginning. Find a need, meet it with innovation.
Hi,
First - I really like what you are doing!
Second - I love when you talking about integrations and good enough. I have IT development background and I have feeling that way how you develop your process in my world are called - Agile :D You are creating thing what is good for customers, but still seeking for improvements in process and product. You are another example that this approach works not only in IT field!
Good luck with sales and cant wait for future videos!
Use screws to hold the board onto the template, and put the screws in areas that will be drilled or cut away. One screw in the handle that will eventually be drilled out would add speed and repeatability.
Oh my goodness you guys you have no idea how much you have helped me. I am currently remodeling a new home and moving from an apartment with a Nov 30th date for move out of the apartment. Everything you are saying maybe for selling a product but also good advice for the situation I'm in also. Needed to hear a lot of what you had to say. My life at the moment is like a cat's in a room full of rocking chairs. lol
Haha what a great visual metaphor! Best of luck with the move!!!
Put a fence and a stop on the band saw to cut the waste corner so you don´t have to mark where to cut and can cut faster because is just push until stops and flip it to cut the other side, do it in batches rip cuts first and then the cross cuts, this way you can go closer to the line, remember that the less material you trim with the router process will be faster and cleaner.
Suggestion for your intro. “... through hurricanes for research and build furniture for fun.” Add “and profit” after fun. While y’all demonstrate the “fun”, you are also ultimately building furniture for “profit” based on your business plan.
Your focus here is solely on productivity and that comes with potentially serious risks. I used to have five fingers on my left hand but because I was more focused on productivity than safety I don't have those fingers anymore. When the video shows you on the bandsaw the blade is fully exposed. Accidents never give advance notice. A simple slip or distraction and ... well, you get the picture! Don't sacrifice safety for productivity. An advantage of working with a partner is the ability to look out for each other.
Best wishes to you both as you grow your business.
What types of wood do you guys use for charcuterie and chopping boards?
Throw clamps. Been using them for decades. Attached to a master board, with registration stops for both the pattern and the part. Drop the blank into your holder, drop the pattern in on top. or bottom depending upon the bit and follower used,, (fixed follower ie collar,, or ball bearing follower,, either attached to the cutting bit or again the collar. No pencil required once running. Just slip the part and pattern into the jig and throw the throw clamps. Yep, I finished watching and you arrived at the same point. I have produced thousands of parts that way,, and produce 12 specialty parts when required. Gravity works !!
1) Put a stop at the back of the sled, you will have consistent offset overhang for the template routing. 2) connect the clamp handles on each side with a board or some other connection, now you only have two clamping operations rather than four. 3) look into a second routing table so that you don't have to break down your routing setups - you might do the round over with one of the new compact battery powered routers.(but those have dust issues that you might want to consider.) 4) connect the contact pads on the clamps with a board, more contact area, less likely to leave circle imprints 5) figure out where your bottle neck is - if it's the router make multiple sleds so that the time the router time is cutting is increased. (one sled unloaded / loaded while other is in use.) 6) make a bandsaw template, so that you simply cut, flip cut, - better repeatability and probably have both jigs on the bandsaw at one time 7) since you are routing the bandsaw cut surfaces anyway, you could use a more aggressive blade in the bandsaw that would cut faster, since that cut will not exist in the final product 8) jig your drill press so that you don't have to align then drill.
With all the jig templates, make sure that you give yourself sawdust relief, so that it doesn't build up. I don't think it would matter for these operations because you aren't interconnecting it with something else, and if one meat board is a smidge smaller than than next the world doesn't end. I take that back, they are interconnecting with the jigs further in the process, so yeah sawdust relief is important.
Hope that helps,
--Mark
What are the dimensions of the boards, and what do you use to finish them?
Using a cnc router to cut the handle or entire perimeter. Then you can setup enough fixtures where you change the blank as fast as it cuts. You could also use a shaper and template to cut multiple at once witout the power limitations of a router. May not make sense for a small production run but a shaper would be useful for more projects. Last thing, if the template has a stop pin for depth, the final result would be more consistent.
If you try lowering the RPMs of your router and moving the workpiece through a little faster, you should reduce or eliminate the burn marks. Reducing the speed will create less heat and moving the piece faster will reduce the to the board is in contact with the bit.
Thank you very much, I'm considering starting a woodworking business in Quebec/Canada and this was very inspiring/informative.
Did you consider trying to rig a bearing or something similar on a spindle sander? If you can pull this off you should be able to follow the template when sanding which may allow you to speed up this process for the sanding part. I don't have any ideas on how to avoid the sanding (remove burning) so that's the best suggestion I can come up with.
This is a great video. IDK if this has been said but if the cuts on the bandsaw are the same (assuming 3" in from the side and 3" down from the top) you should be able to just set a fence and a maglock switch stop block and just go to town. No need to trace lines.
I noticed that your template is one size fits all with registration lines to make sure the boards are centered. You only make a few different size boards so my suggestion is to make a jig for each size. Add a foot at the bottom of the jigs too. Then you just slap the blank in and go, no wasted time making sure it's perfectly lined up. Add a dowel pin as David Walden suggests and you can probably eliminate the clamps as well. I'm going to try this!
Nice video... here's a few thoughts...
1) Before you cut trace your handle, drill your peg hole.
2) Put a pin (bolt) in the handle tracing fixture. Then use your peg hole to register your stencil for your handle tracing.
3) Putting a pin (bolt) into the routering jig will help register your board when you're trimming the handle on the router.
4) I see your getting some burns on the inside corner of your handles. It means you're being too aggressive or your wood is too thick. You might try pushing in your board towards those inside corners, not taking away all the material. Then when you rout away the inside corners, there'll be very little material and the bit won't have to work so hard.
Tit for tat... What video editing software do you use to make your videos? Where do you get your background music stock?
You could make the side boards that the clamps are attached to adjustable. That would permit you to slide the side clamping boards and then tighten those down with some threaded knobs. Then you adjust the distance between the boards so then you can use the same sled for multiple different width cutting boards.
Excellent video! The principle of "don't let perfect be the enemy of good" - or great in this case - is exemplified.
Maybe someone already suggested it but you could tape up a stack of boards and run the stack through the bandsaw when cutting handles.
To reduce burning in the corners . Adjust your router spindle speed or your feed speed . It should not burn at all.
What kind of wood did you use for the boards?
When making boomerang blanks, we use a template that has screws that protrude about 1/8-1/16" through the surface at the corners. This allows you to press the template down onto the blank and it will bite in and hold the piece. Then just use a top bearing router bit. I've even built handles into some of the templates to hold/control better.
An efficiency improvement: Mount the branding iron to the drill press arbor (mount in such a way it doesn't easily rotate) and set a two sided fence to align your boards corner. Then use the drill press handle to pull the iron down to a repeatable location and with a more consistent pressure.
My thoughts,
#1)Use the fence and a stop on your bandsaw to remove the bulk without have to trace on each one.
#2) Find the optimal speed and feed for your routing operation to avoid burning on the wood and thus prevent more sanding.
#3) I would set up a secondary router table, something basic or the router clamped in a vise to do the rounding over. it doesn't have to be fancy or powerful since its only a roundover.
#4) Possibly use a high quality brad point bit instead of a forsner bit for the hole. they seem to drill a lot faster and since your going through you don't need a flat bottom hole. you can also add a stop to your jig so you don't have to mark or line up the part.
Great ideas! What about rounding the corners of the handle to match the curve of the router bit so it flows smoothly and decreases burning and sanding.
Matching the curve causes burning - that was one of the problems we fixed in the second version!
How much wood do you keep in the shop? Do you worry about acclimation times?
About 100 boards' worth. We'll address that once we start keeping an inventory of lumber for larger projects. These little boards aren't affected by small acclimation changes.
Every new piece in the jig in and out takes time.
Are all of your board the same width? Looking at your jig it takes time to clamp the 4 toggles down. If the side walls of the jig are the same width as the board and you ran a backer wall across the back, you could just hit one toggle clamp to hold it down.
Or drill out the jig like a pegboard and use pegs as pins in those holes to make an adjustable set of walls around the work pieces.
Yeah they vary in width. Might need to tweak this over time towards your idea. Thanks for the help!
Purchase or build a second router table for rounding over the edges. This way your not changing the setup, and two people can be working at the same time. One cutting and one rounding over edges. After all one day, you’ll have multiple employees. Have Jonny Builds make you a steel sled. 😁
Create a negative template to put the template in vertically. Drop the rough cutting board in and it self-aligns thanks to gravity. Close the clamps. Done. Should save time.
U both are awesome. Wife and I lost the garage do to cabinets that get to go into a whole new kitchen remodel. Dragging all the tools to the driveway. Neighbors love me
I am thinking about using your design, but I am going to use a few adjustable miter tracks so I can do different widths of boards and offset handles if I choose to do it. Love the channel, keep it up. You guys are a great inspiration.
sorry, I meant T-track not miter track
The first glaring thing I see that can help with speed is you currently have two sides to your sled, but you don't have a back stop, if you make a longer sled and put a third "side" on the sled, you could just slide the board in and you wouldn't have to worry about checking for alignment on the front where the template portion is.
I agree, you just beat me to it. Having the third side (back or bottom, which ever you'd call it) would instantly align the boards as long as they were all the same size blanks. Nice job J/D!
The only thing I could see going wrong with that is, if the boards were different lengths it wouldn't line up with the handle template. They could use shoulder stops or a piece of plywood with blocks that they could butt the jig against and pop the piece in, but if the bandsaw work is inconsistent that might keep it from lining up correctly.
@@natoe33 that's an interesting point. I think the hard part of doing it this way is that you are also flush trimming the shoulders at the same time. I don't know if the boards are all one size or if they are doing multiple sizes, if it were me and I was doing multiple sizes I'd invest the hour or two to make multiple sleds personally.
If you do your pattern routing before you cut the total width of the board, you'll be able to trim the tearout (if any on the right hand side) without losing the design width. Also if you are getting tearout on the end of the handle, just make the handle rounded.
I noticed you have burn marks on many of your boards after routing out the handles. Sanding burn marks takes lots of time. I wonder if you would save time by making two passes. The first one would take off most of the waste. The second pass would clean up the cut without burning if you moved the sled faster past the bit on the second cut so it wouldn't burn. You'd have no burn marks to sand off. I saw your short intro on what I think might have been a C-130. Thanks for your service, Davis. I am a retired F-15, F-5 USAF pilot and appreciate your video.
Self adhesive sandpaper on the sled will double the clamping ability.
Reduce sanding time on the inside cut of the handle by increasing the radius cut from 90 degrees as you're adding too much load and chip out to the bit. You would need to make smaller cut passes multiple times adding more time, or change the radius and you'll notice significantly reduce or eliminated burn marks. To be honest, I use a 2 1/2" diameter Fostner bit to cut my inside cut so I don't have to router them until I do the round over on the top and bottom edge. It's one more step at the drill press, but significant time saving for sanding. It's great you're trying to learn short cuts as you go along.
One thing I would like to point out, consumers who understand hand-craft products don't want perfection, those little minor imperfections are what give the product a little character and evidence of being hand-made. Perfection means it came off an assembly line and there are million like it!
Extend your template at the top and bottom to allow you to cut the round over for the corners all at one time. Also, round the handle corners at the same time. That takes two steps down to one.
Use a robo-sanding bit in ur drill press after the router table. Fastest way to repeatedly remove burn marks from an inside radius.
Also I know u want to maintain the same quality but is it possible to slim the boards down a bit. Less surface area on the router bit - less heat- less burn.
Where do you sell your boards?
If your board stock is the same width then put sides on your tracing template for ease of setting it properly.
I know you mentioned the CNC would be slower. Rather than CNCing out the template or the whole board, just finish the handle. If your boards are going to be a standard width/format, you could make some registration marks in a jig that is fixed to the table and only run the program for the handle. This way you could still be cutting out the boards, changing them out and having the cnc do the finishing on them. Heck you could even trace the shape on the spoil board, zero it to the center of the handle, cut the outline, drill press the hole, round over the board and you are done.
where do you get the wood?
The burning on the inside corners of the routing is fundamentally due to changing chip load. While cutting on a straight edge, the router bit is loaded on a small arc,relative to depth of the scallop being cut.
On the corner, the load increases to 90+ degree arc of cut. It is the trapped chips being dragged through those 90 of bit radius that is smoking your wood.
Solution: increase the radius of inside “corners” on your template to be greater than the bit radius. This way your cutter is making a sweeping turn (albeit tight) rather than stopping to make a hard left.
Make your first pass on the router table, as you are. Then slide the board just a smidge further on the sled and run it again. This'll allow for a nice finishing pass with minimal wood removal, but should remove the burning and leave a nice edge.
Use the other side of the pattern slead as a corner round over with router bit while routing with pattern bit, not just handle side.
With stopping blogs (on one side and in the back) you can make cutting on the bandsaw repeatable so you don't have to mark anything but just cut
Alter your template to have a more gradual, wider radius in the curved corner where the handle meets the board. Your burn marks are due to stopping and changing direction. If you can make that pass more fluid, in one movement, your burn marks will be greatly reduced or eliminated.
Good quality boards. Love the design of the jig. Where do you guys source your wood for these boards and your cutting boards?
Use a CNC to create a “perfect” template with straight lines. You might even have this done fairly inexpensively at a local shop that already has a CNC. You could even incorporate a hole for a registration dowel as suggested in another comment.
Omg the double sided tape for the template is one of the issues i have been trying to solve.... You guys are all over it 🙌
Been eyeing that Whitside bit myself. Any noticeable wear after doing some batch work?
Not that we’ve noticed.
Have you guys gotten your CNC to work? Maybe use that to cut the template?
Or just to cut the boards? Let the robot do all that work while they're finishing the previous ones
Consider losing that external handle and make it an internal one or do away with it all together. Handles like that stick out and cause the board not to be very counter-top friendly, often bumping into things. A simple jig for cutting and rounding the internal/grip handle(s) would work well in speeding your process. Cutting a slight bevel along the bottom edges for esthetics and adding some non-slip rubber/silicone pads/feet.
Lastly, don't forget to add various types of woods for different patterns and eye-appeal. You're on your way!
Best to you guys in the future!
Good! Router: Don't wait in the corner. Go faster. Burning needs heat ... friction and time 😎
How about building on your idea...instead of clamping a board onto your template, you add add 3 “sides”. You’d cut your boards to specific size that drops into your template with sides, then only have to rout the handle side.
Use magnetic stop blocks and fence on the band saw to make rough cuts for handle. No need to trace.
Notes your comments about the CNC however changing design is a cinch and so quick. You would need to design multiple templates, one for each design so a CNC would give a huge ammonia to of flexibility.
I really like your videos. When you get to a point that you can afford it a CNC router would simplify cutting boards out. I have a Laguna IQ and it works great.
I'm the broken record--lap boards. Like those you just made, just as thick, but with a wide variety of colors as a work of art.
From one woodworkers to another God bless and keep up the good work really nice stuff you got there
If the boards are all the same dimensions, You don't need the clamps, just make a guide with a close fit. Or 2 o 3 if you handle different sizes. If you do need the clamps and have an air compressor, use a couple of pneumatic clamps. Place the board, press the pedal, route, press pedal, remove board. By the way, if you went CNC, you would still need to do this to hold the board down on the CNC table.
Also, have the templete cut on MDF by laser.
To eliminate the burn, you need to move more smoothly at a pace you'll figure out. The hard corner in your handle is a stop point and will almost always burn. Make your template handle with sweeping curves to eliminate stops at corners. It will eliminate the need to sand out burn and the actual routing will be faster. It will also be a nicer looking handle but the primary benefit will be speed and efficiency.