Favorite Tool So Far This Year: Router Plane

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Would love any info on those cutters, David - I'm intrigued!

I need to make a new sub base for my LV router - whatever I sheet goods at hand I used last time had too much flex to be useful, and unwittingly my screws start to poke through and leave scratches all over my work!

[David Paulsen]

David, see through acrylic, yeah thats good. I will give that a try! Would you recommend a thickness for the acrylic plate?
And, I second Joshua... It would be lovely to hear more about those cutters!

[David Barnett]

Would love any info on those cutters, David - I'm intrigued!

Sorry to be slow in replying, but had hoped to get out to the woodshop to take pictures of the cutters but that may not be possible for a few days. Pictures of both cutters and the effects they leave are what is really needed, but here's a description that I hope makes at least some sense.

The cutters were of three basic types:

• one-piece straight cutters with toothing and gouging ends (not hollowed),
• one-piece L-shaped cutters forged from ½" cold-drawn 'square drill rod' (W1), and
• two-piece cutters with screws similar to the Stanley V-shaped cutter.

The one-piece straight gouging cutters resembled vertically-held lathe tool bits, with low-sweep cambered ends to scrape shallow rounded channels. These worked surprisingly well with slight rocking-scooping motions and left grounding marks that suggested spoon gouge marks. They were also easy to hone. The toothing cutters were not rocked and left a surface much like small, coarse stone-carving tooth chisels—great for cross-hatching.

I also used a straight V-cutting tool—not like the Stanley V-cutter which leaves a smoothed surface—but leaving a V-channel, very useful for laying out and defining outlines of letters.

The one-piece L-shaped cutters acted as you might expect, but I used a steep geometry to scrape rather than slice. Left and right cutters allowed me to neaten transitions from raised letters to background in a crisp manner where appropriate, such as prepping letters for gilding. I also used an undercutting bit on occasion.

The two-piece cutters, fastened with countersunk machine screws, allowed me to use right and left skews without having to walk around or turn the work which could at times be awkward due to the large scale of some carved signs.

While one could accomplish this with the V-cutter canted nearly sideways, the skews left a cleaner background and allowed for a more direct pulling action, which better suited me.

I had also meant to measure cutting and clearance angles but that will have to wait, as well. At any rate, I hope this gives some idea. None of these cutters are all that challenging to make, but the L-shapes do require at least a micro-forge or torch equal to the task—I prefer oxy-propane—and something to beat on. I use this:



By the way, if you don't need to see through it, aluminum plate makes great #71 auxiliary bases and is cheap on eBay. 6061 is fine, and just about anything from ¼" and up should work. Bevel or round the lower edges to avoid marring work.

[David Barnett]

David, see through acrylic, yeah thats good. I will give that a try! Would you recommend a thickness for the acrylic plate?
And, I second Joshua... It would be lovely to hear more about those cutters!

David, sorry to be slow in replying.

I have used ¼" but feel that somewhat thicker is better. I think mine is actually 8mm to 10mm (.31" to .39") but can't make it out to shop to measure. Bevel or round the lower edges to avoid marring work and when it scratches or scuffs, use very fine automotive wet/dry then maybe some Micro Mesh or buffing compound to bring it back to clarity.

I explained a little more about the cutters in my reply to Joshua Pierce so check that one—sorry, no pictures yet.