Shelix + Woodhaven Template trouble

[Bill Grumbine]

Greetings all

I am in a bit of a quandry here, and I am hoping someone can help me out. I have two new tools which are being combined to make some raised panel doors for a customer, a Shelix flush trim shaper cutter, and a Woodhaven arched panel template. These folks wanted arched doors and I was in Woodcraft with money in my pocket, so you know the rest of the story.

Anyway, I have everything set up according to instructions. The Shelix has a flush cutting bearing installed, and the template is affixed to its template holder. I made my first cut, and boy did this thing cut nice! I am using curly wormy maple, and it goes in all directions. But then I noticed a flap of plastic hanging off the edge of the template. Upon closer inspection, it had a groove in it! I thought maybe I had the cutter adjusted too high, so I backed it off a hair, and ran the next piece through. Now I have a small ridge of wood left on the workpiece, and the groove in the plastic is deeper!

Okay, I have been known to make things too tight on occasion, so I checked the bearing. It spins freely with very little effort. Two more doors, and two more pieces with little ridges that need to be bumped off, not a real problem, but now there is a definite ridge in this template material. It doesn't look like the template material is providing enough friction for the bearing to stop turning with the rest of the cutter. For obvious reasons I did not stick any fingers in to find out if it is binding up somehow.

Anyway, after a very long winded explanation here, has anyone had an experience like this with the Woodhaven templates? I am leaning towards thinking they are the problem here, since the cutter seems to be working properly.

Thanks.

Bill

[Steve Cox]

I have not used the Woodhaven templates but one solution if you think friction (or lack therof) is the problem would be to add some sandpaper to the template. I use rolls of PSA paper for my 1/4 and 1/2 sheet sanders and piece of that on the template, say 320 grit, should do the trick.

[Bill Grumbine]

Thanks Steve, but I am not ready to start sanding my bearing yet. I tried some tape around the bearing, but that did not improve things any.

Bill

[Steve Cox]

Yeah, if I thought the bearing would be sanded i'd be pretty reluctant too . If you tried tape on the bearing itself though I would question whether it's a friction problem at least between the bearing and the template. Although I have to admit I can't think of anything else that would cause it. Maybe another way to tackle it might be to use a router and make a new template out of MDF or something. In other words, use a router and the Woodhaven template to make an MDF template and use that on the shaper. That might provide enough friction so the bearing will turn. Food for thought .

[Alan Turner]

Bill,
I have a 3 x 3 shelix pattern head on my shaper, and I run off a 12 or 18mm BB template. The template edges used to burn a bit, but then I put a small spacer between the shelix head and the rub collar/bearing, and that really freed up the bearing and it works much better now.
If your templates are still usable, then you might use one with a router to make a BB template, and run off of that as it will be much more durable, I would think.

[Steve Cox]

Alan, BB? What is that?

[Alan Turner]

Steve,
BB is Baltic Birch plywood, usually sold in 5 x 5 sheets, in metric thicknesses. It is a plysood with all of the plys the same thickness, and all of harwood, no voids. I use it quite a bit for most of my plywood needs, which in my shop is patterns and templates, or the occassional shop cabinet. Very stable and incredibly strong. I especially like the 3mm thickness for making patterns for things such as cabriole legs. With it, I can draw, cut just a bit oversize, and then bring it in to final with files and rasps, or a spokeshave or plane. Wonderful stuff. Only downside is that it is not as flat as one would like. But, it used to be. Oh well.

[Jim Becker]

Does the bearing need to be lubricated?

[Bill Grumbine]

Bill,
I have a 3 x 3 shelix pattern head on my shaper, and I run off a 12 or 18mm BB template. The template edges used to burn a bit, but then I put a small spacer between the shelix head and the rub collar/bearing, and that really freed up the bearing and it works much better now.
If your templates are still usable, then you might use one with a router to make a BB template, and run off of that as it will be much more durable, I would think.

Hi Alan

I couldn't find the little spacer washer they sent with the cutter, so I had a thicker spacer to begin with, using the thinnest rub collar that came with the spindle. The bearing turns very easily with little to no effort by hand, and it is a little frustrating that these (not inexpensive) templates are melting. I would imagine that you are right about the BB or even MDF being much more durable for an application like this, which makes me wonder why I bought these things in the first place. I suspect that they are going to be finding their way back from whence they came. I posted this on another forum as well, and I have gotten a couple of posts back regarding plastic templates melting in this application.

Sorry I missed you the other day while I was down that way. I had to get back for a guild meeting, as I promised Emily I would take her to show off her pen she made. Graham told me about the table. What a shame.

Jim, the bearing should not have to be lubricated. It is a ball bearing collar made specifically for this type of application.

Bill

[BRAD WITT]

Bill,
I can help as I own Woodhaven and designed the product you're using. Unfortunatly these templates were NOT designed to be used with shaper cutters. They will not hold up under the additional stress/friction, as you have found out. We do have a heavy duty version of the templates (18mm baltic birch ply) and HD Frame Master & HD Panel Master (http://www.woodhaven.com/FramePanel.aspx) that are for the shaper. You should only use the templates you have with a flush trim router bit. Hope that helps!
Brad

[Bill Grumbine]

Thanks for the posting Brad. We discussed this on the phone when I was having the problem, but it is good to see that you are checking the forum now.

Bill

[Steve Clardy]

Thats what I was going to mention. Standard templates are for router use only.

[Norman Hitt]

Bill, I've run across a couple of guys in the past that order the cheaper templates from different sources, but ONLY use them as their "master set" to make their working Templates of BB or MDF from. This way, the plastic templates hold up a Long Time and are always there when a replacement Working Template is needed.

[Bill Grumbine]

I appreciate the responses guys, but I was a little surprised to see this thread spring back to life. I posted this back in May!

Bill

[Steve Clardy]

Yea. I didn't notice the date either. Guess Brad was digging through old threads.