trout cutouts

[mark downing]

I'm a novice carpenter with a customer who wants a fence built around her country home. She would like randomly placed trout cutouts in the fence boards. I imagine this being done by router or jig saw but don't know how to access the necessary stencils or procedures. Can anyone help with suggestions?
Mark

[Larry Frank]

I would get someone to use a scroll saw and make several different templates out of of 1/4" MDF to use with a router.

[Matt Day]

Whatever you do, get the customers approval before you fabricate them all!

[Jerry Miner]

I agree, it is a template-routing operation. I would make the templates out of 1/2" material and either use a guide bushing with a straight bit, or a flush-trim bit (1/2" template works better for flush trim or top bearing use, IME)

You can make a template (or a few) with a scroll saw, jig saw, or coping saw. Rough-cut the cut-outs with a jigsaw, then clean up with a router. You may want to sharpen the inside cuts with a saw after routing.

I'll bet there are trout images on-line

[Lee Schierer]

As others have noted this is a template and router job for your fence. Take a photo like this one Rainbow_Trout.jpg, use some photo software to scale the image slightly larger than the final size you need, print it out in black & white, glue it to your template material and cut the outline with a scroll saw. Make a sample on a fence size board and get your customer approval before you do it on their fence.

[Larry Fox]

Typically I am a DIY sorta guy but if I were in your shoes and faced with this particular task I would be putting out a feeler for a shop with a CNC that I could send the picture and cash to and receive fish cutouts in return. The first part of your opening sentence is what makes me say this: "I'm a novice carpenter with a customer". Not trying to discourage you and if it were your fence I might recommend differently but novice, customer, profit and satisfaction are not typically words that you see combined in a sentence.

[mark downing]

Thanks guys, all good advice. I have no access to CNC or scroll saw but will give it a go with jig saw and router.
Mark

[Pat Barry]

I like the idea of using the jig saw, coupled with a pattern. Lets say you have to make 20 trout cutouts. Take the photo, size it as suggested above, then copy this to a piece of hardboard that you can use as your template. Do a careful job of making your template look good. Now take the template, draw the pattern onto the fence board, drill a few strategically placed holes for you jig saw blade, and cut to the lines. It don't have to be perfect, after all, fish all look different don't they? With the jig saw you will get one clean side and one 'rough' side with some tearout. You can clean up the cutouts with sandpaper, surforms, rasps, or what have you. You can even add a reference edge on to the template so that you can locate the fish easily with respect to the top edge of the fence boards. This sounds like a fun project!

[Bernie May]

I agree totally with Pat about using a pattern and jigsaw. Using a router with a drawn pattern will give a distorted cutout since the router adds the width of the bit to all parts of the pattern. You would need to draw the pattern and then cut the pattern to be less than the width of the router bit all the way around.

[Rick Whitehead]

I agree with the others. It is a pattern-routing job. However, you could have the pattern made by a CNC shop. They could incorporate any offset you would need in the pattern for the guide bushing and router bit.
You could then use the pattern to mark the boards, and rough- cut them with the jig saw. Then you could use the pattern to rout them..
Good luck with it any way you end up doing it!
Rick

[Peter Quinn]

Thanks guys, all good advice. I have no access to CNC or scroll saw but will give it a go with jig saw and router.
Mark

If you have enough computer/internet savy to access this forum, then you do have access to a CNc router. If you have access to UPS deliveries, then you have all you need to outsource this one. Depends on what business you are in and what you like doing, how much work you have presently, and what human capitol you want to develope. But don't have access is not part of the equation.

[Jim Dwight]

If they need to be identical, template routing is the way to go. If they can be nearly the same, then a jigsaw would be quicker. I'd be torn, frankly, between the ease of my cordless Ryobi and the smoother operation of my Bosch. I'd probably string the cord. I have some plastic inserts for the base of the Bosch to minimize tearout on the top side.

[william watts]

I can't see how to make a trout cut out on a fence with vertical fence boards. It seems to make a cut of any size you will need to cut from one board to the next across the edge of the fence boards. Leaving a narrow section of material on both boards. I don't know if it makes any difference, no nothing about fences. Fences around here are 1x12 or smaller, and all vertical, never seen any cut outs. I just cannot picture it.

Never mind, Your talking about making a trout cut out and hanging it on the fence, right, not making a cut out in the fence. I'm slow.

[scott vroom]

I can't see how to make a trout cut out on a fence with vertical fence boards. It seems to make a cut of any size you will need to cut from one board to the next across the edge of the fence boards. Leaving a narrow section of material on both boards.

Vertical trout rising to a dry fly.

[mark downing]

William,

You are right about the board size. The discussion of this fence continues to evolve, but have not started yet. Now the boards will be 1x6 vertical circle tops and the cutouts will be occupy portions 2 boards. I am still struggling with what cutout procedure to use. If I use a router and rig up a pantograph, the we can choose the recessed image of the fish rather than an actual cutout with jigsaw. Am I seeing this right? I suppose a full cutout could be made and a backer board placed behind to also create the recessed image. Jim, yes I'd choose my Bosch with downcutting blade to avoid tearout.