Router Adjustment Tip
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 3:26 pmThis tip is so simple it's almost stupid. 
I have only used a router a few times before TPCE build, but I did have occasion to buy a nice little Ryobi unit that came with an equally nice router table on special for 100 bucks at one of the big box stores. In the few times that I had used it before I found that the graduated collar ring adjacent to the depth adjustment ring did not seem to hold position well.
As with many routers, the graduated ring is designed to slip so that you can rezero it to match the depth setting. The depth setting is locked in with an over toggle clamp built into the router housing and does not slip once clamped. So either the graduated ring was shifting around due to vibration, or I was absent mindedly moving it due to the way I was handling the router. Either way I found that I could not rely on the graduations to make repeatable and accurate adjustments in depth.
Now that I am using this router more and more for TPCE, and performing repeat operations frequently (such as cutting radius door and window corners using a top bearing bit and template where I have to make the first pass with the bearing on the template, then adjust down to get the rest of the thickness, then adjust back up to start the next corner), I had a moment of mental clarity: use a piece of tape to hold the graduated ring in sync with the adjuster ring.
Duh, simple as dirt! ...and as simple as it is, I thought I should share this with you all because sometimes it is the simplest things that help the most people.
I have only used a router a few times before TPCE build, but I did have occasion to buy a nice little Ryobi unit that came with an equally nice router table on special for 100 bucks at one of the big box stores. In the few times that I had used it before I found that the graduated collar ring adjacent to the depth adjustment ring did not seem to hold position well.
As with many routers, the graduated ring is designed to slip so that you can rezero it to match the depth setting. The depth setting is locked in with an over toggle clamp built into the router housing and does not slip once clamped. So either the graduated ring was shifting around due to vibration, or I was absent mindedly moving it due to the way I was handling the router. Either way I found that I could not rely on the graduations to make repeatable and accurate adjustments in depth.
Now that I am using this router more and more for TPCE, and performing repeat operations frequently (such as cutting radius door and window corners using a top bearing bit and template where I have to make the first pass with the bearing on the template, then adjust down to get the rest of the thickness, then adjust back up to start the next corner), I had a moment of mental clarity: use a piece of tape to hold the graduated ring in sync with the adjuster ring.
Duh, simple as dirt! ...and as simple as it is, I thought I should share this with you all because sometimes it is the simplest things that help the most people.