Replies

1. 
   Jfrostjr | Mar 23, 2007 03:36pm | #1

   I don't know where your shop is but I don't want to be around if you run them BETWEEN the fence and the bit.

   I see no reason to offset the fence when you trim the edge with the bit buried in the fence. Just adjust the cut so that you leave a very tiny top edge which will contact both the infeed and outfeed fence.

   Frosty

2. 
   g_hepplewhite | Mar 23, 2007 03:53pm | #2

   Norse,

   Does your bit have a pilot bearing? If so make a template and use it as a pattern bit. The advantage to this is that you will wind up with 16 identical pieces, you could easily make the sides tapered or straight. If the bit does not have a bearing I would leave a small flat on the top that remains uncut (say 1/32-1/16") and use the fence with the bit buried. The reason for leaving a portion uncut is so you do not change the shape of your pieces, say you missed a spot and had to rerun the piece past the cutter. Without the flat chances are the piece would become tapered.

    

   Regarding your second thought about running the stock between the bit and fence, I think it could be done safely (ie do not climb cut and use a push stick and featherboards). With that being said I believe that you would be safer and it would produce better more consistant results if you used the template and pattern routed the staves.

   Good luck,

   Tom

3. 
   nikkiwood | Mar 23, 2007 03:57pm | #3

   For sure, you don't want to run the stock between the bit and the fence.

   How wide are the staves?

   I can think of two ways to router both sides, depending on the the width of the staves.

   ********************************************************
   "It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."

   John Wooden 1910-

4. 
   highfigh | Mar 23, 2007 05:10pm | #4

   As the others said, if the bit has a pilot bearing on it AND you'll be making more of these drums, cut 32 pieces of MDF to use as a pattern and attach the pieces you'll be routing with carpet tape so you can just run them all through. Then, remove the pattern and you should have no gaps AS LONG AS THE ROUTER TABLE AND INSERT ARE TRULY FLAT AND ALIGNED CORRECTLY (Sorry, no italics). If the outer surface will be rounded and smoothed, a slight gap on the outer surface won't really matter, will it?

   (They used to use hatchets and hand planes for this)

   If the router just doesn't give you the results you want and you have a decent smoothing plane (#4, #5 or ?), you could make a shooting board with the 11.25 degree bevel and plane the bevel, or if you make it adjustable, you can correct any gaps.

   "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."

   
   

   ---

   Edited 3/23/2007 10:12 am by highfigh

1. 
   forestgirl | Mar 23, 2007 07:59pm | #5

   "AS LONG AS THE ROUTER TABLE AND INSERT ARE TRULY FLAT AND ALIGNED CORRECTLY"  My first thought was that the fence might not be 90° to the table, thus changing the angle the pieces are being cut at.  Possibility???

   When did you lose your italics?  Hope that doesn't spread to the rest of us, LOL!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   highfigh | Mar 24, 2007 03:04am | #7

   I don't have italics because I use Firefox and I gladly accept the trade of no problems for no italics. I have a router insert for my table, which will be leaving soon, that is crowned enough that it really screwed up some things I was doing. The company sells one kind that's from China and another form somewhere else that is flat. I didn't find this out until the last WW show and by that time, it was too late to do anything about it. Needless to say, my router table will soon be totally flat and smooth.
   "I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."

5. 
   hammer1 | Mar 23, 2007 10:15pm | #6

   If you have the chamfer bit buried in the fence and the bit is removing material, like a jointer, you should build out the outfeed side of the fence accordingly. Otherwise you will have the possibility of rocking and certainly will snipe the end of the cut. Your problem is not only getting a consistent, accurate bevel, but the staves have to be the exact same width. I take it, you want to use the chamfer bit to also size the staves after one edge has been cut with the bit buried in the fence. You would like to set the fence away from the bit the same way you use a table saw? Cutting the stave to size and putting the bevel on at the same time. As long as you have the staves pretty close to size, this can be done.

   Many of the same rules apply as using a table saw to rip. Obviously, you need to feed against the rotation of the bit. This will put the "rip fence" to the left of the bit. The work piece will disappear from your hands if the fence is to the right. If you want to go this route, just take the necessary precautions. I'd use a stock feeder or feather boards and have a proper push stick at hand.

   Are you making a Craviotto type drum? I think it might be easier to size your staves and set the bit in the fence, to just cut the bevel, without removing any size. If you are having grain tear out problems, running one side opposite of the grain, you can make light incremental cuts until you reach full cut.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

1. 
   Norse | Mar 26, 2007 07:20pm | #8

   Thanks for all the good advice - as always! I use templates all the time but didn't think of it for a straight cuts like this. I also like the idea of pre-sizing and just cutting the bevel. I'll try both on the next drum.I'm not sure how Craviotto makes their drums, they look like the grain is horizontal which makes me think its a veneer methodology. I am using straight staves with a spline to keep them in position during the gluing. I don't have a lathe so I rounded the outside on the bandsaw off a pivot center and then some hand shaping. In talking to drummers who have used solid wood drums, the inside rounded or left segmental does not seem to make much difference (although I'm sure there's some dynamic differences). This one is my first and it has a full, crisp sound and its very loud. Again, thanks to all for your responses,
   Norse

   
1. 
   forestgirl | Mar 27, 2007 01:16am | #9

   "This one is my first and it has a full, crisp sound and its very loud."  Wow!  It's gorgeous!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

2. 
   hammer1 | Mar 27, 2007 05:25am | #11

   Norse, that drum looks great! How about some more info for a fellow drummer. How thick did you make the drum? It doesn't look too large, 8" x 8"? Did you have to cut the ends square and did you put a bearing edge on it? Have you visited Ghostnote? There is some amazing woodworking going on in the drum world, and it speaks. http://www.ghostnote.net/index.php?page=homeBeat it to fit / Paint it to match

1. 
   Norse | Mar 27, 2007 06:26pm | #12

   Thanks! The snare is a 12 x 7.
   I started with 7/8" thick staves and because I left the interior segmented, the thickness varies. I used autocad to set up the circle and inscribed the polygon (16 sides) and that gave me the size of the finished staves. I splined them in the centers with an 1/8" spline just to keep the slipping in check during glue up. I cut the ends pretty square on the bandsaw and then sanded it flat on a piece of particle board with sandpaper glued to it. I flattened the drum after each edge cutting step to be sure I had full contact with the head. Cutting the inside edge was tricky because of the segmented interior. I clamped thick boards to the router table to keep it true and kept the pressure on the rounded exterior. The outside part of the edge was easy using the bearing. I kept the edge close to the outside of the drum. The odd part was cutting the snare bed. It seemed counter intuitive after fussing with the edges so much but you need a little dip in the bottom edge to allow the snare wires to be in the same plane as the head.As I said in my first post, the hardest part was getting the 11.25 degree cut perfect. At 11.24, you have an open edge on each joint! There's lots of sites that sell hardware but its not cheap. This hardware was from a drum that no one loved anymore.I will check out Ghost note when I have more time.I've seen some of the drums turned from blocks glued horizontally, they're doing some amazing stuff. I'd love to have a lathe but even more, I'd love to have the time to learn how to use one!Good luck,
   Norse

6. 
   byhammerandhand | Mar 27, 2007 01:42am | #10

   Would this work? http://www.woodworkersworld.net/router_bit_multi_side_router_bits.shtml

1. 
   Norse | Mar 27, 2007 06:29pm | #13

   I saw this in my research but ended up with a simple 11.25 degree bit with a bearing.
   This would certainly give you lots of glue surface but I'm not sure how it would act in glue up. I splined my to keep them from slipping.
   Thanks for the tip,
   Norse