dremel router table ?

[spare tire]

Does anyone out there use the dremel router table ? I was thinking this might be nice to round the edges on musky baits and still be safe for the hands. If it works ,the $40 bucks might be a nice buy.

[Yake Bait]

Can't comment on how well a dremel tool would work as I have not tried it. If you have a router witouth a table, you may want to try this...

Just a piece of 1/4" lexan fitted to the top of my router which serves as a table. The router is held in place by my workbench vise. Works great.

[rjbass]

I like your table Pete. Great Idea.

Spare tire,

Save your money. It will not do what you want it to. I bought one thinking the same thing and it is just to small for musky baits.

Rod

[BobP]

ST, I use a Dremel extensively and have a Dremel router table collecting dust in my garage. The main problem is that the biggest Dremel router bit is a 1/8" roundover. Even on small baits, that's not enough rounding to make buying the table worthwhile. It really only eases the edges. I think if you want to round over baits with a router, you'll need to get something larger.

[mark berrisford]

i bought the dremel bit then realised it was way to small for larger baits so ended up buying a router which i mounted in my bench and it works great on larger baits although a bit nerve wracking when you first use it

[Vodkaman]

The corner radius router bits on a standard size router are quite forgiving and rarely 'snatch'. The big problem is when you use a plain cutter and cut against the grain. You have to be totally aware of what the grain is doing and which direction the cutter is moving.

Wear all the safety gear and make sure you are standing upright and square, such that you are totally balanced. When the wood catches the cutter, it can easily over balance you and accidents occur. I hate using routers. Remember, a 1/2 inch dia bit will be travelling at up to 13 metres per second, your finger will be removed in a few thousandths of a second, if your sleave catches the cutter, it will be bast your elbow in less that a tenth of a second.

Sorry to harp on about this, but many TU members reading this have never used a router and they should be made aware of what they are dealing with, A MONSTER!

[spare tire]

Thanks Pete and everyone for the advice. I'll save my money for paint and other things. Pete I see you are from my neck of the woods, do you get out fishing much, or all the lures I see you've been making taking up all your time ? Thanks Vodkaman for the advice, I only used a router a couple of times, but with 30 baits needing a round over I'm going to have to try.

But I will be careful and not try anything stupid. I'm used to using sheet metal tools that aren't to forgiving on the fingers as well.

[out2llunge]

Don't try to complete a round over or most other cuts for that matter by doing it all in one pass. If you perform the round over over the course of several passes (ie. increasingly larger depths of cut) you'll greatly reduce the chance of kickback or tearing of end grain.

If you have 30 baits to do, complete one pass using a very small depth of cut. Then do all 30 again after you've raised the bit slightly. Continue until you've completed the necessary radius.

BTW, I've done round overs in the following radii, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and even 3/4". The trick is you must be hyper aware of what you are doing and where your fingers are in relation to the bit. Make sure no friends or family members are going to come and distract you too. Tell them in advance so you won't get surprised and slip.

[Vodkaman]

Out2, very good advice. When I go to the studio, if I hear machinary, I always wait until the sound stops before entering. If someone disturbs you while working a machine, it can give you quite a jump, due to the intense concentration.

[Yake Bait]

Thanks Pete and everyone for the advice. I'll save my money for paint and other things. Pete I see you are from my neck of the woods, do you get out fishing much, or all the lures I see you've been making taking up all your time ? Thanks Vodkaman for the advice, I only used a router a couple of times, but with 30 baits needing a round over I'm going to have to try.

But I will be careful and not try anything stupid. I'm used to using sheet metal tools that aren't to forgiving on the fingers as well.

Ive cut back on the bait making since the musky opener. I did make one bait last month to replace a favorite store bought lure that was on it's last leg. Turned out to be one of my go to lure this September. Feel free to stop by and check out the router set-up sometime. My phone # is in the book.

GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!

[Sonny.Barile]

When it comes to making a little 3 or 4 inch long lure body, it is not worth the risk. With little practice you can learn to cut a 4 inch long body with a bandsaw and rough shape it with a file in less than 10 minutes. Unless you are looking to do a production run it just isnt worth your fingers........................