Raised panel router cutter from Rutlands

[Clockie]

I bought the above when they were on sale. I have used them all except the raised panel cutter. They all work great. I have just finished four doors with cope and stick. Has any body used the raised panel cutter because it will no go through the router (T11) base. It will go through the router table hole - just. Hope some one has an idea or I'll end up doing the panels by hand.
Thanks

 

[gwr]

I may have the wrong end of the stick here but if the router is plunged first before you fit the cutter that should work

 

[beech1948]

I may have misunderstood but here goes anyway.

1) Panel raising should only be done from a router table and not handheld...it can dangerous
2) If the Trend T11 has too small a hole in the base you can easily replace the base with a bit of acrylic with a suitable sized hole in it
3) I would not rely on depressing the router plunge bars to protect the bit from graunching the edges of the router plate not too mention your fingers
4) You can buy VERTICAL raised panel cutters for use in a table. Where you pass the panel to be raised across the router bit with the panel vertical...it can be more convenient sometimes.

What would I do.....I would obtain a router base with the right sized hole in it and fit that then use my table to raise the panel if I wanted to use the bit you have.....if not then I would buy a vertical router bit to raise the panel..

Al

 

[Steve Maskery]

It's a common problem with large cutters.

The answer is to get the router plunged as far as possible and lock it off before installing the cutter. You do not have very much vertical tolerance, but you do have some, because of the thickness of the router plate. So provided you do not let the cutter lower so far that it starts to rout your base away, you should be OK.
S

 

[Clockie]

Thanks for that. It's quite a large chunk of metal and my concern was the safety issue of not being able to lower it below the table. I know that I will have to use a temporary fence because there is not enough play in the original fence that came with the table.

 

[Eric The Viking]

You can set the T11 up to change cutters from above the table:

1. Start with the router base-downwards on the bench, pref with the router plate still attached. Remove the 'elephant's foot' thumbscrew from the end of the depth adjuster (and the spring behind it, which is easily lost).

2. Rotate the preset depth turret (on the base). There's a point where the longer rods miss the body of the router, and the shorter one goes into the space where the elephant's foot would normally be.

3. Wind the depth adjuster up as far as it will go away from the router base (using the big plastic knob).

At that point you should be able to wind the router in close enough to the mounting plate to do a cutter change from the top (when it's back in the table). You'll have to reach up under to get at the shaft locking button, but it's not that hard. If it can't be done, check the turret rods aren't catching on something - there is a sweet spot.

Oh, and you can gain about 2mm by removing the paxolin (phenolic) base plate too. Beware - there's a grease packing inside the two columns which is exposed when you do this, so make sure the router fits well to the plate without gaps, otherwise sawdust will contaminate the grease.

I hope that makes sense.

E.

PS: I forgot to say: if you're worried about the proximity of the outer ends of the cutter to the hole in the router plate, don't forget you can always clamp some packing on top of the table, for example some melamine-faced MDF or just a plain piece, to lift the workpiece up slightly. It's probably best to have a piece that covers the table top. 18mm thickness ought to give you plenty of adjustment, and with those big wing cutters the T11 probably needs to run at its slowest.

PPS: don't forget the 20mm hole for the adjuster box-spanner (DAMHIKT!).