Router for 1/12th scale miniature mouldings?

[Jensmith]

As some of you may remember I'm making 1/12th scale fireplaces.

The otehr week I came across an article in one of the dolls house magazines about buildling your own dollshouse but within it the guy taked about using a router and miniature cutters to make your own skirting / coving / architrave etc.

He suggested a couple of manufacturers - one was Wealdon Tools which also has quite a good article I've just found on making mouldings:
http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/miniature.pdf

The other was Trend.

Proxxon also do some for their own router.

I think this could be a good option for me and a long term cost saver if I can produce mouldings exactly how I need them, rather than having to search through other companies catalogues picking one from here and another from there. I will have suitable wood anyway so it should make sense.

The article says you really need to use a router table or possible a drill stand as an alternative and don't need a high powered router.

What I was wondering was:
What type of router might be suitable?
How much we're looking at cost wise?
What sort of table to look for - or any tips on making my own?

Proxxon do a miniature router for about £70-80 but I wasn't sure if a standard router would be better for the job and be more cost effective.

Thanks very much,

Jennifer,

 

[stevebuk]

i have also made quite a few dolls house pieces in my time in 1/12th scale and i use a dremmel and a dremmel router table and you can make all sorts of things with it, you can buy a set of miniature cutters from most places to use.
I will be starting another dolls house project shortly, i have been asked to make it for a client. :lol: :lol:

 

[ro]

I know this isn't an answer to your question, but...

I've done a bit of small scale beading to decorate model steam engines. I just used a small beading tool I made out of scrap wood and an old hacksaw blade. picture in book i got idea from here.

It works a treat and you can quite easily make a tool to make any profile you like in minutes with a file.

 

[stevebuk]

thats a great link ro, will be good for when i have more time to spare..

 

[Jensmith]

any one else know about routers specifically?

I need it to be a fast process to be cost effective.

 

[barkwindjammer]

A miniature version of this Jen ?
http://www.finewoodworking.com/SkillsAn ... x?id=31290

 

[Sportique]

Jen

If I was contemplating a commercial operation I would use a commercially rated full size router and table. In the longer term IMHO this would be the most cost effective, probably costing about £500.

As you mention some manufacturers of quality cutters also make 12th scale cutters - IMHO these have 1/4 inch shanks, I'm not sure.

HTH

Dave

 

[Jensmith]

Yes, Dave, from what I've seen they have 1/4" shanks though one set is also available in 8mm I think.

The cutters are pretty expensive - the Trend set of 12 is £170 but Wealden do a multi cutter which can cut various profiles.

Are bigger routers not 1/2"?

I'm not sure I can justify £500 when I've not actually sold anything yet.

 

[Sportique]

Jen,

yes the heavier duty routers are usually fitted with 1/2" collets as standard, but many will also have 1/4" included or as an optional extra.

For example my light trade rated Bosch has both 1/2" and 1/4" collets.

Quality cutters are quite expensive. It is usually better to buy only those cutters you will actually use, rather than a boxed set.

If you intend to cut many meters of beading on a "production" line then you will need a "trade" rated router, for lighter work a "hobby/light trade" rating will suffice. Even then you should expect to pay ~£150 for a new router then you still have the table and cutters to buy, a further ~£250 minimum.

Perhaps the most cost-effective way is to buy a used good quality router, build your own table and spend your money on a few quality cutters. You would need a budget of maybe £250 for this approach.

There are many articles available for building your own router table - build bigger rather than smaller - with a sturdy easily adjusted fence.

Or try a "wanted" thread in the sale/wanted section of UKW.

Dave

 

[Sportique]

Jen

another thought:

remember a "big" router can do both big and little, but a miniature/small router will only do "little" :lol:

Dave

 

[Jensmith]

Thanks Dave.

I think a lighter duty router will probably be ok as I wouldn't be doing major work with it. A strip of moulding will go a fair way for 1/12th scale stuff.

I think, cost wise, if I can make my own table then that will be the way to go.

I think just 2 or 3 cutters will be the best option - the Multi cutter looks to be very useful if you can cut a lot of shapes from the one cutter.

What sort of brands are 'good'. Are Makita and Dewalt quite good?

 

[Sportique]

Jen

yes, both Makita and DeWalt are "good" makes in general, but I have no personal experience of their routers, perhaps others here can help on that.

Dave

 

[dickm]

I think the OP might do well to look out for a S/H Elu small router table. I still find I use mine quite a lot, even though I've got a bigger table with Elu 177 mounted permanently. The small table has a relatively high fence which adds to versatility, and a very precise screw adjustment of the router position which is accurate to a small fraction of a millimetre.
It's possible DeWalt still make their own-badged version of the Elu table, but they do come up from time secondhand. And, of course, they will take any clone of the old Elu Mof96, such as the current DeWalt, Trend and some of the cheapo ones. But if you can get a lightly used Mof96e, that's the one for me!

 

[Jensmith]

Thanks Dickm, I'll have a look into those options.

 

[mike s]

i made a router table for under £100
a few years ago i bought a very cheap B&Q router (1 1/4 horsepower) for about £40 and lately i made a table for it for about £30
it is powerful enough for light duty hobby work and is very cheap to make

 

[Jensmith]

Thanks Mike.
I got a Dewalt router in the end. The 621k

What did you make your table out of? That's certainly very cheap.

 

[Dibs-h]

Jen

yes, both Makita and DeWalt are "good" makes in general, but I have no personal experience of their routers, perhaps others here can help on that.

Dave

I have the large Makita 3612c and it's awesome. The electrical brake stops the cutter in a few seconds. It comes with the 1/4" collet as well. Enough grunt to do anything. Highly recommended.

HIH

Dibs