Router inlays | Who knew it could be that easy!?

this little thing is a guide bushing and it'll transform how you use your router [Music] so what these guide bushings do is they allow your router to keep a specific distance from your template without ruining the template now they come in different sizes so you can use them with different bits and they'll typically fit on pretty much any router base that you have you just drop them in and screw it in with the ring they typically come in sets too and I'll leave a link down below so like I said they'll fit on pretty much any router except if you have a Bosch router then you'll need an adapter kit like I have here so once the adapter is installed in the router you have two options you can either add this quick release ring which will allow you to use your router with any regular standard guide bushing like this one it'll just pop right in like that or you can use any of their quick release guide bushings that look kind of like this and they basically just get dropped in and you're ready to go if you have a template you can pretty much cut out any shape you want with the help of guide bushings you can make templates or buy them I decided to print my own using my laser cutter first you'll want to secure your work piece to your workbench you can either clamp it or use double-sided tape depending on your work surface the tape works really well for me on this melamine top workbench next secure the template to the work piece using more tape I highly recommend using this specific template tape and I'll leave a link below I bought it after having some bad experiences with other tapes that damage the wood upon removal but this one doesn't leave any residue and it won't damage the wood [Music] for this inlay I'm going to use a quarter inch spiral bit with a 716 OD Bush guide but before I get started there's something really important we need to do first and that's the center of the router's base plate as you can see here the base plate actually has a lot of play and can easily be off center that doesn't typically matter for most applications but it certainly does when using guide bushings you really want to make sure that your bit is dead center in the bushing I got this centering cone for about ten dollars and I'll leave a link below it's made to work with both a half inch and a quarter inch collet mine's a quarter inch so I'll mount it like this then lock the bit into the collet just like it was a router bit then the idea is that when you push the base plate into it it'll Auto Center itself once everything looks good I can tighten down the screws okay so I'll install a quarter inch spiral bit and the 716 OD guide bushing and set the depth by first bottoming out the bit then setting the gauge to zero and pulling it back by about an eighth I'll start with one of the toes I'll place the router in the center fire it up and plunge the bit then go around the template in a clockwise Direction I can then finish removing any remaining material in the middle this is really pretty much a no-brainer just make sure you keep both hands on the router to maintain control at all times and don't be too aggressive as you can see the final inlay is smaller than the template and that's how the template is designed to work by the way I'll have this template and all the templates I use in this video available for purchase on my website and you'll find the link down below if you're using the recommended template tape and you pull them up gently these templates can be reused over and over again like I said this tape won't damage the wood or leave any residue I'll give it a very light sanding just to remove any fuzzies and here it is looking pretty good I'm going to fill this paw print with epoxy but next I'll be doing a wood on wood inlay so stick around or jump ahead if you'd like the process is a little different but you can get amazing results with the right tools I'll first seal the wood around the inlay and this is hopefully to prevent any color bleeding from the tinted epoxy if I spill or over pour I want my paw print to be black so I'll add some pigment and mix it up of course I told myself I would be super careful and not overpour but of course I did hopefully the fact that I seal the edges will help avoid any bleeding you just want to make sure that your wood is flat and level as you're doing this then let it cure as per the label once dry it's hard as a rock I'll use 80 grit paper and start sanding it down it's easy to over sand in one spot and gouge the woods so once I've gotten most of it off I'll stop then mark the board with a pencil and sand the entire board systematically and repeat until only the paw print remains I could stop there but we're gonna make a bona fide charcuterie board out of this I use my laser to cut out a template for the handle this template will also be available on my website if you're interested I'll use a speed square to help position the handle and get it Square to the board then use the template tape to secure it to the board as for the other end I'll just use a random circular object and Trace rounded corners I'll use my bandsaw to cut around the template as close as I can without cutting into the template of course you want to leave no more than an eighth of an inch here if you prefer you can simply trace the template then remove it so you don't damage it and you can also use a jigsaw instead of a bandsaw to cut around the handle with that done I'll drill out as much material as I can from the inside of the handle then take it over to my router table where I'll use a flush trim bit to finish shaping the handle I'm using this quarter inch spiral bit with a bottom bearing you could also use a straight bit like this one as long as it has a bearing at the tip just know that you'll get much safer and cleaner Cuts using spiral bits next I'll adjust the bit height so that the bearing rides along the template truth be told this is my first time using this bit and my first time template routing curves like this so I'm not an expert but here are the tips I can share with you to do this safely to avoid Kickback make the initial contact with the bit on the straight grain Edge not on a curve always use paddles and keep your fingers away from the bit Kickback can happen try to always keep contact with the bit as you go if you lose contact at some point go back to a point that's already been done to restart never leave more than an eighth of an inch of material to be removed make your initial cut as close to the templates as you can Jonathan Katz Moses has a great video about router table Kickback safety and I highly recommend that you watch that and I'll leave a link down below the handle is done I'll use my benchtop sander to finish shaping the rest of the board [Music] I'll then round over all the edges [Music] then sand through the Grits from 80 all the way up to 320. on the last grid I'll hit the board with some warm water then let it dry and sand it again with the same Grit if you skip this step your board will get really rough to the touch after you wash it for the first time to finish the board I'll apply a few coats of cutting board oil and finish it off with some Butcher Block conditioner and there you have it a beautiful custom one-of-a-kind charcuterie board now that we've done epoxy inlays let's move on to Wood inlays it's a similar process but you need to use the right tools for it to work all right what I want to show you next is a router inlay kit and this is the secret to making perfect wood on wood inlays it looks just like the regular guide bushing I showed you before but the secret is in the collar that comes with the kit when you snap on the collar like this along with the 1 8 spiral bit that comes in the kit this will allow you to create the perfect offset for when cutting out the template it'll fit perfectly in the pocket that you carved out so the kit comes with the guide bushing the collar the spiral bit and also comes with a centering pin that you can use instead of that cone now the key to inlay kits and why they actually are so linicate is the ratio between the bit the guide bushing and the collar and it's that perfectly calculated ratio that will allow you to make perfect wood on wood inlays let me show you how it works I used my laser to cut out another template this one of a cute little pick profile I'm going to use this template to cut out both parts that is carving out the void and carving out the meeting piece that will fill the void before we begin we want to make sure that the router's base is perfectly centered you can either use the centering cone that I showed before or the centering pin that comes with the inlay kit once you've got the pin dead center in the guide bushing you can remove it and mount the 1 8 spiral bit then install the inlay guide bushing by simply screwing on the ring from the opposite side of the plate just as before to set the bit depth first bottom it out and then set the depth gauge to zero then dial it back by about an eighth I'll use the template tape to First secure the blank to my workbench but you may find it more secure to clamp it down I use the template tape because it adheres really well to my workbench and that way I don't have any clamps that can potentially get in the way I'll use some more double-sided tape to secure the template to my cutting board note that I pre-marked some reference lines here to get it perfectly centered okay for this step you'll want to make sure that you have the collar on so go ahead and snap it on I like to first get a feel for the template by going around a couple times then once I feel comfortable I fire up the router with the guide bushing up against the template I'll plunge it all the way down and start making my way around the template going clockwise it's okay to be sloppy here and what I mean is even if your router Strays away from the pattern that's okay since you'll be removing all the material on the inside of the template anyways foreign as you can see the bit cut well inside the template and that's exactly what you want here using the same bit I'll create a small pocket inside the pig profile so I can then switch to a larger router bit and finish hogging away all the material I'm using a straight bit that happens to have a bearing but the bearing really serves no purpose here so after setting the bit to match the depth of the recess I'll slowly move it around to remove the waste in the middle it's important to be mindful here not to get too close to the edges of the profile and stay well inside the lines alright once all the material is carved away we can carefully remove the template and move on to cutting the mating piece I'll use Walnut for this to give it a nice contrast for this step you'll want to remove the color I'll use my template tape to secure the template after first securing the blank to the workbench again with the collar removed for this step I'll adjust the depth of the bit so it plunges just a bit deeper than before you want the inlay piece to be just a bit proud so you can sand it flush afterwards just like before I'm going to go around the template clockwise this time it's really important to keep the router pressed up against the template the entire time so take your time and practice a few times until you get a feel for it I'll carefully remove the template again if you're careful not to bend or break them these templates can be reused several times I'll then use my bandsaw to release the pig from the blank [Music] and now the moment of truth you just want to check to see if it looks like it fits don't go crazy and tap it in here because you'll never be able to get it back out the fit looks pretty good but it still helps to sand all the edges on the back side not the front side but just the back edges one final check after sanding yep definitely wants to go in there I'll apply glue to the back of the pig I probably should have hit the edges too but I guess I was just too excited to see how it would turn out you can tap it in with a rubber mallet to make sure it's fully seated it looks amazing it's hard to believe how tight the fit is even when you look closely you can barely see any gaps maybe a tiny Gap here on the bottom but we can fix that I'll use the Walnut sawdust left by the bandsaw to make a paste with some glue and just wipe that into the cracks working my way around the edges then set a weight on it and let it dry once dry you can send the pig down flush with a cutting board I won't lie I am impressed with myself I wasn't sure how well this would turn out but it looks amazing I'm totally stoked if you're interested in the shaping and finishing process of this cutting board stick around otherwise be sure to check the links below for all the tools I used as well as the router templates available on my website I want rounded corners for this board so I'll use this radius jig to Simply Trace out the corners then use my bench top sander to sand up to the line next I'll use a round over bit to round over all the edges [Music] then after sanding through the grids from 80 up to 220 I'll spray the board with warm water and let it dry this is called raising the Grain and boy did it raise it I could feel the difference between the Maple and the Walnut with my fingers but I hit it again with 220 grit and smooth everything out again as a finish I applied a few coats of cutting board oil and then a coat of Butcher Block conditioner I thought of putting this board up for sale but I just love it so much that I decided to keep it for myself plus I accidentally dented it before taking my finished shots then tried to fix it but just messed it up so yeah hey I hope you liked this video personally it's really got me hooked on inlay templates and I plan to design a bunch more so be sure to check back and let me know if you have any recommendations in the comments down below until next time thanks for watching

Channel: DIY Montreal

Views: 318,547

Keywords: Router inlays, Router templates, Router inlay template, Wood inlays, Guide bushings, Guide bush, Router guide bushing, Router bushing, Router inlay kit, How to use router guide bushings, Bosch router bushings, Wood on wood inlay, Epoxy inlay, Template routing, How to customize charcuterie boards, Router table template routing, Charcuterie board handle template, Customize cutting boards, Woodworking, DIY Montreal, wood on wood inlay

Id: NHihDd5IlpQ

Length: 16min 54sec (1014 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 29 2023