AboutStuart Mawle Expertise Now been a carpenter & joiner for the past ten years in the UK. I can give avice / help on carpentry & joinery, health & safety, woodworking machinery, power tools and suppliers. I have served an indentured carpentry apprenticeship with a medium sized building contractor doing a wide range of domestic and commercial work. This has included office buildings, barn conversions, building extensions and renovations. During my career, I spent over three years as a wood trades technician at a college. My job involved joinery work, wood maching and helping CITB carpentry & joinery students` pratical projects. I am a member of Institute of Carpenters
Expert: Stuart Mawle Date: 7/18/2008 Subject: Hand routing and Finishing a custom table
Question I am a beginner but have been practicing my routing on spare wood lately. That being said, let me explain what i am trying to accomplish along with my questions. I am making a custom table that i wish to have a routed design in the middle of as well as letters at either end ( like a football field )and finish wise i would like the entire surface to be flush. Since the table will be rather large i was planning on using birch plywood to keep costs down. So, what type of material should I use to finish the wood with, how do i fill in the letters with finish so that the entire table will be flush across (even the letters). Advice on what type and depth of router bit to use? does the finish type change if i were to paint the routed design/letters? Thanks so much in advance.
Matt
Answer This is an advance project trying to use a router to inlet design/lettering then infilling them flush. To be honest it would test my skills. It about confidence, if you think you can do it then why not try it. You will have to practice to stage where you are confident to try it on your project.
I haven't got a sense from your question how complex the design or style or size of lettering. Routers are a versatile tool but are mainly used with guides, jigs and templates. Freehand router can be done but requires you to be aware of cuts, making sure the cutter and direction of cut is the correct way otherwise you will experience snatching (lose control) and often results in damage your workpiece.
Ideally I would router out then infill with thin timber pieces about 1/8" (3mm) thickness, similar to marquetry. If your design/lettering is complicated them it will try your patience then it is hard not to get fed up and give up. You could router your designs/lettering then infill with a colour filler. You will need to try this out.
If it simple line affair and you decide colour filler is an option then I would be inclined to use a chamfer/angle cutter. CMT produce these cutters and special one for lettering, again it will be trial and error so you need to experiment. If you have got big areas to remove then you need to have a small 6mm - 10mm (1/4 to 3/8") straight cutter, again you don't have to go too deep, only a few milli metres just remember that you need to use a thicker infill piece so you can sand flush to the top.
I don't want to put you off but I really do think you will find painting the design/lettering on is a more realistic approach.
Best finishing is by sealing the wood with an oil then waxing. I use Liberon Finishing Oil, follow manufacturer's instructions but put a couple of coats on. Once dried then I would paint the design and lettering on. Allow this to dry and completely harden (see manufacturer's information) before putting a coat of Fiddes Supreme Wax, just rub on and off with a cloth. Fiddes supreme wax 'Light' colour is a clear finish which I do use but occasionally I will use a brown colour (forest brown) to give a piece an 'aged' look. It's up to your own tastes but you will need to test the finishes to make sure they work with the paint before trying them out on your project.
For more information visited www.axminster.co.uk for CMT router bits and Liberon products, www.agwoodcare.co.uk/ for fiddes and liberon products. I hope this helps you. Stuart
