Our first Jigs and Fixture E-Class is a go…

Well Dad and I have had our second brainstorming session and are just putting the finishing touches on the purposed course outline. It is kinda nice to see Dad excited about making information for this new medium and of course we are talking about his favorite topic making Jigs and Fixtures for the router.

As he says if you need to make more than one piece the same for your project make a jig or fixture for the router and rout it. You make your pattern out of 1/4″ Baltic Birch…fine tune and polish the pattern then use the router, guides and pattern to make your parts. Example: You have those three legs 1 1/2″ thick for that table, design the shape and style in the 1/4″ plywood set up the jig to hold the pieces and cut with the router.

This group has given us an opportunity to present our information and ideas on the process of building Jigs and Fixtures in this new Internet medium. For this, Dad and I would like to thank the group that have signed up to this first J&F E-class and we look forward to working with you.

For the rest, we see this as our pilot program that we hope to expand into a series of on-demand Jig and Fixture E-Class products. The Router Workshop TV series was designed to show how the router fits in the building of projects and our Jigs and Fixture E-class series will be talking about the tips and tricks to building those router jigs and fixtures.

As follow up we have the Router Workshop membership on sale, to click here to join. Use this coupon code A6A8AC52CC as save 30% off the regular membership price.

Mother’s Day is Coming!!!

Well it is soon Mother’s Day

And it’s time for you the Woodworker to get to work to make something personal for that special someone in your life. Folks this is not only for your mother but should also include that significant spouse in your life.  I have been thinking about this for some time and was racking my brain about what would be most appreciated by that special someone. The one thing I come up with was connected to your shoe box full of special memories, yes I mean your box of family photos. Everyone has a box full of photos that take a snap-shot and record the family memories but as I am sure most of us still have these special moments in the box. We very seldom open the box and look at the photos.

Here is my Mother’s Day challenge to you:

Take your woodworking talents and build a Picture frame for Mother’s Day. You say what am I going to do with a picture frame?

Well here is the project idea, first I have found a website that you can upload your favorite digital photo then they take that photo and create a Canvas print in any size of your choosing. They then stretch the canvas over a wood frame and mail it to you.

For more information on how this works I have recorded a phone interview with Jon Keane 1-800-801-6312 ext. 244 from Canvas on demand and I was asking him questions on the procedure used to get your special photos from a digital format to a Canvas print.

Listen here to our conversation.

To get your special photo made into a piece of Canvas Art follow this link to www.Canvasondemand.com. For a 10% discount use this coupon code, Router10.

Next I have decided to give you all a chance to see one of the Router Workshop episodes. This episode discusses ways to create that special picture frame for your Canvas print. This is episode 402, one of the episodes in the series of TRW.

As a bonus we have added a discount code for those that want to join our TRW membership and begin to receive the complete series over the course of 183 weeks. You can join right now by clicking here… remember to use this code A6A8AC52CC for a 30% discount on the monthly membership fees or make a onetime payment for the 3 1/2 year membership, your discount will be 40% off the retail.

Woodworkers wanted!!!

Well spring is here and Dad and I have been talking about the concept of being able to teach the basic principles of building Jigs and Fixtures for the router on the Internet. We feel this is the venue and I am using this post to feel you out.

First I am looking for woodworkers that are actively working with their hobby. This means you build projects regularly. To tell me that you are on a fix income and cant pay for good information, wood, or tools means you are truly not committed to your woodworking hobby as of yet. This is not for you.

So what are we talking about….

First of all what the class is not…

1) Me giving you plans of Jigs and Fixtures for specific projects,
2) Me designing fixtures and you building that fixture,
3) For those that can’t afford to build projects, either small or other…
4) About you asking me how to build a jig to do a specific operation.

Now what the E-classes are about:

1) Jigs and fixture building principles that we use,
2) Expanding the thought processes used to design quality jigs and fixtures,
3) Understanding the principles of guide work,
4) Understanding the basic processes of pattern making.

I am looking for people interested in growing their understanding of the router and how it works. You should already know how to build drawers, doors, cabinets…etc. You should have an interest in including your router into the construction process of all your projects. Most importantly, you should be actively pursuing knowledge that will be used help you become better at your hobby.

Our TV show the Router Workshop is based upon these principles used to produce over 500 different jigs and fixtures. These principles are directly used to expand the productivity of the Router.

For those of you that have seen or are currently watching the series you will know that we use jigs and fixtures extensively on the show. If you fall into this category and are serious about learning the principles of jig and fixture construction then sign up to the 2009 Jigs and Fixture E-class.

Please be advised:

You will not be charged to sign up to this class at this time. There are no obligation until I have the minimum set number signed up and committed to participate. The class is scheduled to commence on June 1, 2009.

Once this class is a go we will be sending out PayPal email invoices for the cost of the class. You pay the invoice, we activate your account and your in the class. We have identified the cost for this first class to be $100.00 per participant.

We are looking forward to working with you in the E-Class.

Bob and Rick

Basic Direction of Feed:

One of the most important operations is the direction of feed. You need to understand this basic procedure for your safety and project quality.

Basic direction of feed is moving the material into the cutter. To get the fence on the right side of the cutter you need to be able to see a carbide profile of the cutter. Our first project is going to be a set of coasters, and we are going to make these coasters out of MDF. The purpose of MDF is to allow us to concentrate on direction of feed and not add the order of cuts into them.

The order of cuts are across the grain, with the grain, across the grain, and with the grain. The importance of this cutting order will reflect on the quality of your routing technique.

So let’s get started with this project.

I could call this an April fools day joke a post with no tip. Truth is  I have been playing with the auto post feature and got the wrong date set up in the system. In any event I am not ready to post the meat of the project just yet sorry for any undo excitement at this time.

It is nice to know you guys are watching my posts.

Here are some of the comments…