How to Build a Router Plate Template with Scrap Wood and Bondo Filler

To build a good insert template for your router table, all you need is a bit of scrap wood and some auto body filler.

The best way to cut an insert opening in a router table is by guiding your router with a flush trim bit against a template made for the insert plate. I make mine from shop scraps and auto body filler. Here’s how: Rip 3"-wide pieces of MDF or other scrap into strips that are about 6" longer than each of the sides of your insert plate. Your template material can be 1/8" to 1/4" or so thicker than the plate and still work fine. Wax the corner areas of your plate to keep glue from sticking to it, and place it on a flat, waxed paper surface. Stagger the strips around the plate so each strip extends past the next. Epoxy the strips together, making sure that all four strips fit tightly around the plate.

To round out the corners of the template so that it matches up with the router better, the author filled them in with a little Bondo automotive filler.

Now mix up some quick-set two-part auto body filler and pack it into the corners of the template up to the insert plate to fill the gaps. When the filler dries, carefully tap the plate free and shave away any extra filler from the corner curves. You now have an inside template that matches your router plate’s shape perfectly. The longer “ears” of the template make clamping easier, too.

Original article and pictures take http://www.rockler.com/how-to/poor-mans-router-table-insert-template/ site


>