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Milling Table: Illustration by James Provost

This document provides instructions for building a large router-based surfacing jig. The jig allows flattening and smoothing surfaces of wide boards that are too large for a standard jointer. Key features include a router base plate attached to a carriage that moves along rails, UHMW guides for smooth movement, and clamping bars to securely hold material in place for milling. The jig can surface material up to 26" wide and 3 feet long.

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308 views4 pages

Milling Table: Illustration by James Provost

This document provides instructions for building a large router-based surfacing jig. The jig allows flattening and smoothing surfaces of wide boards that are too large for a standard jointer. Key features include a router base plate attached to a carriage that moves along rails, UHMW guides for smooth movement, and clamping bars to securely hold material in place for milling. The jig can surface material up to 26" wide and 3 feet long.

Uploaded by

rhinorod
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Milling Table

Illustration by James Provost


It’s an unavoidable fact of woodworking life that the wonderfully figured board you want to
use is just too wide to fit on your jointer. Or perhaps you need to flatten the surface on that
end grain cutting board that you have just glued up (don’t even think of trying this on a
jointer). Build this versatile router based surfacing jig and you’ll be able to dress any surface
you may come across. This jig is large enough to accommodate material up to 26" wide and
almost three feet long, but you can scale it to suit the sizes of stock you will most likely be
using. The material is clamped to the bed of the table and then the router runs back and forth
over the surface between the two outside rails. Two sets of rails provide additional clearance
to accommodate thicker stock. Adding a couple of extra rail extensions to increase the height
will allow you to mill even thicker material.

The Router Base


Begin by preparing a router base plate (A) to fit the router you will be using. The
measurements given here fit the Freud FT1700VCE router, freud.ca, that I have dedicated to
this jig; adjust your measurements accordingly to fit your router. When sizing the base plate,
be sure to provide enough space for the handles and any other protrusions to clear the
carriage beams when it is plunged to full depth. To hold the router captive and provide
positive guidance I used a Freud 58-100 four-wing slot cutter to rout a shallow groove that
allowed the polycarbonate sheet to slide into the T-track. Remove the sub base from your
router and use it to mark out the screw holes to mount the new base to the router; you may
need longer screws.

The Jig
Begin by cutting the base (B) to size. It won’t be needed until later, but cutting it now allows
you to use it as a work surface as you proceed. To provide the maximum strength without any
wood movement concerns, the two carriage beams (C) that support the router guides are
made up of three laminations of ¾" Baltic birch plywood. Cut the blanks for the beam and
glue it up. When the glue has set, trim the beams to width and cut them to length. Set up a
dado set on the table saw and configure it to cut a groove for the T-track sections; the sections
should fit snugly without movement but should not be forced into the dado. Use a drill press
to drill clearance holes in the T-track for the shank of the #6 hinge screws and then use a
larger drill bit to countersink the head below the surface of the track. Cut the dados and
mount the track on the two beams; space the screws every two inches on the guide track to
support the weight of the router. The stop block track on top of the beam only requires five
screws.

Cut the two carriage ends (D) to size. Use a doweling jig to drill a pair of dowel holes at both
ends of each carriage beam and the corresponding holes in the carriage ends. Use the dado set
to plough a dado on the outside surface of the ends between the two dowel holes for the
UHMW guides. Cut the gussets (E) for the top of the carriage. Assemble the carriage on the
base and cut a couple of sacrificial spacers to fit across the interior of each end of the
carriage. True up the carriage to be sure the router base plate slides back and forth easily. If it
binds, make the grooves ever so slightly wider; do not make them deeper. Using T-bolts,
fasten the gussets in place using the ends of the stop block track to keep the carriage square
and rigid. Drill and counterbore a hole for a ¼-20 large head bolt through the carriage end
and beam, then drill an intersecting hole for a cross dowel and use these to pull the ends
together.

The Guide
The router carriage slides back and forth on the T- tracks; the two different track heights
provide additional thickness capacity while the UHMW guides make the whole carriage slide
easily on the aluminum track. Begin with a 24" piece of UHMW (leevalley.com) item
#46J90.16, and use the Freud slot cutter to run a groove to accommodate the UMHW in the
track opening. Use a set of calipers to ensure the material left exactly matches the opening in
the track. Move to the table saw and use a blade with flat topped raker teeth to nibble away at
the remaining material until the profile matches the inside profile of the track. Raise the blade
slightly and make a pass on both sides of the material and check the width of the remaining
stock. Repeat this until you have the desired dimension.

With the profile cut on the UHMW, rip the guide strip from the material and cut it into 5"
lengths. Drill a pilot hole through a leftover piece of track and then slide the UHMW guides
into the track and use the hole in the guide track to center a bit on the UHMW and drill a
couple of screw clearance holes through it. Follow this up with a countersink bit to allow the
head of the screw to sit below the surface. Set the guides into the dados on the carriage ends
and screw them in place. Drill a hole in the center of the dado for the locking T-bolt.

The Main Table


There are two methods to hold down the material as it is being surfaced. The first is to use
toggle clamps affixed to a beam suspended between the two side rails. While this works well,
the board must be longer than the surfaced area to accommodate the areas under the beams
rendered inaccessible to the router. To eliminate this problem, construct the side clamping
hold-downs. Rout three sets of grooves across the width of the milling table to accommodate
¼" T-bolts. Drill corresponding holes into a piece of oak for the clamp bar (F) and
counterbore the top side to allow the head of the nut to sit flush with the surface of the oak.
Drill a series of holes across the width of the clamp bar and insert T-nuts into the side facing
the center of the jig. Using a bench grinder, grind a point on the end of a series of long ¼-20
bolts and thread them into the holes. If you can’t find long bolts, cut some ready rod and
double nut one end.

To complete the main table, cut the plywood sides (G) and the solid wood backer (H) and
laminate them together. Trim them to size and then plough the dados for the three pieces of
T-track. Drill and countersink the holes in the track and then mount them in the dados.
Confirm the amount of material you will need to remove from the sides to match the width of
the base and use a thickness planer for this. Mount the sides to the table base using wood
screws; use the carriage as a spacer and some clamps to be sure the sides are the correct
distance apart for smooth operation.

Using the Jig


To flatten the surface of a rough board, place it on the milling table and snug the clamping
bar up to the material. Use the pointed bolts on either side to firmly clamp the board down.
Install a bottom-cleaning bit in the router and move the router back and forth along the width
of the stock while progressing from one end of the board to the other.

Because the object is to hold the piece firmly in place for surfacing, material will not slide
through the jig very effectively. By making a sacrificial bottom out of a piece of laminate
covered MDF, this jig can easily be converted into a fluting jig or used to run any manner of
mouldings. Using the stop blocks it can also be used to rout dados, through and stopped, in
both sides of a bookshelf.

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