Router went astray

[snmhanson]

I was routing the outer ring for a set of surrounds and my router jumped off the jig and took out a nice chunk. After recovering my composure I decided that I am going to salvage this speaker and get it done. Any suggestions on how best to do a repair here. I realize I will never be able to match the grain of the curly maple veneer, but something that will blend in relatively well? They are going to be mounted up high so as long as I can get close I think it should be ok. I guess my other option is to just bondo it and then make grilles for these speakers to cover up the mistake.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Matt

[dar47]

I would fill in flush level with the veneer and put another piece of veneer over the whole face covering the existing veneer, of course only if you have some extra veneer.

[snmhanson]

Thanks - I was thinking about doing that but wasn't sure how another layer of veneer would effect the aesthetics. Also, I went with PSA and am not thrilled with the adhesive properties of it so another layer would double the chances of it delaminating. Still, that sounds like it may be the best option and then I wouldn't have to worry about making grilles. Now that I'm thinking of it, maybe I'll try to pull the veneer off and redo it all together.

Matt

[---k---]

I got no suggestions on how to fix it, but want you to know that my router has jumped on me a few times too. You're not alone. I've recut several baffles and lived with imperfect edges.

[lhwidget]

Now that I'm thinking of it, maybe I'll try to pull the veneer off and redo it all together.

Matt

I'm thinking that may be more trouble than it's worth (visions of scraping veneer of one scraper's width at a time, splits, and possible edge damage to the sides, then getting the glue off, gummy balls and sticky mess).

I'd stick with a fresh layer over the smoothed boo-boo.

I've never removed veneer, so I'm not speaking from experience...

[Hdale85]

Actually, if you wet down the veneer pretty good and use a heat gun or iron you may be able to get it to peel off. This of course depends on how you applied it, with heat lock or what not with the iron on method I bet you could get it off.

[snmhanson]

It was peel and stick. As I said, I wasn't overly impressed with it's initial holding strength, though maybe over the week or so that it has been on, the adhesive has cured and I'll find that it doesn't want to come off. I will give it a shot later tonight and see what I can do. It is a rather small section so it shouldn't be too much scraping, sanding, etc... However, if it seems to not want to come up I'll probably just leave it and put another layer directly over it.

Thanks,

Matt

[CADman_ks]

I have never used PSA backed veneer, but my gut feeling tells me that it's nothing more than maybe some extra sticky tape, but I could be wrong as well.

If that assessment is correct, I would think that you could use a heat gun, get that to loosen pretty easily, get under a corner, and then just heat and work the face off. Then, fix the gouge, sand it all down, and then reapply some more veneer.

Again, I'm not speaking from any experience here, just what I would assume...

[PMazz]

That's why I always made a baffle template and used a pattern bit. No chance of ruining many man hours of work.

[CraigJ]

Now that I'm thinking of it, maybe I'll try to pull the veneer off and redo it all together.Matt

Matt,

I had to remove PSA veneer before and it should be quite easy. Instead of a heat gun, I just used a hot iron and heated the veneer until the "glue" softened, then peeled up the veneer. You might want to experiment on the center section you're cutting out. As Dar47 and other's suggested, just "fill in and flush level" the gauge, then reapply new veneer.

CraigJ

[snmhanson]

Thanks again for all of the help. I was able to pull the veneer off quite easily and then Bondo'd it up. Cut the new recesses this morning and am working on finishing them. Can't even tell what happened. I did have to make a homemade circle jig as my Jasper jig got, uh, "damaged" immediately following my discovery of the error. Turns out making a simple wood jig isn't all that tough and it worked great.

Thanks again for the help,

Matt

[CADman_ks]

... I did have to make a homemade circle jig as my Jasper jig got, uh, "damaged" immediately following my discovery of the error...

Hum...

That's interesting. There must be some supernatural force at work when errors happen. I know that I too have had many a tool "damaged" immediately following my discovery of an error...

Glad to hear though, that you are making progress in spite of the damaged tools. :T

[CraigJ]

Turns out making a simple wood jig isn't all that tough and it worked great.Matt

That's all I've ever used. Simple, accurate, and makes you wonder why you paid $ for a pre-maid one in the first place.

CraigJ

[jimangie1973]

I know you weren't intending on using this thread to advise others, but I was on the fence on whether to route the holes before veneering or after. This has definately swayed me to route the holes before.

I've had the Jasper pin drop out on me before as well but luckily I didn't route ouside the circle when it happened. This is most problematic when the pin is below the router circle so you can't even see it.

I have a dado cleanout flush trim bit which works great to trim the veneer to the recesses. The only downside to this approach is the recesses have to be at least about 1/8" deep to provide clearance for the bit guide.

Anyway, glad to hear you got it fixed up.

Jim

[Ray_D]

I agree with Pete

That's why I always made a baffle template and used a pattern bit. No chance of ruining many man hours of work.

Here is a jig I built based on an idea of Pete's.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=35581

I have a later jig which has built-in dust collection and a direct read scale and you don't have to lift it to change size. I still think templates are the way to go. They are just easier to make now.

Regards

Ray

[CADman_ks]

Here is a jig I built based on an idea of Pete's. ...

That's a nice rig. :T

How small of a circle can it make?

[Ray_D]

About 1"

That's a nice rig. :T

How small of a circle can it make?

Hi

I don't remember exactly; but, about one inch. I have made patterns for NT1 size tweeters and they are about 36 mm. The T-track can be reversed to make very large circles. If fact, you could add more T-track to make giant circles. As is, it will do any sub I'm aware of and the built-in dust collection is 100 percent.

Regards

Ray

[CADman_ks]

Hi

I don't remember exactly; but, about one inch. I have made patterns for NT1 size tweeters and they are about 36 mm. The T-track can be reversed to make very large circles. If fact, you could add more T-track to make giant circles. As is, it will do any sub I'm aware of and the built-in dust collection is 100 percent.
...

I just went to the link that you provided, and your later design looks a lot more robust than the original.

Do you have any details on your current that you'd be willing to share?

The new design looks really nice! 8)

[Ray_D]

I just went to the link that you provided, and your later design looks a lot more robust than the original.

Do you have any details on your current that you'd be willing to share?

The new design looks really nice! 8)

I'm not sure what you mean by details. It's pretty much what you see. It's a piece of T-track with a pin (actually a cut off 1/4" bolt) in the end trapped between two pieces of 1/2" MDF which are glued to a piece on the router end which serves as a platform for the router and another piece on the other end which mostly hold the bottom pieces together on that end. The bottom has a fairly small hole in a thin piece of MDF glued into the base so that it is flush. This closes off the bottom to create a path to the vacuum cleaner port. The T-track channel is widened some on the end where dust collection is accomplished and sealed at the end. A block of MDF is glued to the base with a hole big enough for a short piece of ABS/PVC pipe that the hose from the vacuum goes over. The pipe is not glued in, just fairly tight and the hose is also not fastened. I applied a clear finish to the bottom to aid durability and decrease friction. It rotates very easily.

The router is fixed to the platform. The open side of the T-track faces up and a T-bolt and knob lock it to the body of the jig. The T-track has a line scribed on it so that the size can be read off the scale. The scale can be moved to match after a trial cut. There are actually two lines scribed on the T-track and the second line is read after the first line goes beyond the scale for large cuts. For very large cuts, the T-track is turned around with the pin facing away from the router bit and locked from either the platform or the end piece.

It's sort of ironic that I arrived at this jig about the same time I moved to use templates and don't need to do holes this way very often. I make a template for the "cutout" hole and make the recess for the frame using slot cutter bits. You can go back and increase the depth after applying veneer. The only problem is tweeters which require non-circular cutouts. In that case you can use a pattern for the OD.

I attached a couple more pictures. I hope that helps.

Regards

Ray

[CADman_ks]

Ray,

Those pictures and extra details help a lot!

Thanks for posting it!