el cheapo LR32 - free

[L2theP]

needed a shelf pin jig so made my own, LR32 is way to expensive, if it was around 200 i wouldnt' hesitate but at 500 is a tad much for my pocket.
so here it goes,
i ripped a strip of pin board snug to fit the last channel on the guiderail, i cut one guiderail connector in half to center and hold in place the pinboard strip.
i made a jig out of 1" mahogany, routed a spot for the router and dadoed the bottom for the two channels. then i made a little spring-piston inside a threaded hollow rod with a cap for spring resistance and connected the assembly to the jig with epoxy. It works like a charm, and cost me 1 connector and an hour of work. hope you like, let me know.

spring-piston engaged in the pin board strip

back of the dadoed jig along with pin board strip set inside the guiderail secured in place by half of a guide rail connector on each side

picture of the piston assembly, quite simple, a little piston with a spring inside a capped threaded rod(from a light fixture)between two pieces of metal attached by epoxy

piston retracts by pulling the screw head and slips back down once released thanx to the spring located inside that threaded rod

router sitting in its' designated area on the jig

top view of the jig, without the router in place.  It's not the prettiest but quite accurate and functional

 

[JeromeM]

Can you repost the photos larger so that we can see them.

 

[L2theP]

first time posting pictures, sorry, hopefully this does it

 

[score0matic]

love it great jig

Craig

 

[CharlesWilson]

This one is going to win a contest in the near future!

Great idea!

 

[Les]

Great innovation.

Have you assembled the job to check out the pin holes?

 

[Wim]

The idea is great because of its simplicity. Maybe a metal (alu) strip would be more resistant to wear. Maybe Steve Jones can pick this up and split the profits  ;D

 

[L2theP]

thank you everyone for your kind words,  i'm sure that if one had more time this could be perfected as per your suggestion Wim, like making a plastic router base and a aluminum pin hole strip, or even a heavy duty plastic strip would do the job just fine.

Les, yes i did assemble the job and it is dead on, the shelves do not wobble and everything looks good, i guess the most important task of making this jig is to secure the pin strip dead on the center of the guide rail so that if you use opposite ends of the rail you get the holes in the same exact place from the edge of the guiderail.

 

[fshanno]

Great jig.  Looks to be as accurate as anything else.  Looks like you could just leave the hole strip in the guide.

What's pin board?  Is that like pegboard on 32mm centers?
 

 

[L2theP]

What's pin board?  Is that like pegboard on 32mm centers?
 

fshanno, pegboard it is,  my mistake for calling it pinboard for some reason.  Thanx for the correction

 

[fshanno]

What's pin board?  Is that like pegboard on 32mm centers?
 

fshanno, pegboard it is,  my mistake for calling it pinboard for some reason.  Thanx for the correction

All I've seen has holes on 1" centers.  Is yours on 32mm centers?  Not that important, I can drill the holes in a piece of mdf with my little plastic template.  I went back and looked at the various ones on the FOG and I think I like yours the best.  Do you think if the pin was lifted by a rocker mechanism, like the Festool version that it would be better?

 

[L2theP]

Fshanno
i will check the center measurement later when i go down to my shop but you most certainly can drill your own holes or even if you have an old cheap cabinet take it apart and rip the strip out of it's side.  As far as the rocker mechanism goes, look at the picture where the pin is, that was my intention to make a little thumb bar something like a "L" bracket with one side cut out in the shape of a fork that will sit on the base and once a side of it is depressed the other side will lift the pin out and the springed piston will pop back into the next hole once you would let go of the push bar that's why i have a nut on the threaded rod below the top cap.

The whole intention of making this jig was to get accurate holes on a couple of cabinets i had to make that day so i just rigged it up, but there are many things i could have done better and when i have some time between my next two orders i will try to redo it using better materials. 

If you make one, post some pics of it on this thread, Hopefully some people will benefit from it and perfect our creations.

 

[James17]

Hello
Wouldn't it be easier to drill the rail itself, like on Festool's ?
Then you could use a rail guide with only a block with the pin...
Great idea. Thanks a lot
Frédéric

 

[Timtool]

great invention, the LR32 and guide rails, and of1010 are on my want list, but thats over €1000 just for drilling holes.
I'm gonna check tomorrow on the pegboard panel i have to check the spacing of the holes, who knows it's even possible to make rail templates out of them.

 

[James17]

Well, in fact the OF 1400 rail guide can be used : you only have to make an aluminium (or wood or plastic) block that will be screwed on both rods.
Only have to make a dado to fit the last chanel of the rail, with a mobile pin...
I hope I'll be able to do that within following days...

 

[extiger]

The Router Forums website has a Pin Hole Jig that is shop-made. Ideal for a plunge router. It uses a standard Guide Bushing to index off holes drilled in a scrap board. The original idea was published by Pat Warner years ago in one of his books.

With it choose either Imperial or Metric standards.