LR 32 help needed...

[clisbyclark]

I bored a series of holes for two tall shelf carcasses today using my long rail and 1400 router.  When I finished, I noticed that the holes are off 1-2mm when measured from the board's edge to the bottom of the hole.  I checked the board for square and it was.  I'm positive the indexing stop on the guiderail was in contact with the end of the board at all times.  Is there any other reason my holes don't line up?  This will be a utility grade piece, but I still hope I don't have rattling shelves due to the different measurements-I guess I'll find out tomorrow

 

[Warrior]

Did you use the centering mandrel when installing the router to the LR32 plate? If the router was  installed off center you will see double the error in the holes.

Also when hole drilling always start from the end of the board that has the end stop. That way the movement of the router and the engaging pin have an action that pulls the stop tight against the end of the board vs pushing the stop away from the board end.

Hope that helps,

Eiji

 

[honeydoman]

dont ask me but mine does the same thing.  I register it at the end of the board flush rail to flush board... then I flip the rail and do the same thing... and they are also off about the same.  and that is also with the long rail.  you almost have to adjust the rail up about a 1\16 to make them level , now some of the holes are right on and other are not.

drives me nuts.  I also use the 1400, was using the 1010 and that plate was slipping so I went back to the 1400 and it is screwed on to the underside of the router.

I am going to be drilling some more holes today and I am going to take the time to work on it some more. and see why.  I think the rails are slightly off.... but don't know what it is .... my  have to trim the rail on one end by a 16 but I will see and get back tonight.

 

[Tinker]

I ran into the same problem and just thought it was me.
Tinker

 

[Brice Burrell]

I have the LR32 and a short rail that's over two years old, no problems with it. There are a few of things that can go wrong, some of them were discussed recently, here's the link:
LR32, First time use a dismal failure

...............I am going to be drilling some more holes today and I am going to take the time to work on it some more. and see why.  I think the rails are slightly off.... but don't know what it is .... my  have to trim the rail on one end by a 16 but I will see and get back tonight.

Kreg, do not trim the end of the rail! If you have a problem with your rail it's going to be with the spacing of the holes, not the length of the rail.

 

[Warrior]

Is there any slop in the end stop pins? if there is you need to make sure it is accounted for by pulling out any slop while tightening the knobs.

 

[clisbyclark]

I did not use the centering mandrel this time because I remembered reading that it was not necessary with the 1040- the two screws supposedly held the plate in the proper position.  I remounted the plated and noticed a fair amount of play possible when just using the screws.  I'll be using the mandrel from now on and hopefully not have this problem repeat itself.  Thanks to all.

 

[honeydoman]

today I ran several sets of holes in 11 1/4 wide by 60" long book case unit I am building.  used the long rail and the little blocks that screw to the rail to help flush up the rail.

some of the holes are off by 1/16"  some 1/32"  and most are pretty right on.  weird.  so my opinion is the guide rail holes must be off slightly so when you flip it it messes up.

that is my only conclusion.  but I am going to look deeper over the next few days. 

 

[Brice Burrell]

today I ran several sets of holes in 11 1/4 wide by 60" long book case unit I am building.  used the long rail and the little blocks that screw to the rail to help flush up the rail.

some of the holes are off by 1/16"  some 1/32"  and most are pretty right on.  weird.  so my opinion is the guide rail holes must be off slightly so when you flip it it messes up.

that is my only conclusion.  but I am going to look deeper over the next few days. 

Kreg, that should be easy to check, measure the distance from each ends stop and the first hole and see if they are equal. Next check to make sure the spacing between each hole is correct. I bet the rail is okay and that you have a little users error going on somewhere, that's going to be harder to track down. Good luck.

 

[honeydoman]

brice, thanks

just went out with my calipers and the holes are all exactly the same distance give or take 1/64 or less.  then I checked from end to end on the stops to the holes exact.

next I will check the router set up  i use it on the 1400 and screw it to the base.

 

[tenfingers]

I've had a little trouble with the shorter rail with my holes lining up as well.  I narrowed it down to the rail slipping a little when I clamped it to the workpiece.
The side pieces and end pieces line it up, but then you need to clamp both sides of the rail to the workpiece so it doesnt slip in the least. Now I triple check before drilling my holes and havent had the lineup issues. Hope that helps.

 

[cdconey]

The only issue that I have had with either of my rails is when I do not get the end stop firmly against the reference.    I have both the 42" and 84" rails.  Also, if you use 2 guide rails, you cannot rely on the spacing to be equal, they will be off about 3mm when they butt together.

 

[honeydoman]

i have the 95" rail.  tried piecing the 2 small ones together and that did not work.

 

[bruegf]

I recently had the same problem and have finally concluded there were a few things that led to the problem.   

1)  In order for the holes to be aligned, the ends of your panel most be 100% square.  If the panel is out of square even a tiny bit you'll have the problem.

2) Make sure (check and double check) that the longitudanal stop is butted firmly against the end of the panel.  Be sure that all chips are removed.

3) Always move the router the same direction.  I always start at the end of the rail where the longitudonal stop is attached.  There can be a few thousands of an inch slop between the base, rail pin slot, and the pin supports on the base.   Moving the same direction ensures that the play is canceled out.  Plus moving away from the stop ensures that you're not accidently pushing the stop away from the end of panel as you move from hole to hole.

4) Make sure you've adjusted the gibs on the base so that there is no play between the base and the guide rail rib.  A few thousandths of an inch here is multiplied by the distance from the rail rib to the center of the router bit.

5) I use the LR32 w/ the OF1400 router and there is quite a bit of play in the screws that fasten the router to the base to allow for proper centering using the centering mandrel.  Be sure that the screws are tightened firmly so that the router can't slowly move off center as you move from hole to hole.  You can easily verify that centering has been maintained by reinserting the centering mandrel after you finish the holes.  Also be sure that base really centered to the mandrel - you can be .001-.002 off center even when using the mandrel if you're not very careful (i.e. the mandrel scrapes a bit on one side of the hole in the base and doesn't quite touch the opposite side of the hole).

Even with all these precautions I had to insert a .010 feeler gauge between the longitudonal stop and the end of the panel for one row of holes on some bookcases I'm making to get the holes to line up properly.   Normally this slight discrepancy shouldn't be a problem, but in my case the shelfs were only wide enough to hold a paperback book and even this small amount was enough to allow the shelves to rock.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I recently had the same problem and have finally concluded there were a few things that led to the problem.   

1)  In order for the holes to be aligned, the ends of your panel most be 100% square.  If the panel is out of square even a tiny bit you'll have the problem.

2) Make sure (check and double check) that the longitudinal stop is butted firmly against the end of the panel.  Be sure that all chips are removed.
... .

Fred

Clisbyclark,

I completely concur with Fred's recommendations, and think it especially important to follow the two procedural steps repeated above.  To help insure that my panel ends are square and that my LR 32 Guide Rail is properly indexed, I always use my 18" precision square and draw a pencil line where one of the holes in each of the parallel rows of holes is to be located.  That pencil line will be visible and centered in an indexing hole of the LR 32 Guide Rail when correctly mounted on the workpiece.  If that pencil line does not appear centered when you have repositioned the LR 32 Guide Rail for the second row of shelf pin holes, you'll know you have a  problem before you drill that second row of shelf pin holes.  I learned this the hard way, much as you have.  I only have the short (1080mm) LR 32 hole drilling Guide Rail, so I make multiple pencil marks across my workpiece which also assist me when "walking" the LR 32 lengthwise to complete a single row of shelf pin holes on a panel much longer than my LR 32 Guide Rail. 

Dave R.

 

[Warrior]

One other thing that can introduce some error is that the round pin on the longitudinal stops can move back and forth in the elongated rail hole. that movement is an arc between that and the thumb screw. I alway make sure that the pin is centered in the elongated hole as I tighten them down.

I know this sounds like alot to keep track of but when done as part of the operation procedure it takes no more time to set up and use the LR32 than if you didnt. The plus is that you get perfect hole placement for shelf pins and cabdoor hinges.

 

[bruegf]

One other thing that can introduce some error is that the round pin on the longitudinal stops can move back and forth in the elongated rail hole. that movement is an arc between that and the thumb screw. I alway make sure that the pin is centered in the elongated hole as I tighten them down.

I know this sounds like alot to keep track of but when done as part of the operation procedure it takes no more time to set up and use the LR32 than if you didnt. The plus is that you get perfect hole placement for shelf pins and cabdoor hinges.

Eiji,

Interesting, that's one thing that I don't have any play in.  My round pin on the longitudonal stop fits the holes in the track with no play along the length of the rail at all.

Fred

 

[Warrior]

Fred,

Let me see if I can explain better. Lets say that the length of the rail is the X axis and perpendicular to the rail is the Y axis.
I did not mean to imply any play in the X axis. There is play in the pin vs elongated hole in the rail on the Y axis. If you install the stop (in the 32mm setting) with the pin in the hole, move it back and forth and you will be able to see that the end of the stop that engages the work piece will be in a slightly different location from the center of the rail hole. I hope I am not confusing.

 

[bruegf]

Fred,

Let me see if I can explain better. Lets say that the length of the rail is the X axis and perpendicular to the rail is the Y axis.
I did not mean to imply any play in the X axis. There is play in the pin vs elongated hole in the rail on the Y axis. If you install the stop (in the 32mm setting) with the pin in the hole, move it back and forth and you will be able to see that the end of the stop that engages the work piece will be in a slightly different location from the center of the rail hole. I hope I am not confusing.

Now I understand.  This is one small source of potential misaligment that I did not catch.  Thanks for clarifying.

Fred

 

[clisbyclark]

I made my next batch of shelves today and used the centering mandrel in the 1400.  Perfect fit.  I'm convinced that not using it the first time was the reason for my problem.  I don't care what any "expert" says about not being necessary on the 1400, I'll take the extra two minutes to chuck the mandrel up from now on!