Spar Question

[Steve Green]

Re: Spar Question

I'll get a picture of the bit in the morning. Its -8 right now and windy, headed for -20 or so tonight. If this were Alaska, that would be no big deal, but it was 60+ degrees on Friday. Ah, winter in Denver.

Here is a picture of the bits, and their package. I used the 1/2" shank bit.

[mulwyk]

Re: Spar Question

Geese, Richard, I got that router 30 (?!) years ago. Those old Craftsman routers just never die.
Well, the surface actually came out pretty good. I used a new carbide bit and I think I musta held my breath the whole time I was milling it. Still it needed a light touch up. I didn't use a belt sander cause I was worried about the glue joint being strong enough with a sanded surface and anyway I usually make a mess of it with the belt sander. I used a little block plane, with the blade barely touching, and then a 1" chisel dragging it backwards like a cabinet scraper.

[Pearson]

Re: Spar Question

The one I have is also very old, but it is in like new condition. They are very well made. I am a long way from needing to work on my spars, but I have been wondering how I was going to do this. I like the idea of doing it all myself with a router. But I would like to see the type of bit that Steve used. I like the idea of haveing a taper at the outboard end of the doubler. I guess a simple half round bit would do the trick.

[Steve Green]

Re: Spar Question

Richard,

I added a picture of the bits to my earlier post above. Probably should have done a new post to make it easier to find.

I used the 1/2" shank bit, only because I had more precise control of depth than with the 3/8" bit. My end stop system was very similar to the one in the picture Bob posted. I followed up with a freshly sharpened 2" chisel to clean up the surface.

Set-up and practice cuts took the most time, it went very quickly once I got past the initial fear of cutting up a perfectly good spar blank and ruining it.

[Pearson]

Re: Spar Question

Steve, Thanks for posting that. I think that is the way I will go when the time comes for me to do my spars.