Dremel Pantograph Router Jig

[Wayne Johnson]

During the recent COVID lockdown in Sydney, Australia,  I decided to build a router pantograph to do my inlay work on my guitar builds.   I obtained a pantograph design drawing from 'Woodgear.ca' for $12.00 and it took around 3 to 4 days to make the pantograph jig using existing materials in my workshop.

On my current guitar build this jig has proven to be a valuable tool to achieve an accurate inlay result for creating the pocket and insert that fits together having no gaps to fill that would generally occur with other hand/routering methods that I have previously used, I organised getting perspex Guide templates made for my inlay design though a local Laser Cutting Service.  The cost for each template was around $12.00.   I am very happy with the results considering the minimal cost involved to build this jig compared to the cost for a CNC machine.  This method can be applied to a range of design inlays.  The guide templates are made at a 2:1 size ratio.

I have attached some jpeg photos showing the jig and the final results.

Wayne

WJ Guitars

Australia

[Rich]

really neat!

Rich

[bkcarnett]

Wow, that is a very cool machine! Thanks for sharing.

Brian 

[JohnParchem]

Very interesting jig!

[jearle514]

Wayne,

The only plans I find on that site are for a full sized router pantograph that appears to be used in a horizontal position.

Did you modify the plan?  Did you only build the pantograph part and flip it up to vertical position?  Some additional details would be useful.  I’m interested but confused (as usual!).

Thanks,

John

[Jason Brown]

Where are the pictures?

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[Wayne Johnson]

jpb1472

Where are the pictures?

At the moment I cannot post due to some problem in the forum system and can only email.  To the best of my knowledge the photos I attached in my email  have been sent and seem to be able to view.

Regards

Wayne

jearl514

The only plans I find on that site are for a full sized router pantograph that appears to be used in a horizontal position.

Did you modify the plan?  Did you only build the pantograph part and flip it up to vertical position?  Some additional details would be useful.  I’m interested but confused (as usual!).

Thanks,

John

I have provided the youtube link from 'Woodgear', (see also attachment).  You should now be able to find the information for the pantograph design.drawing.  

For my inlay design it required using small size router bits in my 'DremeI that I purchased from 'StewMac'.  From my experience I found it a little easier cutting timber inlays using a 1/32" down cut bit.  However, when cutting pearl slabs you need to be very careful, go slow and only cut in a small amount of depth change for each pass, otherwise you are likely to easily break the router bit.  For the pearl I used the Stewmac Taper router bit, item #1180.  Another important issue is the pantograph template guide pin size for fine detail work.  It needs to be around the diameter size of the router bit to achieve an accurate result.  I had my template guide pin machined in stainless steel.   The tracing pin size is 0.9mm.  A ;larger size would be ok for an inlay design that does not have any fine angle points.  When cutting both the pocket and the insert alway check the insert fit with the pocket.  When cutting the pocket when you think it is complete carefully go around the perimeter edge again using the router pantograph.  Sometimes it may also be necessary to clean up the pocket base with a very small carving chisel tool. 

The pantograph can be set up for use in both half and one third size.  I found using the 2:1 ratio worked the best.  Therefore, your guide template needs to be twice the size of your inlay design.  I found a free trial CAD programme to draw my guide templates in both 2D and 3D format.  For my local laser cutting service they only required the 2D DWG files to make the perspex templates that were made out of two 3mm thick perspex panels glued together.  The alternative would be to use a 3D file version and use a 6mm thick perspex slab to laser cut the template.  ( I did try making my own guide templates out of perspex, however, I was not able to perfectly cut out a matching pocket and insert template).

After sorting out what works best the key is to go slowly in small cut depths and you will not break router bits.  Now I have more experience in using this router jig I now have consistent results with virtually no gaps in my inlays.

Regards

Wayne

Building the 3-D pantograph - YouTube

[wjguitars]

John I forgot to add that the 3D pantograph plans do not include the setup that I have added to the pantograph jig to position the pearl slab or the fretboard for cutting out the pockets and inserts. 

From my first post the photos show rails mounted on the pantograph jig that is fastened to the mounting board that I clamp on my bench.  The rails are fixed on the raised board with button screws where I slide in the fretboard to a marked location that I set up on the slide  rails where I want to position the pocket inlay for cutting and the friction of the side rails is sufficient to stops the fretboard from moving.  For the for insert pearl slab I made a shorter slide in panel to mount the pearl slab with double sided.  I then use a dowel to lock this panel in to stop it from moving.  For details see previous submitted photos .  I have drilled a number of dowel hole locations on the raised board for repositioning the pearl for multiple inlays cuts from one pearl slab.   

When setting up you need to accurately pencil in the position where your inlays shapes are on the fretboard and then adjust the position of your pocket guide template to suite.  This will involve moving the tracing guide pin around the edges of the formed shape in the guide template until the router bit is moving to the correct position of your pocket inlay on the fretboard.  Once set up then fasten the guide template to the main base board and you are now ready to start cutting out the first pocket.   You can then slide the fretboard up to the set mark on the slide rail to the next position to start cutting the next pocket  on the fretboard etc.

For the pearl cutting on the slide in panel the set up method for positioning the insert template also requires a similar set up method as mentioned above.  Make sure that the side rails are set so that the fretboard and the guide template position are square to each other.  This reference is critical to ensure the correct inlay position when cutting pockets on the fretboard.

Hope this additional information is of some help if you decided to make your own Router 3D Pantograph Jig for inlay work on your guitar builds.

Regards

Wayne 

[wjguitars]

One more important thing to keep in mind when setup the Dremel Router Pantograph Jig for inlay work is to make sure the router bit is tightened in the chuck with a spanner.  Otherwise the router bit is likely to come lose if only hand tightened in the Dremel.

Wayne