I only see a couple of posts on cutting housings with a router. Can anyone recomment the best manufacturer and also the size and depth of bit I would need to cut full width housings on an 8x8 timber? I have seen reference to 1 1/2 inch diameter bits with top bearing. Would a smaller one be better but just take more time?

I have used several different arrangements for cutting housings with a router and my conclusion is that I hate using routers to cut housings. They are too noisy, too dusty, produce too much vibration, and are too difficult to control. I know that some people are very skilled with a router, and that is fine, but I have seen more ugly mistakes from a router than from any other tool. And did I mention the noise and dust?

In our yard, open housings get kerfed with a skilsaw or chopped with an axe depending on how regular the stock is. If the depth of the housing varies by more than about 1/8 or 3/16 I find it faster to chop it out with an axe. Usually the back of the housing gets plunged and sawn with a skilsaw to establish that line, again unless the depth varies greatly across the housing. In my opinion, this is much faster than using a router.

That being said, we occasionally use a router and template when we have a closed housing with a flat bottom. But we have adjusted our joinery to where that is very rare now. When it comes up, I use a top bearing bit and a template. I have a few different diameters, from 3/4" to 1 1/4" which I choose based on hardwood/softwood and depth I need to reach. The length of carbide is 1", I think.

The brand of router I can't really say, other than I don't recommend the cheap hitachi. You need at least 3 horsepower as well as very good hearing/dust/eye protection. If we used routers more than only occasionally, I would get one of those darth vader helmets that have a face shield and a constant fresh air supply.

I guess I have made it clear that I think using a router for housings is an unhealthy and mistake prone technique(yes, even with the templates). And I just find it unpleasant.

I would love to hear other people's take on this.

Cheers,

GH

I'm cheering you on, Gabel.
chopping out housings can be very fast, no templates to figure out, your layout time becomes your setup time... I use the adze(short handled) to chop out where you are using the axe. However, since I took up teaching I've realized that the hand tools are not for everyone and also I've realized that starting into chopping an 8x8 can be intimidating. You need to practice a while before you get fast. A suggestion I would make to someone interested in using hand tools rather than the dusty, loud and expensive to run electic tools is this: Take the price of your power tool and convert it to hours of pay, spend that time practicing housings on waste timber, preferably after watching an experienced person work the adze or axe. Then see if hand tools are fast and accurate enough for you.
A side benefit of using these tools is that you gain strength and vitality, which can be used in the evening(wink) and eye hand co-ordination, which can be used on the playing field...

as far as answering the question, I'd buy the cheapest router to start with... wear it out and then you'll know what you want in a more expensive router. I made a template from birch plywood and used upside down cariage bolts through nuts welded on angle as levelers. half or three quarter bit is PLENTY imo.

OK so if I was going to give it a goby hand what about just using a 1-1/2" framing chisel?

On the router bit when you say 1/2 to 3/4" is plenty are you talking about diameter or depth. I see that many of the bits sold online show the carbide being only 3/4 to 1" high. It seems like a larger bit would level out better but take more horses. ANy further detail on the router bits would be appreciated.

So how long does it take an experienced guy to cut an 8x8 open housing where a beam joins a post?

topshelf,

As far as just using a chisel, that would be pretty slow and could be hard on the body. The chisel isn't very efficient for that kind of bulk wood removal. I haven't used an adze as Mark is talking about, but it only took me chopping a few housings to get comfortable with my axe. Don't forget to saw the top and bottom line to full depth before chopping.

If you are going to use power tools, a circular saw set to the corect depth, cutting across the grain at 1/4" intervals, followed by a hammer/mallet/axe to knock the chips loose, and then finished with your chisel is fast. There is no setup time for this method (other than setting the depth of your saw).
In my experience, Mark is right on. It takes a short time to develop some skill with the hand tools, but you often find they are still efficient for a lot of what we do. That learning curve discourages a lot of people and they never develolp that skill. If you do (or already have) you will never regret it.

I always feel like I have a wolf by the ears when I am running a router.

I feel like I might be telling you stuff you already know, I would love to hear a little about you and your project.

As far as how long to cut a housing -- it depends, but a few years back, we had a series of races in our shop: router and template vs. axe and chisel. The axe and chisel won consistently by a small margin, and that didn't include the time it took to make the template. That is when we put the routers up for the most part. You only get faster with the hand tools.

Cheers,

GH

I've always just used the framing chisel to cut the housings. Mostly just because it's already in my hand when I've finished the mortice. I don't find it to be all that slow, but neither am I working commercially, and all my timbers but the sills are softwoods.

Cheers,
Dan

if cutting using the method Gabel suggests, by scoring the top and bottom lines with the circular and scoring in between, then banging out the waste and finishing with a sharp(if not sharp, add another ten minutes) chisel, you should be done in 10 minutes or less(pine). I like what Gabel says about the hand tools just get faster as you become more comfortable with them, I would add that they also give you more and more fun.
if you want to remove waste fast by hand, you need something like an adze or an axe that you can swing like a baseball bat. I hit the timber quite hard when working strickly by hand in our courses.

I meant a 1/2 or 3/4 diameter bit... we were working through a 1" deep blind housing in about 3 passes, so a depth of 1/4 to 1/2.
I'm sure you could go faster with more hp, just be ready to hang on tight. no trouble with level on the 1/2" bit, and the inside of the housing is unseen anyways.
Daiku did some posts on a very cool router jig that he made... you should search it out, there are some good pics.

Although the housing router Mark mentioned worked pretty well, and was safe and accurate, it was also heavy and slow. We've found that a custom template for each housing shape is pretty easy to make, and actually faster to cut with. Here are 2 videos that show one of the templates being used in our shop:

The first one is the actual routing . Note that he's taking several passes, going a little deeper each time. There's a depth stop set for the final pass. Note also that he's only routing around the perimeter of the housing.

The second video shows cleaning up the housing with chisels. Note that each step took less than a minute.

Take a close look at how simple the template is. The base of the router just runs up against the wall of the template. There's a fence that hangs over the edge of the timber, which positions the template. The fence is longer than the template is wide, so it can be used to clamp the template to the timber. We're just using a 1" straight bit - no bearing - nothing fancy.

PS: I made the videos with my cell phone. You can play them with quicktime.

First of all I want to thank everyone that replied so far but especially Daiku. I had seen your fancy jig on another site and thought it was overkill for what I needed. You guys are obviously all good at what you do and all have your preferred method.

Daiku,
On your router templates do you just use 3/4 plywood and oversize to account for the router base? Or are you using a multi tiered template with a top bearing bit? I was also thinking of trying to cut the center with the router as mine are only 1/2" deep. Or would it be easier to knock the center out with a chisel even at that depth? Also what type of clamps are you using?

Here's a crummy little cell phone photo of a template , just after the housing was cut. The base is just 1/8" hardboard, and the walls are 1x1 maple (whatever you have laying around). The fence is about 2x2, and is a little longer than the template on each end for clamping. Always clamp to the reference face, of course. We do not use a top bearing bit. The base of the router runs along the walls of the template. We use 1" diameter router bits, that are 1-1/2" or 2" long - easy to sharpen, as you don't have to fuss with the bearing. We do cut out the center of the template using the router. The clamps are Irwin Quick Grip. We like those bacause the sides pop off so that you can blow out the sawdust that can accumulate in there and jam the mechanism (other brands are glued together). As someone is sure to point out, the templates are specific to one diamter of router bit and one size of router base, in our case, the 3HP model from Makita (3612). We have 3 in our shop. CB.

I misunderstood one of topshelf's questions. We route around the outside of the housing, and clean up the rest with a chisel. Even if the depth is only 1/2" (like in the knee brace housing shown in the photo). If you try to do the center, the router will 'fall into the hole', since it's riding on the template base which has a hole in the middle. The exception is the knee brace housing, which is only 2" wide, so the router easily reaches the center.

Also note the "full metal jacket" of safety gear used in the video (ear, eye, lung protection).

daiku.

My partner is in town now picking up a router.

We are lucky to have a friend/relative who has access to a lazer metal cutter and pretty sharp guy so he can make our templates and clamps.

You photos and videos will be a great help thxs.

Pegs:

Metal templates will be strong and durable, but I would not make the base plate out of metal, as the bit is likely to come in contact with it. Perhaps a metal framed template would be stiff enough with just the walls, and without a base, and the router could ride directly on the timber. This is better anyway, as there will be no hole in the center of the template for the router to fall into. With the fixed size templates that I've been talking about, only half of the router is supported by the template base, and the rest floats over the housing. This is why you can only route the perimeter of the housing. If your router rides directly on the timber, you can remove more of the housing with it. Just leave some "islands" for your router to ride on. CB.

I've gotten some emails about these templates, asking how hard they are to make, and how many you need. They're pretty easy to make, and we have about a dozen for our most common sizes and locations. An 8x8 housing that's flush up against the reference face requres a different template than one that's 'centered' on a 10" timber - the fence is offset by 1" to place the housing 1" from the reference face. The point is that you will often find yourself in a situation where you don't have the template you need, and for whatever reason, don't want to take the time to make one. That's when you wish you had a universal housing template.

It has the advantage of the router riding directly on the timber, as I described in my last post. The disadvantage is that it's a little heavier, and takes a little longer to set up than the one-size templates. Also, the "walls" are not as tall, so it might be easier to slip over the edge (hasn't happened yet).

Here are two videos that show the thing in use. This time, we used a better camera, and made .avi files. I'm narrating the video (I kinda felt like Norm :-), and I mention that the steel plates are 16 guage. Actually, they're twice that thick, about 1/8".

Part 1 (57M)
Part 2 (31M)

I apologize for the large file sizes. It might take a few minutes to download. CB.

Hey guys,
Some mostly permanent does all templates may be just the ticket but when you are on the distant job site the master is not in the truck,
Lesson learned, improvise.
The challenges which occur on TFG projects are good examples. On the Colbath barn a while back we had to cut ramped housings very precisely and at a funny angle. the housings were rectangular in overall shape and ran from 1/2" deep to nothing at some shallow angle I don't remember.
Solution: temporarily screw two pieces of scrap stock on each side of the timber describing the plane of the angle to be cut. Using a wide base plate and set the plunge depth at the deep end. Gently push the router up the ramp and voila, ramped housings to spec. Set up time per housing about 1 minute. Routing time according to the skils of the driver but in any case consideralby faster and more accurate then an eyeball driven chisel.
A little time thinking toward a solution pays dividends.
deralte

Hello all,
Thought I would throw in my thoughts.
While I will agree with Gabel and the other hand tool users out there that is a valid way to cut housings (more peaceful too) and it is also valid to have a template or the beloved housing router.
However, I prefer free hand use of the router and with time I have gotten better with the half moon error. I think the key is finding the pattern that works well for the wood and thus grain. Also not taking too much wood at one time is also the trouble and the art of it.
I find I only need a sharp bit, dust mask, face shield, hearing protection, eye protection and of course my good ole' Hitachi router.
Brice
Brice