The Other Side of the Table

Several people asked for a pic of the other side of the table. Here it is.

I made the metal bracket in the lathe at work from a piece of water pipe and a flat sheet of 1/8" steel. The bracket is attached with 1" sheet rock screws. The 3 legs are made from 1/2" water pipe welded to a 2"x2" piece of sheet metal 1/8" thick. The legs are bolted on with 1" sheet rock screws. The table top is a piece of scrap kitchen count top that I got free at a local company that makes custom counter tops. The rubber feet on the legs came from Home Depot.
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You can make a table using several pieces of angle iron like you see in this picture. The angle pieces are screwed to the bottom of the table. The roto zip is placed in the center of the angle pieces. The hose clamp is used to squeeze the angle pieces against the roto zip to hold it in place. Drill a 3/4" diameter hole in the table for the roto zip shaft and the cutter.
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Here is a close up pic of the top.
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Looks like you are using this more like a jigsaw than a router. I can see how it could be easier to use than a jigsaw, particularly for enclosed shapes - setting up the jigsaw each time (blade through an operning) is a pain.

It would be cool to use it like a router, with a template running against a collar, but I can see limitations in that idea too.

Very nice setup.

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"Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them." -Aristotle

I do have it set up like a router. The cutter shaft has a smooth side where there is no cutting edge. I have the smooth shaft sticking up about 1/4" past the table surface. The 1/4" plywood templete rubs against the shaft and does not get cut. The balsa that hangs over the side of the templete gets cut off because its up higher where the cutting edge is. Just slide the templete along the cutter and it cuts off all the balsa.

I have found its much faster and easier to use if you cut off all the extra balsa that hangs over the templete with a razor knife so there is about 1/8" of over hang. It makes it much easier to see what your doing with all that extra balas removed.

CAUTION. Don't get your finger in the cutter. I have talked to some of the construction guys in town and they say it can mangle your finger in a micro second. The cutter will grab the skin and pull itself in deeper. Some of the guys have said it will rip the end of your finger clear off before you know what happened. BE CAREFUL.

>CAUTION. Don't get your finger in the cutter. I have talked
>to some of the construction guys in town and they say it can
>mangle your finger in a micro second. The cutter will grab
>the skin and pull itself in deeper. Some of the guys have
>said it will rip the end of your finger clear off before you
>know what happened. BE CAREFUL.

Yep, and one solution is to slide a piece of large fuel line or automotive vacuum line over the top part of the blade, leaving just enough of the cutting surface above the smooth shank to accomodate the thickness of template/part material.