I am trying to make some arms for a hall tree. The material is 5/4 walnut. I made a template for the pattern and attached it to the rough cut blank, but the template will not stay attached and it ruins the blank.
How can I attach my template to the walnut so that it will stay where I put it?
Any other hints you can offer will also be appreciated.
Can you post a picture? It's difficult to see what you are up against with the exception there is a lot of stress routing with a template guide. Often it involves screwing the pattern to the part you wish to route.
using a template is done often with great results. some tips: cut away the waste, and leave about 1/16" for the router, attach the template firmly (we use screws and have to fill the holes), use a good sharp router bit (we use a 1/2" carbide spiral)
I have been using Scotch double faced tape, and it didn't have enough grip to hold the template to the walnut. It did fine on a test piece of pine, but not the walnut.
The pattern is attached to this post. The problem area, as you might expect, is the small end curve.
If you are talking scotch double faced tape as in the clear tape used in crafting it is not strong enough. Use what others have suggested. Get a quality double sided carpet tape.
If the tape is too sticky you can break your workpiece gettin' it apart. Hot glue is also very aggressive. Small nails or tacks may work for certain woods where the grain will split out easily. You can remove them as you work you way around the pattern if they are in the way.
I'd say there's a high probability that you're going to have problems with tear out on your piece. I tried to make similar parts with a template and router, and gave up (at least using straight bits). I ended up cutting it close on the bandsaw (actually using the template technique on the bandsaw), then sanding to the line using a Ridgid oscillating spindle sander.
It might be that a shorter straight bit would have worked (i.e. not cutting the full thickness in one pass), or a spiral/compression bit. I didn't try either one of them.
The underside of a chair arm doesn't show. If it were me I would screw the pattern to the arm and putty the two screw holes after you are done. The part still would have to be jig sawn very close to the finished size before attempting to route it. Where the end comes to a point it would be very prone to blow out.
I never have luck using double sided tape. I've ruined more then one project when the tape didn't hold. I also don't like removing the tape residue from the template and workpiece, it takes too long.
I now use a 21 gauge pin nailer and shoot between 2-4 pins depending on shape and size. In soft woods I can easily pull the pins out of the workpiece. Hardwoods don't give up the pin so easily and many break off. I just cut them as close as possible and sand the pin flush. Pins won't ruin a cutter if you were to hit a cut-off pin in a future operation. Nobody has ever noticed a pin in any of my finished projects.
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