Fingernail router bits are used to create designer fingernail edges on tabletops or bookshelves. They can be rather expensive, but you can accomplish the same effect with an inexpensive round-over bit. To do so, you need to attach a jig to your router table to guide the round-over bit. Here's how to make the jig. Materials:
For the base: 3/4" piece of plywood the length of the router table, with a width about one-fourth the length
Table saw
For the support block: 3/4" pine or plywood, 2 1/4" wide and the length of the router table
For clamping blocks: 3/4" pine or plywood the length of the router table and about 1 1/2" wide
Screwdriver and dry-wall screws
For the stop: strip of plywood the length of the base and about one-sixth the width of the base
Drill press
Hole saw
Sandpaper
Round-over router bit
Router table
- Set the table-saw blade at 45 degrees (figure A).
- Send the plywood base through the table saw to cut a bevel through one side of its length (figure B).
- Set the table-saw blade at 90 degrees (figure C). Adjust the blade to the height of the support block (7/8" should be adequate for the blade to clear the wood).
- Send the support block through the blade at a 45-degree angle to cut a triangle from its end (figure D).
- Send the same end of the support block through for another pass, this time at a 90-degree angle (figure E).
- Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the other end of the support block.
- Take the small pieces of wood you cut off in step 5, and cut a small shoulder from their longest ends (figure F). The shoulder should be the same size as the clamping-block material you've chosen. Screw the support blocks to the clamping block so they're as far apart from each other as the jig's base is long (figure G).
- Screw the plywood base onto the stands at a 45-degree angle (figure H).
- Screw the piece of plywood that will act as a stop to the foot of the base, resting at a 45-degree angle (figure I).
- Use a hole saw attached to a drill press to drill a hole in the center of the stop and plywood base (figure J). Use sandpaper to smooth the rough edges. The hole allows the router bit to come up through the base and contact the work piece.
- Attach the round-over bit to the router table. Center the jig's hole around the round-over bit (figure K).
- Use the stop as a fence for the bottom of your work piece as you send it through the round-over bit (figure L). Sending a work piece through the jig will give it rounded edges. Be sure to experiment with scrap wood before sending your work piece through. You may need to adjust the fence forward or backward on the table to get a perfect fingernail cut.
RESOURCES :
Wood-working kits
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