Router Jig

A jig for routing fire tape channels.

Dated: 11/1/22
Publish: 9/18/26
Revise: 10/16/26
Reading time: ~1 min read

Backstory

Leave me alone on night shift… and… well, I'm liable to build a jig.

We had a lot of identical columns comin' off the CNC… but
for the fire tape (which is supposed to go all the way around the column)
only two of the four sides were routed out.

To operate the CNC and hand fab team together effectively
it is a game of choosing what is worthwhile to do on the CNC versus
what to leave for the hand fabrication team.

Anyway… to route out the other two sides I threw this thing together.
It slid into the two already routed sides..!

That time at Timberlab was one my favorite gigs.

The jig

Wooden router jig fitted over the end of a timber beam — Figure 1: The jig. First time testing it. Ran it on the outer edges.

You could throw a quick clamp on it if you wanted to but it didn't need it.
I sanded it down just so it fit snugly.
The fire tape channel tolerance is coarse anyway.

Otherwise a lot of clamp set up time

Prior naive routing guide secured to timber beam. Two small straight edges laid across the column, each secured with a bar clamp at each end — Figure 2: Prior naive routing setup secured with bar clamps.

Timber beam with a routed channel using the naive setup held by the bar clamps — Figure 3: A routed channel with the naive setup.