Author: Keith Larrett

After completing a test piece, it was time to route out all the pockets for the knives. 19 knives in total, with the pockets to be routed in a beautiful piece of 7/8″ thick tiger maple. A little nerve wracking to say the least!

Here are some progress pictures. The Eagle head of the pocket was routed first as that was the deepest pocket.

Next the main body of the knives were routed out.

I then removed the 1/4 plywood template from the back of the maple. That in itself was a struggle, it’s amazing how strong double sided carpet tape is! Using a 1″ forstener bit I drilled semi circles above the template of each knife. This was to be the guide to route out a small finger pocket. I then clamped the plywood to the front of the maple and using a plunge router with a core bit and collar cut out the finger pockets.

Here is a detail shot of one of the knife pockets.

Finally here is a shot of the tiger maple board complete with all the knives. I was pleasantly surprised when each knife dropped neatly in it’s designated pocket 🙂

The next step will be to make the frame of the case. I plan on using African Mahogany with half blind dovetail joints inlaid with maple.

I decided to do a test piece for the pockets I will be making for the knife display case. I’ve learned the value of test pieces from bitter experience. The extra time taken always seems to pay dividends as you figure out a process using a piece of scrap wood.

The first step was to trace the pattern of a knife onto a piece of 1/4″ plywood and onto a piece of scrap maple. I also drew a line on the pattern separating the thicker eagle head portion of the knife from the rest of the handle.

Using my scroll saw I cut out the eagle head portion of the pattern in the plywood. On the maple piece I hogged out the same portion using a 3/4″ forstner bit in my drill press. I set the drill press so that it would drill to a depth just slightly less of the final depth of the pocket.

Then, taking care to orientate it correctly, I attached the plywood to the back of the maple with double stick tape, and using a 3/4″ router bit and the Daisy Pin Router, I routed out as much of the pocket as I could.

Because of the diameter of the 3/4″ router bit I was not able to route out the area of the pocket at the eagle’s beak. So I switched to a 1/8″ router bit and also changed the guide pin in the Daisy Pin Router to 1/8″. With the smaller diameter bit I was able to access and rout out the area at the eagle’s beak.

I then removed the plywood from the maple test piece, and took it back to the scroll saw, where I cut out the rest of the pattern. I also took the maple piece back to the drill press and hogged out as much as I could with the forstner bit. You can see that portion of the pocket will not be as deep as the eagle head portion.

The 1/4″ plywood was taped to the back of the maple piece again, and I switched both the router bit and Daisy Pin Router guide pin back to 3/4″. Then the pocket was routed out. Because this section of the pocket was not as deep I did not have to do a plunge cut with the router. I simple placed the piece over the router bit in the deeper pocket, turned the router on and then moved the piece across to route out the shallower section.

The completed pocket with the knife sitting in it.

With a total of 19 pockets to create in the actual knife display case, it was worth taking the time to make a test piece and find the most efficient and accurate method.

My initial plan to create the slots holding the knives in the display case was to use my scroll saw. However, the case dimensions were 16″ x 30″ which would have been to big for my scroll saw. Further, when I took delivery of the knives I saw the eagle part of the handle was considerably thicker than the rest of the handle. This meant the slots would have to be at a varied depth in order for the knives to sit flat. The only way to achieve this would be with a router.

Rather than having to factor in the thickness of a router collar when making the template, I decided to buy a Daisy Pin Router from MLCS Woodworking. Like I really needed an excuse to buy a new tool 🙂 The pin router includes four steel guide pin of varying sizes (1/4″, 5/16″, 3/8″ and 1/2″) and I also purchased the corresponding set of router bits to go with the pin router. As always, with MLCS, shipping was prompt and the package arrived in good condition. As you can see in the next shot, some assembly and set up is required.

After attaching the lever to the arm, I screwed the 1/2″ guide pin into the collet of my router. I then moved the arm around to see where it would fit best. Ideally I would have preferred bolting it to the table on the fence side of the router. However, I had very limited access to the underside of my router table at that location, so it would have been difficult tightening and removing the bolts. I ended up locating it to the left and back of the router. This meant that I would need to feed the workpiece from right to left, which shouldn’t be a problem as I have enough of the table in front of the router to support the workpiece. I also took care to make sure the arm did not cover the access hole for the router lift.

The next step was to mark where the four holes were to be drilled in the router table. I used a transfer punch to do this accurately. I drilled the holes carefully using a 5/16″ bit. The directions called for using a 3/8″ bit, but that seemed a bit big to me.

The next shot shows the pin router bolted to the table with the 1/2″ pin still secured in the router collet.

I was excited to take it for a test drive, so I cut a scrap piece of 1/4″ plywood, drilled a hole in it with a forstner bit and then secured it to a piece of maple with double sided tape. I set the guide pin so that it was just above the maple, but below the height of the plywood.

Routing the outside profile was quick and easy. I did it in four passes, raising the bit each pass. I routed the end grain first and then the side grain to avoid tear out.

Routing the interior profile took a bit more care, but was still quick and easy. I raised the guide pin, started the router, then carefully positioned the workpiece over the bit taking care to ensure the guide pin was inside of the hole cut out in the plywood. Then I plunged the workpiece down on the bit, held the workpiece securely while dropping and locking the guide pin in place. Then it was just a matter of moving the workpiece around within the constraints of the guide pin in the cut out hole. I had to perform these steps a couple of times, turning off the router and raising the bit incrementally each time. When I flipped the piece over it was good to see a perfect reproduction of the circle in the workpiece!

Overall I’m very pleased with the Daisy Pin Router. I think it will work great for the knife display case and I’m sure I will come up with many more uses for it as time goes by.