MFS, Multi-Routing Template Systen, Page Five.

Inlays are a great way to add some interesting detail to your projects. The inlay I am going to do now is simple and relatively small but it is going to have a huge impact on the piece.

We start the same way as the rest of the examples by selecting the bit/copying ring combo and setting the MFS to size. In the picture here I'm adding some scrap stock to act as shims to help support the MFS.

More of the same, set the depth of the bit and rout. I need to be a little careful because I'm routing off each edge, tear out can happen here. Removing small amounts near the edges will greatly reduce the chance of tare out.

Here are the pieces I"ll be using for the inlay, zebra wood.

With the pieces fitting perfectly, some blue tape will help hold the pieces in alignment until I can glue and clamp them.

In the photo above the excess zebra wood has been cut off and the piece sanded. Using the MFS to rout this inlay was not much effort, but, added a lot of visual appeal to this piece.

Taking offset routing one step farther, we'll take a look at making the male portion and female recess for inlays with the MFS. Keeping the MFS the same size and changing the copying rings/bits allows inlays to be cut quickly and accurately. Some of you may be familiar with inlay sets available today, the sets have a bit and guide bushing with a second bushing (with a larger diameter) that slips onto the first. With this type you follow the template to rout the female recess with both the guide bushing and second bushing installed on the router. Then, rout out the male insert with the larger second bushing removed, using the same template. I'll illustrate this principle with the MFS using different size bits and copying rings/guide bushings.

This drawing shows how to use the same bit to rout the male and female potions of an inlay by changing the copying rings. In the drawing the 10 mm bit/20 mm copying ring combo cuts out the male inlay and the 10 mm bit/40 mm copying ring the female recess. The 40 mm copying ring with the 10 mm bit produces a 15 mm offset from the outside edge of the copying ring to the edge of the bit. With the 20 mm ring and 10 mm bit combo used for the male portion, the offset between the edge of the bit and the copying ring is 5 mm. When we add the 5mm offset and the 10 mm bit diameter we get 15 mm, equal to the offset of the female bit/ring combo. The goal is to have the offset of the female's combination of bit/ring be equal to the offset, plus the diameter of the bit used for the male portion. (Offset of Female bit/ring = Offset of Male bit/ring + bit diameter)

Let me show the whole process with a few drawings using these same bit/ring combinations. This example will be an open field inlay 200 mm X 50 mm.

The MFS is set to 230 mm X 80 mm. The rectangle inside the MFS represents the where the inlay will be.

With the 40 mm copying ring and the 10 mm bit in the router, we can rout out the female recess 5 mm deep. The red arrow shows the path of the router making systematic passes to remove all of the material to form the recess.

The recess should look like this. Note the corners have a radius, a chisel will square them up.

With the female recess finished lets turn our attention to the male cut out. The male inlay stock is 5 mm thick to match the female's recess. It is a good idea to placed the stock on top of a sacrificial piece of scrap to prevent cutting into the work table. Also the area that will be the cutout is adhered to the scrap with two sided tape to keep it from being damaged by the bit when it is cut free.

Page Six.