At 10:06 AM 2/21/2009, Larry Bradley wrote: >I'm trying to find a way to cut neat rectangular holes in small plastic box >lids for mounting LCD displays for hobby work. I've been using my router table to do that exact thing. I use 1/4" up-cut spiral router bits (the cheaper no-name bits from Lee Valley tools work well). The router table is equipped with a very rigid back fence - this fence has slots milled the entire length from left to right. I use those slots to mount rigid right-angle fences - one to the left, one to the right. Lee Valley makes both the router table as well as the main back fence - part numbers 05J20.01 & 05J21.01 The idea is that the box can move right up to the main back fence and move left and right, as well as move front to back along the side fences. I haven't bothered with a fence for the 4th side - the holes I usually make are centered the box so I just lift the box out and rotate 180 degrees to cut the 4th side. I rough cut the opening using a jig saw (only doing a few boxes) or by setting the fences up to make a smaller hole in the box. I try to ensure that the final pass is removing less than 1/2 the diameter of the router bit worth of material - less is better. I wind up with very clean, straight lines in both plastic as well as the aluminum that Hammond uses for their die-cast enclosures. But: its noisy and messy. I use a shop vac to suck in as much debris as possible while cutting and vacuum the router table top clean between cutting each box. The other thing to note is that I wind up with 1/8" radius (1/4" quarter-round) rounded corners. Those I file square if I have to. dwayne -- Dwayne Reid Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd Edmonton, AB, CANADA (780) 489-3199 voice (780) 487-6397 fax www.trinity-electronics.com Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist