How to route out the design on wardrobe cabinet?

Does anyone in your town have a water jet cutter or other computer controlled cuttingmachine? A router is really not the tool for this...would the wood fit on a scroll or band saw table? Maybe a jigsaw with a very narrow bit?

I also cut the S in a magazine rack with a jig saw then sanded it. A router is just too hard to control. A band saw would probably work even better.

Is this the design you're recreating?

The tight radius at the end of each cut will be pretty hard with a jig saw. I'd recommend drawing your layout and then using a forsner drill bit of the right size ---- 1" or 1 1/2" or whatever you want, at each end and then connect the holes with the jigsaw. When you drill, clamp the ply down on a piece of scrap to keep the back from splintering out.

This is how I was thinking originally, but I struggled with how to do a CUT OUT design, rather than following a pattern

on the edge of a template, like trimming the edge of the formica to match the shape of the table top.  Getting the bit into the hole and following along wasn't working on my practice piece because it would simply cut the template as well.  That said, I wasn't trying it with a bearing guided bit.  

I forgot to mention that we did use a drill for the rounded corners, like dan suggested above.

The router is the right tool for the job as has been previously mentioned.  I'd get a flush trim bit with the bearing mounted on top:

MLCS Flush Trim Bit

Depending on the thickness of your work piece, I'd think that #6500, 6501, 6509, or 6502 from the above link would be good.  These bits can't be "plunged", so you may need to drill a starter hole.  There are other bits that can be plunged into the work piece, and these will not require a hole to get started if you have a plunge router.

Clamp your template on top of the work piece, locate the bearing against the bottom of your template, and follow the edges.  I don't remember off the top of my head, but you'll notice that the router is more controllable going one direction than the other.  Whichever way the bit rotates, you'll want to move the router around the edge against the rotation...otherwise it'll try to drive away like the spinning wheels on a car against the road.  Be sure to allow the bit to come to a complete stop before lifting the router or you'll risk damaging your template.

If you don't feel comfortable doing the whole thing with a router, you can always do the best you can with a jig saw, and then use the router & flush trim bit with a pattern to clean it up so that you have much less sanding to do.

Good luck whichever method you choose!

Charlie

Great tool sites. Thanks.
A flush trim bit would work if the template  is thick enough.

If your template is 1/8" birch the bearing wouldn't have enough wood to act as a guide.