A Complete Guide: to the Router and Its Accessories

 THE

BOOK

A Complete Guide

 to the Router and Its Accessories Accessories

The Router Book

 Te Router  Book

Pat Warner

The Taunton Press

 Text ©  by Pat Warner Photograp hs ©  by The Taunton Press Inc. Ilustrations ©  by The Taunton Press, Inc Al rights reserved

 The Taunton Press Inc 6 South Main Street PO. Box 556  , e-mail: tp@tantoncom

INTEROR DSGN A YOUT:

Mary McKeon

Rosale Vaccaro

LLUSTRATOR

Ron Carboni

COVR HOTOGRAP

Scott Pillips

NT ROR HOTOGRAPY

Lon Atkinson

RARY OF CONGRSS CATAOGNG-N-UBATON AT A 

Waner, Pt 1943The route book / P Waer.

. m E-Book ISBN: 978-1-60085-578-8

 Routes (ools) 2 Woodwor. I itle T203.5 W3735 200 684'08--d2

20010279

Printe n te United States of America 987

65

4

To my wife, Judy Ann, without whom this work would still be a pile of dust handwritten folders.

Acknowledgments

I

 peny of elp on tis boo Plese let me tn Jrgen Amtmnn for is engineering expetise; Ntn Deoit for is compter si s;

il Stivers for is excellent woowor in prepring te meis fo te iny potos; Aln Goosel n Crlos Venito for tei roter bit experise; Pt Spielmn Sroer y, o Lngson n eff  Soltz of Porer-Cble; Jon recy of Wetzler Cmp; Cris Cson of Bosc; Bry Rnsrom; rn Kne; Gry Rogowsi; Jon Goff; Dve Kele; Ricr Wee; n Erc Jonson.

ABOUT YOUR SAFETY

Woring wit woo is inerenty ngeos. sing n or power toos improperly or ignoring sfety prctices cn le to permnen inry or even et Don try to peform opeions yo lern bot ere (or elsewere) ness yoe cern tey re sfe fo yo If someing bo n operion oesn feel rig on o it oo fo noer wy We wn yo to enjoy e cf so plese eep sfety foremost in yo min wenever yoe in te sop.

Contents

ntroduction

3

Chapter 1

4

-

Introducton to Routng

8

Appicatons Types of Routng

Chapter 2

-

Cutter Pathway Control

12

20

Bearing-Guded Cutters

22

Colar Guides

29

Edge Gudes

33

The Subbase

36

ool Shank

37

he Crce Cutter

38

Other Gude Options

40

Chapter 3

Fxed-Base Routers



41

Router Basics

43

Lea ding Fixed-Base Routers

49

Department Store Routers

57

Best Fixed-Base Appicatons

57

Chapter 4

-

Plunge Routers

60

Basic Anatomy

62

Power as an Asset

65

Addng Stablty

66

Helpful Features

66

Best Uses for Plunge Routers

68

PorterCabe 7529

73

DeWat 625

74

Chapter 5

-

Laminate Trim Routers

75

Guide Systems

75

Other Features and Applications

80

Chapter 6

Router Tables

-

84

Router Table Basics

84

The Fence

91

Protection from the Cutter

93

Depth of Cut Strateges

95

Cimb Cuttng

98

The Miter Gauge

99

Router Table Safety

Chapter 7



Router Bits

Evauating Performance

100

106 107

Cutter fe

11

Materas

12

Shank Diameter

14

Cutter Types

14

Sharpenng

121

Chapter 8

Router Accessories

-

122

Gudes and Bases

122

Router Table Acessories

127

Chp Collecton

130

Chapter 9

-

Simple Shopmade Jigs

131

Right-Ange Tempates

31

Sot Makers

132

Shopmade Moriser

133

Tenon Maker

134

End-Lap Tempate

136

Adjustabe Tenon Maker

136

Crce Maker

138

Router Horse

138

Pn-Routng Jg

40

45-Degree Beve

140

Chapter 10

-

Router Safety

141

Hand-Router Safey

143

Rouer Table Safey

147

Clmb Cuting

151

Stock Preparaion

152

Cuter Surprises and Risks

153

Heath Concerns

155

Chapter 11



Common Router Limitations

1 56

Risks and Probems

157

Weight and Ergonomics

163

Chapter 12

-

Starting Up the Router

164

Preparaion and Seup

164

Router Table Seup

170

Chapter 13



Template Routing

171

ools and Maeras

172

Template Uses and Types

173

Making Basc Templaes

174

Resources

180

Index

182

Introduction

W

t I lie most bot roting is e bility to mnge is  now  wi e rigt cttes j igs nd ixtes  cn

remove te ig mont o wood in te igt pce e biity to do tis does not ppen overnig oweve. rcice espec o te mte i tention o cte dynmics nd good ixres ll ply  pt Roes e e big time pobem solves o te powe too ingdom ey ve more pplictions tn ny singe cting ool ey pply temselves wel in jo iney, decortion nd in  imited wy, millwor Moe n 1,000 cters nd conless j igs re  yo disposl o lmos ny oing ob. Nevereess, oing does ve is i mittions Spend some time wit tis boo nd yo will discove te prcicl limits nd lso te stengts o roting. Js eding te boo won't me yo ino n expet roter se, b  o o pctice will. Expec to inis is text nd w wy w it te ndmentls o te crt ow to coose  ct e nd roter wen o pply tem, wen to conside n lenive, nd ow o se te oo sely

oters hve wored themseves into the premiere spot mong woodworng power tool nly drills otsell them mong portble power tools. Its even frly ommon for woodworers to own  smll fmily of roters n different sizes nd shpes Bt the sheer size of the roter fed n me the job of hoosing the right too seem dntng And the vst nmber of essories on the mret oers  fest of hoes tht provides nother hllenge o nvgte ths se of hoes nd fnd  sond strtegy to inorporte ths tool in or shops, we might thn bot why we se these toos to begn wth nd wht mes them so spel

The auo's mortising jig uses a pair of edge  guides and a pair of jig stops so it can be adjusted to rout vrualy any mortise.

Rouing is basically the hgh-speed removal of stock from a workpece; hnk of  as the measured wasing of maeral. Al sorts of maerals can be routed, but solid wood may be the most common And whe the oo has many uses oher than woodworking, most router bts are designed pr marly for use wth wood and plywood Ho wever, medum-densiy fber board (MDF), pastic, solid-surace maeral ven rock or mea
tons ey cano souln'tcopete wit ools tat pepae stock Tey ae ntene o pecson wok is will e taken into accoun as we iscuss te vaious coices But outes unlike any an oos nee gs, ixtues, ences an oles to apply teselves Ege an cola guies custo suases an vaious kns of eplates ae vey useful But even oe potant ae te igs fixues an pafos ta povie a way o o pecise oiney Te oute is seiously anicappe wtout its accessoies. You can out wi eaing-gue pofle cuttes wout uc ao, u viually any

Tis smbl is not ca by any sttc but for a iftm woodworkr ty wil l covr most routing callngs. From lft DWalt 621 ung routr PC-690 md-ang fixd bas routr 31 OPC trim rotr PC-7518 fxd bas routr

Flutn g wtr on fat stock or mountd on a at is on of t routs im ortant uss

Fnis  carpentes typically use routers to morise fo  inge s on c stom door instalations

Trim roters may get tei eaviest use in c ountertop farication . Here pla stic lami nate is eing flus-trimmed after eing glued down on te particeoard sustrate

oer ct (witot earngs) will reqre soe g, fxre or exernal ge Anoer conseraton ten, s te roter's aity to work wel wit a varey of gs an fxres Becase of eir grea an vas otental, roters are aor woowork ng role solvers No oer oo fins its way nto so any facets of wooworking Roters aly teselves wel in te oinery an ecoraton of yor work, excel n aking igs, fxtres an telates, an dven eterey can sally e yo ot of a a Tey are it's re een ent on a assive array of otenial igs fixtres olers an cters t tey also e solve neary every wooworkng roe No oter tool ofers so any ctng an saing ossiilies. An no oer oo ro ves qte te sae callenge wen i coes to soring trog al te coices o get te rg toolng o ac yor ariclar nees

Applcations So far we've talke aot te roters se for a variety of wooworking asks s relationsi to oter ools, its array of accessories an te way it can reac any art of te workiece L es ake a nte an talk aot te ost ortant criteron of e all e roter's secifc alications Te roter as tree aor areas of alication: ecoraon onery, an  lwork PES OF ROUTING

8

Type

Decrpto

Dty Cycle

Lghtm

Fush tm amnae/venee. Shaow, sma cutte outing

Sho

<

Tm oute

Decoative tim, ightdut y edge

Shalow edge cuts up to  in x  in Volume, ogees, beves, ball beang decoato and empate cuts

060 minutes

Y2

Medum fixed-base

Punge

Insde mutisage wok, age excavations; castng must be suppored fo punge Moises, cices and aps.

Can be long

2 wi be accepabe fo most wok

unge oute

Table

A saionary wok.

No me imt

+

Fxed-base o punge oue (moe common)

Heavyduy hand oute

Edge and tempate fu-hickness cus.

A day

Templae

atem wok l ne , faconal o u thckness cuts.

No me imt

Power Demad (hp) Roter

oute

Bg fxed base 1-3

A oues and abes

DECORATION

Categorically te greatest nmber o roter bits are or trim an ecora ton Catalog nventores say excee 50 ercent n ecorator ctters s is strange in a way becase ecoration as so ittle to o wit ract caity; yor esk jewery box or be wi srvive j st as well wtot eco ration Neverteless inising an ecoration are two o te most imor tant crteria in wc woowork is jge It wo inee be a mistake to overlook tem JOINERY

e ower o te roter is n it s joint-making caability Neary al o Western joinery is ossible wit a roter wit te aition o ts ctters j igs an yo It as ts limitations ik e bre joints an ee sknny ove tas bt it can aress an enormos nmber o bot orinary an secia joints Bt te roter snt erect an tere are many occasions e to xtring ctter esign an so on tat a jont s comromise Yo may not excee or even meet te caacties o a an joiner bt o exect to make mortses an tenons; tonges an grooves; as; gle jonts; trog bin  an slng ovetas; slines; lock miters; coe an stick; box joints; an varios combinations

Tis scrw-drivn ror fnc moys a dia indicaor o aciv accracy in  ou sands of an i nc rang

9

Ti s atform jig uss an ovrsizd bas and a ball baring rabbting bit to form a sqar tnon on  nd of a workc

Routing nds itslf wll to a wid rang of join ry calngs

MILLWORK

Roer work ha oesn' all no he ecoraon or onery genres  call mlwork hs s no he mwork assocae wh shaers an moers Raher,  s work ke rmmng anes o engh onng mensonng an sqarng sock I also se he roer o make gs an  reqeny make shor rns o gs an xres or hose o yo who raher woo work he laorms an her wnows are say emlae roe he sqare ences asabe slos an rabbee sos are also roe

Wid glu-ups pos srious dimnsioning prolms A jigsaw routr, and tmplat can  usd to squar off t nds

T nc on t work o ldr can  adjustd paalll to its work dg. Wit  t cuttr sur roundd y an MD F straigt fnc you ca joit and macin to widt in on opraton

I nxpnsiv rout ts can pr oduc a vaty of traditional pro fils

Types of Routing I wo e a misake o hink ha all of hs applcaion can e enoye wih s one roer  can' e one here are some cngs ha if one o fll eph will reak he cer someimes he roer s  s oo small an nerpowere for he o Cerain cs p he work or he operaor a risk wih he wrong roer here are prolems of scae ha may reqire he roer ale Sma os may e eer sie for a rim roer an mlisage work shol e one wih a pnge roer However, roing is versaile an here are sincons yo shol know ao LIGHT TRIM

Freqenly, rae work calls for very igh an shaow cs in woo meal, or pasc hese cs ar e of shor raon, an reqire lle power or se p complexiy Yo may no nee a fll- size roer for hese cs Examples incle he morsing of hnges, chamfering, an small ronovers B mosly 'm alking ao he cing an rimmng of plasic laminae (Formica)  woo veneers fierglass an hn amnm his work s always ligh y, shaow one wih ony !4in ool shanks, an only wih rim roers

T PC-310 trimmr and offst su bbas ar a good matc to trim (bvl) ts dgs  T work can b sn troug t astic bas wil t routr is kt flat on t work.

2

Sli din g dovetails ae geat fo locking legs and ails Sockets ae made on te oute tale and te tenons wit te and oute

Bead and utte tim (cove) cuts eqi e ao t weigt ixed ase

 a sap ctte, and a med um 

HEAVY-DUTY HAND ROUTNG

Ip h

h

PLUNGE ROUTNG

Roters esigne to alow canges in et witot stting o te macine ave come to be cale nge rotes. Te base incoroates a mecanism wit a series of stos so tat te rote can be owee ince mentay e esign allows yo for examle to qicky ot a ee mor tise in a nmber of smaler stes tat only remove 4 in or so of material at a time t also allows yo to start a ct anywere in te mile of a work iecean it is esecialy sefl wen oting on anels Altog it's ossibe to lnge" a fixebase rote into te wok it's an inerenty nsafe oeation becase te base isnt sorte ring te oeration lnging is simy not safe wit a fixebase roter. Te nge

Mortiss and tnons rquir fixturs for quality and rpatabliy A good fit lik tis m poss a lo t o dmands on t  jigs

Half-laps ar salow and larg n ara prct fo  t  pung  outr Ts ar mad i  a tplat jig udr t work

oter is expressly esigne to fnction in yor hans wth the a of grav ty ts springloa moto hea tret stops pstop hanle gips motor lock an switch are all sitate fo yo to slie the too to its estination wth the ctter retracte an motor on Now with yo at the contros yo can safely change the epth ner power an waste woo n stages The pnge roter oes ts est wok plnging" Plnging is best car ie ot an sometmes only possble when the rote is completely sr

Tongus and goovs of all sors can  mad on t rotr tal wit straigt its.

Stod on mortiss ar safly don on t  outr tal

rone y sstrate. Pnging wt ony a o te casting on te wor can tp te roter over or, n some cases arrest te pnge acton atogeter. e saest arena or pnging ten s on nse cts e mortises at s not to say tat pnge rotng cannot e aong te eges an ens o te worpiece It j st means tat te ase casting as to e on soi gron to spport its pnging nction an reative top eaviness Cttngs tat are eep an wie or oterwise mpossie wt a singe-ept setting so e one wt a pnge roter Pnge cts too angeros or a ixe-ase roter aso nce insie in excavations were te ctter mst e ner power an extene to egn te pass TABLE ROUTING

ae roting essentay trns te too nto a stationary macine wit a ence tat wraps aron te ctter an spports te worpece Unie portae rotng operatons, te worpiece moves past te ctter instea o te reverse More tan 80 percent o a ro tng can e one on te roter tae. ere are restrictons to ts se sc as very arge wor an ong stics on en) t te majority o roting is on inva worpeces an qite manageae on te tae Roter tae wor more oten tan not, emans a ot o power ere s no singe roter taiore excsivey or te roter tae. ig motors, resistant to canges in momentm an oa, are reqre ere ong-grain, cross-grain, enctting an some insie cts are posse on te tae J oinery an tempate wor are aso common  Ony se very ong ctters over 1 /4 n. ese ctters reqre at east a 3 p motor an wor est wit variae spee contro.)

Complmntay tmlat oiny is about t on ly way to join wood alo ng cu vy lis. On saml is a la lft, on is glu  jointd m idd and t ot is tongu and goov to.

I use these templates to make the platfom fo the tenon-make Snce the instctions ae already caved" into the template, you ca't make a mistake.

TEMPLTE ROUTING

Tempate roting aows yo to rot mtipes of neary any sape by sng a patten tat's attae to te wokpee an ries against a ge pin or ote refeene srfae. Tempates an be se fo jo inery, making opies motsing saping, an mang parts fo jigs. Most repetitve rotng obs an be expeite by a tempate. y fa te most popa type of tter in my oter oe s te pat ten bt wit a beang on top. Tese ome n many iameters an engts for se in a variety of stations. Te art of tempate oting emans an

THERE RE  OS O CCESSORES avaiabe o exed he capabie o yor roer. There are, or exampl e aermarke bbae made rom cear plaic a lower e above) ha wil alow greaer viibiy a yo  re makg a pa wih he roer Ao avaabe are bbae wih a oe deg pper e) ha provide greaer coro becae more o he bae i o he workpece a yo work. Aoher caegory o acceore i he edge gde, whch ac mch lke he ece o a able aw ad rde aog he edge o workpece pper rgh) . The wo a op are hop-made edge g de he b ack gde i he mddle  a aermarke edge gide made by Mcro Fece ee eorce o p.  There are alo a varey o collar gde lower righ) o i mo popar roer. The colar gide i o he bbae ad rrod he bi pro vdg a way or he c o ollow a empae.

nerstanng of a orms of rotng gie systems, campng pocees j ig makng, an basic wooworkng Tempate otng can be one on te tabe or on te benc wit pnge or xe base  t is te essence of rotng st as no singe knie w work n te kitcen no snge roter wi sice or a rotng appicatons yng to cover a bases wit one roter wi ave yo overpowere n one sitation an at isk n anoter peraps emptyane  te roter is te p in te roter tabe st as te jigsaw raia saw, tabe saw, an ban saw aess yor sawng nees so o te trim, pnge, meim an eavy fixebase roter cove yor roting nees

Cutter P athway Control OW

we yo onro e paway o e roer i eermines e qaiy o yor ress. Tere is more o roing an er on ro  wio i yo ave noing. Cer qaiy, maeria preparaion ee rae, sep an aenion o eai a pay a par in e qaiy o yor ings wio onro o e er paway yo' never ge o praie e iner poins o roing.  roer an move in a sraig ine or on a rais  as roe ro ing in ree axes a e same ime Sooping air seas or making goes is no an easy ask wi a roer, an very sopisiae engineering an ix ring is reqire o o so. Han onro o e roer, weer in a rve or sraig pa, in one pane a a ime, an e esaise wi er ear ings, oars, pivos, ege gies empaes, an varios ominaions s menione roers are vey exie oos an an, nike a ae or an saw, operae as easiy in e mie o a workpiee as on an ege. Te roer i an ener rom any srae eier ae any ege eier en, or aong e rais o a rve Te  an e in, ener rom e ege an sop insie a-in), or pass rig rog i Tis m reeom oes reqire preise gie sysems,  is may no o e as aning as i appears  roer gie an e as simpe as a oar ampe ono e workpiee Tere are many ways o onro e roer Tese vary rom e i-in on ros an asi ege gies o miromeer-onroe ire gies an even omperize posiioning evies a are osie e sope o is ook. B or isssion prposes, i's proay es o sar a e ener o ings, wi e varios ways e i ise an gie e work a an

H

Bearing on Top Topbeainggided ces, or paten bs, are always sed wih a empae

Templae

Workpiece

Bearing on Bottom End-bearing ces ypically oll aog he wokpece

Sank Cue Beang Wokpece

Collar Guide System A ypical col lagide sysem uses a empae ad a smalle b so ha he cig pah is offse fom he empae

emplae

Wokpiece

A consumr-grad gspd sl utiity t lik t og is guidd of t stl ilot on its nd. Tis inxnsiv ool is for sor-rn s only

Som of t nd-arin g cuttrs can  sd wit tmlats tat ar acd undr  work

 sots of roe its se a earings on te en Many ae ecorative poe ctters t a few are se o join winow sas, make raets, sot o s trim ey are easy to se an won't n te stock Most often tey ae se for ong on eges an en-grain, or w a tempate. t oesn't take mc sk to o wi a eainggie cte: Yo se te ep of c ock te moto egt an p te roer inoar o get te earing to engage e wok. ese ctes are essentiay se on te 23

ege of stock so tey are most feqenty se n te fixe-base ote. Fixe-base rotes are more stabe tan pnge rotes an ease to con to aong te ege abeaing ctters sove a ot of probems bt tey o ave a few is avantages One is safety safety In I n a ronabot way tey force force te ctte esigne to make arger iameter toos. n big cttes pesent moe isk, not ony becase tey expose moe too bt sift bt sift too mc of te oter off te work ow's tat? We f a roter bt as a -in-iamete - in-iamete bearing bearing on it it can be as mc as  n arger n iameter tan it nee be f it    not ave te bearing earng-gie ctters are se on te ege of te

An offst offst subbas at right s ubstantially inc rass rass th stabil stabil ity of th th ot r on cornr s

Cuttrs Cuttrs that hav hav bari ngs on th n d folow th work rathr rathr tha a tmp at and tnd to trasfr dfcts dfcts onto th workpic 

24 Ctte Pathway Pathway Cono

work so at no time is a roter ase stting on o n 50 percent of its footprint 40 percent s more typca wit ess tan 25 percent at  te ens of te ct. ny ctter mst reac maxmm spee efore t toces te stock so r ing part of te te ct te ase casting cast ing s sifte s ifte  even mor e off off te te work For a 1  niamete n iameterr ctter in a roter roter wt a 6 nameter n ameter casting casting tere s ony 37 percent of te footprint on te work on startp an tat isn 't a ot of staity. sta ity.  earnggie ctter ctter simpifies te roting process eminates te nee for more compicate gie systems incng te roter tae, an provies provies te cance to work on assemies tat migt oterwse not e rotae sc as instae anrais or co ntertops On te ownse owns e earings foow ege efects  cattere or rog ege wi yie a cattere profie. earings, wen pace on te en effectivey engten te too it an te more stant te earing is from

h h si d prssur from a baring can b so h ig  that that i mars mars th work work If hs is a problm , somims two two barigs can b usd

25

TE RS NUER N EC CHR ery i he bore he hoe) o he bear g he ecod mber  he dameer. he widh hicke) o he bearig varie b hey are coa whi a ize her mber are o pariclarly impora Bearg bore ca be dimhed wih lmi wih mal precio preedo rg Thi i a precie machie hop pracce ad m be doe wih care rror  baace or a rig ha p o ca be hazardo. Beaig are gr od o very igh oerace. Th e hardware ad c er geomery or edocter bearg  ch ha hey hod alway   occao hey may be dic o ide oo he hak, however, ad may reqr e a pre i  a hak i oo mal eavg ome pay o he bearig o he hat he aio i hazardo ad he bearig hold o be ed A bearg hod have ome reace o i i o he hak ad hod be ixed wh a hak colar

 SANDAD EAING AND SHANK SIZES Dmss pv a s b st, f by th uts amt. d-Moed Bearig

hakMoed Bearg

 n. xn  n xn  n x n

X n x n. X n x  n X n x  n n x l n n x  n J n. x  n. J in x  n  n  x 1n .

A routr with pattrn bis and a tmpa can han d c rvd join ry wth tight tuns

28

T bai nggu idd straigh bit wll prod c a copy of th tmpl at profil

exape) Too uch cutter extension s aways hazardous In response to this dea PR (see sources) has designed a set o cutters or any prac tical thckness o teplate (/ to /4 in ) and workpiece thickness to li n The syste uses ive cutters two o which have a /   in oset ut i nto the so the inal pass with the lush trers w e soother with a constant / n overhang The negatives o the endearng its also apply to the topearing its ut a ltte ess so (They still have relatvely short ves and transit teplate edge deects and wear on the router) On the other hand the earings are right up against the colet so there is less stress also earings or shanks are igger hold ore lue and last longer Two other positive points wth these cutters incude their access to the work and their ality to otto cut ore than their diaeter A teplate can e paced anywhere on the work which eans that edge end inside ind through and halind cuts are possile wth these cutters Al so ecause the otto o these toos are ground to otto cut they can exca vate an area greater than their diaeter

Collar Guides Teplate coar guides ike pattern its are essentially used ony wth teplates hey ehave siilarly to pattern its as they surround the router t j ust like a earing There are our sar types o collar systes

Coll ar guds ar usd with mplats for oinry li k cutting this half ap

Th co lar gu id and cutt r sstially act lik a pattrn it wit a arig o  top show  a lft

Porter-ae he olde and ot popular ha a two-piece ring and nu aey hat faen o the uae. och ha a ayonet faening yte ( like the lene of oe caera n whch you ner the colar tha lock into place) that aten to an acceory that  crewed to the uae Mwaukee ha a collar hat crewed drecty o the plaic uae And there are other hat faen to the ae catng. (Alot all router anu facturer ake acceorie for the Porer-ale yte a we a ther own)

Coas coe n a vaey of daees and lenghs soees fo vey specfc obs he engh o he coa shold wnd p j s shy o he hckness o yo hnnes epae I se �_n o hcke epaes, so I've hacks awn y collas o  n

Th PortrCabl collar gud systm hr on its 42193 offst routr bas provids a sim p way to us a varity of bus hing sizs on th  sam routr. T y ar intrchangabl and fit n t ing assmbly.

Thr of th most common coll ar-gu id systms: (lft to ight) Bosc h PotrCabl and Milwauk.

Dbe Dty frm C la rs

R

oute-bt gu ie colars are so ceap I usually buy te  pars

Wit te sae iaeter colla r i two ieret routers you ca o bot roug a s work wit te sae setup. Wit two ifeet iaeter cut ters you ca let te irst router o te irty work a let te seco router wit a slgty bgger cutter a set

A colar-guid systm cuts a path thats offst from th busingso yo nd to tak that into account wn dsign ing tmplats

sligtly eeper cea up a fiis te job T is way tey ast loger so you ca get ore leage out o te.

On dsadvantag to  collar systm is ta t t colla r s aways larg an  cttr i sronds s mans tat t mplat ct s magnid on osd adi and smallr wt concav crvs Tis dscrpancy is ca cad by sbtractng t radis o  collar rom  radis o t bi Mak yor tmplat s mal or larg to accont or tis drnc ollar s s nv as prcis and prdicabl as bainggidd ctrs A collar mst b witin 0. 001 in o cntr o so o it o b pactically concntic o t ctt Ts rarly appns and  is not ncommon o a ct to b o om cntr by   n or mo T osc slcntrng collar sysm s said to b adjstab to witin 000 n o cn To mni miz   ro casd by t ccnticty, don' roa  rot r as yo gd it against t tmpla Kp t andls, or xamp in  sam ornaion to t work as yo mov t otr in t c T col ar as a spci a saty advantag in a yo can always xtnd jst  rigt amont o ct or  j ob Any xcss v ctr byond  sbbas sold b minmzd Fo ll icknss cts projct t bit /  in byond t maia tcknss On t down sid,  maximm xnsion o any ctr is compro msd by  s o coas; amost all o t collt nts on al rots w it som pat o  collar   collar is not sd,  cttr may b xtndd rr ttr xnsion and lng, m plat sbbas and workpic ticknss a aways n conct wit barings and colars As a rl t pactcal and sa lmit o llticknss cs wit bainggidd ro cts is 2 n bt 1  in wn collars a sd ck stock can b otd bt pobably sold b workd on a sapr ts larg tan  � in will not ntr  bo o most coas

Also collar gds ik dg gids and patrn its wi allow th ct to transr tmpa dcts to th work

Edge Guides hs accssoris s a par o ods that it nto h ror's as casing providing a way o astn a smal nc that gids h or paral o th workpc dg h advanags incld contnos adjstailiy and th larg conac srac which tnds o vn ot mnor imprcions in h dg and provid a smooth ct Edg gids do imi h travl o th or o a lin parall o th dg o th work whth cvd or straigh hy conss o thr compo nns h pair o rods a ody and a nc Th nc can  stragh or radisd o mach crvd work. Each gid s dsignd xprssy o its ro hogh an atrmark vrsion th Micro Fnc is availal o i all poplar ors Typical cs a aong h dg across h nds or across h width o stock Edg gids don' hav h wok accss o a col la gd and mplat and hy a snsiv o wokpic siz  For xam p nar ow stock lss than h radis o h as casing dos not prsn nogh srac o th stailiy o th otr Edg gids a latvly nxpnsiv don't mar th work and ar continosy adjsa cas th ody/nc can  posiiond any wh aong th rods hs lxlity is prcisly what maks hm s spcialy or th shop-mad morisr Oddy I nd thy work poorly on most ohr jgs hy ar saly sd drcty on h work

Edge Guide A edgeg de sysem ses a pa o ods and a n adjsabe fene a sides again s e wopee.

Base asi g

Wokpiee

Cte

Edge g ide oa wh wo

Edge gde

his ommad dg g id is mad from hardwood, aumnu m bar and sl rod.

his afrmark dg gu id from Mic ro Fnc uss a m icromr syl adjsmn fo prcsion

dg guids can b asily adjsd o vary  wdh of a cu A n bi, for xampl, can mak a in.-wid rabb

Sinc dg gids corrspond to t fnc on t r otr ta, ty can  sd at tims in t asnc o on, t nr as a sstitt Wit simpl, smalld iamtr cttrs yo can mak raisd pans for instanc. Tis is mssy t t cttrs ar small and ts saf to s in tis way Edg gids ar cmsy; dont xpct to work on of ts prfctly on yor irst try Not tat t nd of a ctting pass can  a prom cas only a o t fnc rmains in contact as yo finis t ct nlss yo

pacic png a sma poion in conac w  wopic,  o will pvo and spoil  c  a  simlanos ncions o yo o conol conol old-i n, oddown, and slid-aong  On an insid c, any dviaion o   nc nc om om  dg o  wo wil l  in  c . On an dg c yo j s c wo a pnaly    nc nc says om om 

Th atho r's mortising jig mploys d g gu ids and stops to confin th cttr path pathway way to a squar or rct rctagular agular h ol

Kping th whol stp flat is mpoant whn making a raisd panl

Ofset Sbbase for Added Stabiity

A

ll routers ae ustable we al or less o te base castig is o

te work A  oset oset rectagula rectagula r su b base ca overcoe istability a we use wit a straigtege, pro vie a secure a accu rate rate gu ie ecais Wit oe se o te sub base loger ta te oter its uc easier to apply pressu re over te work piece a keep te te router ro ro tppi g.

A round suas is not a prcis guid for outing Any rotation of suas ca caus a widning of th dado caus cuttrs ar rarly pfctly cntrd

wopic An os sbbas, sc as t PotCabl 2193 can consoli a    aning fnctions fnctions an sotn yo laning cv

The Subbase A squar suas provids a vry accurat accurat gu id s urfac. urfac. If you work th sam dg of th as against th tmp lat lat and ocat th tmplat in th sam plac all similar cuts will  th sam.

 sbbas itsf can can b s as a ot gi wi  a cv tmpa o staigg It is t last acca b qickst o st p Yo clamp clamp a stick own on t wo, o t ot against it an ot its fas bt nv picabl o pcis Ctts a nv wlcn to t iam  of a on sbbas, so any otation of t o o  ing t ct wi l b xpss in a lsstanpfc lsstanpfc ct ( Plng o bas bas castings castings com in many sapsconsq sapsconsqntly ntly t g can b s as a gi to n t cnt)  poblm of giing icty of  ot bas isn't limit to t cn anomaly" owv Roting ictly on t wok against a clampown staigtg will cas t o to viat as cip flotsam boncs an collcs btwn ot an t gi Moov t sfac taot an cip accmation n t ot wi inf wit its tav  an slt in vaiaions of ctting p Caly, oting wit  bas casting o sbbas as a gi sol b a ast sonot a fis appoac An avantag o sing t ot bas as a gi is at yo can s any ct an to is maximm pt  a no baings to ngag o collas to fsat t ac of  ct  iscov tis by accnt

wi trying to mak a ong tnon ct wit a sort cttr and collar wit a tmpat. T sqardg sbbas garantd a straigt ct at a constant dpt and t m xtnd t sort cttr to its maximm dpt or t lngt o tnon  ndd

Tool Shank Lik t ixd-pilot sat on t nd o t tool t sank o t too can aso b sd as a gid bt ony or sort drations wit smadiamtr bits Yo sold nvr s t sank as a gid i  t t tool's ctting diam tr is gratr tan t t sank is is stricty a smal straigt tool proposi tion, and a tmplat o som sort is ssntia . Yo can s a in straigt bit or xampl rom t insid o a sris o drawr opnings covrd wit pastic laminat. Yo' o'  pnc trog trog t plastic aminat and tn alow t sank o t bit to rid against t solid wood tat ssntially orms t pattrn wic amonts to two opra tions at onc onc ( t ctot and t s s trim)  Onc in a bl moon,  may s t sank o t too wn making compmntary tmplats rom a mastr to minimiz t ost I av also sd t sanks o sort in sol id carbid straigt straigt bits to gt into tigt cors cors o tmpat mortiss In any vnt t sanks gt ot and t tmpat ( nss o plastic ami nat)

Just as th nd of th tool can b usd as a gui d so can its shank h ctig damtr of th too too must b  ual to or lss lss than h shank diam r r his practic shol d b confin d to small (lss han   in . d iamt straight bits and l m itd o o vry short short d ty

Compar th radii of h cornrs of hs moriss Obviously h small cutr cus a arly sqar corn.

gts won qicky, so ts is mo o a ciosity tan a viabl and impo tant mtod o ot patway contol

The Circle Cuer A ot astnd to a stick wit an adjstabl am o wit jst a ol in it o a pivot, can ct t cicmnc o a cc Ts is an ntst ng mtod o patway contol T ot as now to go bt in a cic, and t cttings a xcnt Yo wi nd a small plng ot to do tis say It is mssy, as tis is a lldiamt ctt patway, bt t a sva png ots wit vacm attacmnts tat will colct t cps t is intstng tat t a so w owtc lowskill pocsss in oting tat a so pcis and asy T a lips maks tat wok w also bt asd om cicls sgmnts o ccs, and  ipss,  don't know o any ot ss o a ot ttd to a pont o points. It sms t sold b mo  Wtot mc ado, I can mak a cc wtn 000 1 in o its intndd diamt wit a $ 1 00 plng ot a $  0 bt, a dola's wot o mdim dnsity ibboad, and a pvot stick, al in st a w mints.

Th author's crcl cutt confns th cuttr pathway to on fixd adius.

This sotmaking jig lmits th slot lngth with a stop Th slot width is on cuttr dia mr caus th collar cant squiggl i its slot

Other Guide Options

Templates Go First hen making disks or rngs, hav

Wing a template at hand removes vrtual y all the risk. The procedure s to make the tempate (%in . or 1-in . medum-density fiberboard) trace its circumference on he work, bandsaw the dsk leaving

1

n outsde he line,

clamp the te mplate to the work and rout o pattern wth a patern bit. There is no need o poke a hoe in the work or the pivot.

40

Usually on guid sysm p opaion s a tha is ncssay. Fo xam pl a colla guid s usually not quid whn a aingguidd cutt is n pay ut i can   us suas stops and dg guds o conol th cut pathway whn makng motss and  also us a suas stop and colla guid with my slot mak to din th lngth o th sots it maks h poin is tha th a mutipl options o al you nds Fhand unguidd outng s awok You can lan to cav and wast hand u it will ak tm Smal light outs wih los o cut visity (P , DWal 6) will giv you th st chanc  signmakng is you hing wok wih ig ts a shallow dpths Shap cuts a ssntial Highspd s can  gound o a shap dg than caid; t may  h t choic i you hav th gindng skils to kp  shap

chapter

Fixed,Base Routers n  Unid Stats  ixdbas ot as bn  dominant ot dsign o o al a cnty  tool is simpl wit w moing pats and in my iw is sa tan a plng ot o mos opations  moto campd imy (ixd) in its bas casting as a simpl dpt adjsmn bt i mst b stoppd and st btwn cts T plng o ocoms tis disadanag and is t  tool o coic o dp motiss tat mst b ct in sal passs (s capt ) 

I

his 1 960svintag Black & Dckr modl 442 is still nnig A fixd-as routr lft is st applid in sng-dpth dg cttings Th p lug routr rgh, is dsign d for succssiv dpth chang s  ndr powr and is bst fo multi stag insd xcavations lik mot ss.

Fixed-Sase Router

CASTINGS HANDLES, AND SWITCHES Base castings vary and ae quite distinguisable All have windows or good cuter visibiliy, oug mos base plates are black and ide te work surace. DeWalt and Pore-Cable will supply accessory transparent subbase replacemens. A router at can readily sand upside down or bi changes is a nice convenience. Porte-Cable, DeWalt, and M ilwaukee ave accounted o this Te Bosc model has a adius on te mo or cap o comfor, but at some expense for upside down stabiliy Te knob or andle assemblies o most fixed-base ouers are placed low on te macine and provide sability Plastic , wood, and metal ae e ypical mateials, and mos people will have ei own opinions on wic ae most comortable. I use an oset subbase on all o my fixed-base outers, and  control te tool wi one and on e base  casting and te oer on the oset base. Tis coniguration allows maximum contol espe cially aound te cornes and along e edges o te work. Howeve, you should be aware that the position of te two casting knobs supplied wi  a roue is well toug out. So give em a good try before consideing any changes Wie ses are eite two- or hee-conductor depending on ow e tool is insulaed. Double-insulated tools will ave two-prong plugs wiout he gound. All commecial oues use rubbe jacketed wire sets but most ae dieent lengts I am 6 . tall and  always use an exension cord, but I would like the plug to emain on e ground and or me tha means a O-t wie se.

The DeWat 61 0 shown here can be supplied with a cea plastic, round replacement sbbase for col lar gu ide use . he flat head provdes a sable base fo trn ing it upsde down or bit changes.

Th mapl knobs on th Bosch subbas gt yo as clos to th work as any outr

h Portr-Cabl mod 690 bas casting is th prfct siz for my had I'v got th sam control on his rotr as th quaback has on th football

Switcs ar slid, oggl, ock or tigg, and tr locatons vary  wold not slc a rotr basd on t switc; t's a good ida to clariy t o posiion so yo know t ool is o wn yo plg it n  t away Also, prpar yorsl or a qck stop and kp yor ands in a convn-

For addd safty th autho r hi gh lig hts th off dirction on h switch

int ocation o itting t o btton asily Yo nv now wn a camp may slip o somting ls go awy POWER

Fixdbas ots in t commcia class ang om abot 1 to 3 p Wigt and appopiat applications scal p wit t pow xpct abot  o 8 ponds dinc witin tis pow ang Mo pow also mans mo mtal and consqnty t capacity to soa p at A ot in avy s can at p and i t at xcds t cooing ans capacity tn t ot gts ot to t toc Howv t long it tas to at p t ss lily it wil ba down om ovload So i yo ot is consistnty ot dc t load o gt a bigg ot Potabl as vy pow ang covdom k p to 3  p DWalt's only nty is 1 5  p osc as mods in  p and 2 p and Miwa in 1li p and 2 p Ryobi Maita and Sas/atsman also av ixdbas ntants o vaios stngts, bt Maita is t ony commcialgad too wit two ntis at 1 p and 13k p Potabl as an xclsiv in t sstaind allday pow class (518, and t a no ot ixdbas ots o its siz (3 p ) 

-HANLE ROUTERS

T Dandld rotr is t  las t poplar fxdbas dsi gn and t most costly t dos noy a imitd nic mart, owr. ts adocats caim safty and control bcas a pistol-styl  switc is grppd to start t rotr To stop yo j st rlas. Wi t t switc n and yo can st down qicky bt n my  w tat safty margn is mor tan ost by a loss of control A Dandd rotr is always ld t sam way and as ss stability as yo fnis a pass at t nd of t workpic. Moror, t oblgatory D-andl n lin wt t tra of t rotr intrfrs wit cts mad wit dg gids and colar gids.

h D-handld sy of routr provids on-andd control which is oftn convnint for rptitv work

T PorrCal 691 D-hand casting

Poer-Cable 690 Weght

8 bs 

Speed

Singe 3000 rpm

Amps

10

Sof sar

no

Horsepowe

1

eght adjuster/mechansm

Contnuous, motor ws

Colets

Y4  n.  Y2 n n & metrcs opton

Basepate dameter

5% n

.,

 squat casting shown with pgradd lock lvr and accssory offst bas povids so mch cotro that t ca  lik an xtnsion of your hands

Leading Fixed-Base Routers There s no snge perfec roer Mos have some exceen feares,  mae compromses n oher mporan areas Some are o esgns ha s ll or ell ohers offer ne soons o some scy prolems he DeWa 6 1 0, for eampe, s a uay oo has een n proucon vrally unchange for over 30 years (frs as a Blac & Decer ool an Elu oo) On he oher han, he Bosch 161ES s a relavely ne oo h some nnovave feares. Each of he roers has s on personaly an s on se of srenghs an eanesses TH E DEWALT 61 0

As menone aove, he DeWal 6 1 0 esgn s a  leas 3 0 years ol an essenally unchange A rac an pnon gear rases an loers he moor n he housng I can e ajse, le he 690, o zero a any pon n s DeWalt 61 0 Weght

3 bs

Speed

Sge  pm

Amp



Sof stat

no

osepoe

1.

eg aduse/mecansm

Rack & pno

Coets

% n &  n

aseplate damee

6 n (sho h an accessoy oset base)

DeWat 610

The three moor pack projections add ano her 1 n of travel to thi s DeWalt 6 1 0, whi ch is also show with ro nd collet n t and co la

ravel and is depth ring is indicaed in /4ths A wing nu is sandard fo ightenng he casting around the moo, bu a shor lever s beter (a Red ool, KHB- 1 , for exampe) . The casting is not sawn through as on Porter Cabe; raher a /4in. srap (band) of the casting is cinched on the moor on he rack sde of he base he gip is not as sure compared wth the Poter-Cabe, but he moto never slips Two postive changes in he DeWalt 6  0 that warant prase ae is collet nut and moto barel exensions. The collet nut has been mi lled o fi inside  s accessory collar gudes The closer he collet can ge o ts template, the less deflecion there s wth he cuttera nice touch he 610 (and its ancesors) have never had much up and down moor ravel and used o be quite popular n he outer able neverheess. When he tool cared the Eu and Black & Decke abes, s moor pack was redesigned o accep a longer ack fo is deph pinion gear. his clever change added anothe 7 in of ravel fo a ota of about 1 3/4 n However, more tave is at he expense of securty. If the /4-n deph is exceeded the base casting's grip on the moo pack sn secue. The 610 hard-sat, 1 -hp rouer is moe sensiive o cutter mbalance han oher outers its s ze. 's fine with small , squaty pofile cutters ike ogees roundoves and beves, but t vibaes more han  like with long (  � in ) cuters of equivalen dameer his gets more pronounced wth beaing-guded route bts he moor rests well upsde down fo cuer

hanges an requres two erent sze wrenhes to unlo ts ollet hrough the sueeng years ts astngs have eteorate soe an sef tappng subbase srews have eplae through-hoe ahne tappng Whle uner the Eu label the 610's olet was at ts best: eght-slotte an self-eleasng. Uner the DeWat abe the olet was splfe to a sngle sl t noneleasng esgn. ts shot length (4 n ) probaby on tbutes to ts vbraton senstvty Nevertheess t oes grp the utter wel an utters o not st n the ol let he 6 1 0 aepts few aessores but DeWalt oes have lea roun an oset subbases for ths tool n ther atalog Wth ts short stabe geoetry ts abty to proet the olet nto a ollar gue an wth ts tanspaent aessory subbase the too s patualy well sute fo ove tal an bo-ont teplate wor. It s just as stable along the ege of sto wth eoator utters he early Bla & Deer toos wth essentally the sae esgn wee esgne to go ght ba to wor after a 6-ft. op to the loor. he swthes ast foeve but the wre sets see to have about a two year l fe span f use egularly. TH E BOSCH 1 617 EVS

Bosh s the frst to poue an a-new outer sne the Porte-Cabe 690 osse ove fro Rowell. t s however a stanar-loong router an requres lose nspeton an a few pate uts to be appreate he base astng s equppe wth a two-stage epth ajuste. t s by no eans a oeter but sall ontnuous epth hanges an be ae by tunng the srew auster whle the otor o s sengage. he oto has thee sall retangular nothes on -n enters le nto t or on opposte ses he epth auste engages a noth for ts rough pos ton an the verner s use for the fne ajust. he total otor travel s about 1    n. ts not a goo ea to eee that If the otor snt engage wth ts epth ajuste asseby the lo syste wont wo prop erly. One nterestng note he oto an be nserte n two aetraly oppose postons wthn the astng so that you an easly aust the swth poston for ease of operaton Bosch 1 617EVS Wg

 bs

Spd

Vaab 8-25, pm

Amps

12

So sta

Ys

ospow

2

g adst/mchansm

T n ncmnts wh sconday connos mco

Colts

 n  in & % in.

Baspat dam

6 n.

A sprn g lock egages a notch in the casting for the ough �-n changes on the Bosch 1 6 7.

Bosch designed ths too with vaable speed double insuation and soft stat. The castngs ae magnesum, and with its 2hp motor it's as ight as the DeWalt 61 0 Hgh power and ight weight don't usuay go togethe. You might expect the tool to run away from you ke its 1604 sngle speed predecessor On the contrary the 1 6  7EVS s a delight to out with. The colet seat s med ig ht into the end of the armatue; there are no coupngs. Ths, aong with its precision bearngs algnment amature design, and balance make ths the smoothestrunning motor of all the outers I know of Bosch has solved the moto lock problem that pagues some other routers. The base casting is splt though its height on one side and has a vey usefrendly overcenter lever ock much lke a togge camp It s adjustable for wea and stretch and is designed for a close ft between the motor and the base castng The base casting s dilled for its own subbase, and has the same three hole pattern used for the Porter-Cable 690 specialty accessory subbases and route tabe The design of the interior of the base casting and its subbase

allows the gue coar to get wthn 000 n or better o center The 1 6 1 7EVS s useful or al feepth cuttng wth a 2 hp router. t has unque avantages n cose quarters an ts orgvng soft start wll prevent an unwante c nto an uncut area Moreover ts feebac electroncs start the tool graualy (soft start) an prove a new easure o saety not oun n harstart tools. he 1 6 1 7EVS can aso absorb netc acc ents such as an unepecte g nto the uncut atera f ' nto eper enta wor Ill choose the 1 6 1 7EVS for ths reason because routng can be cey In ornary wor the otor behaves le a sngespee tool but  there s an nstantaneous overoa ths s the router I want to be usng. It also has an atonal 4hp ratng over the sngespee  6 1 7 for ths purpose

Prevent Accidental Gougng

A

powerul router especialy oe wtout a soft-start eatue, will

lu rc we you irst lip t e switc. To elp prevet cotact wt te work piece keep te router a ull outerbit

MILWAUKEE 5680

he M wauee s a 2 hp sngespee harstart coercal grae router that has reane essentally unchange for ts lfete o over 20 years. The otor heght s ajuste wth a pastc rng engage n a spral groun aroun the outse of the otor he otor s hung" n the cast ng by ths rng so the echans oesn't wor when the router s upse own t's not a great choce or the router table. heres aso no way to zero the vertcal poston n the router. A epth changes are thereore reatve to the last reang o the epth rng. he otor travel s about 1  n after that the castng begns to ose ts grp on the otor Mlwauee s crete wth the rst utsplt selfreeasng coet ts 1 n overall length an eghtse nut s a cobnaton not to be oun n any other router. The otor has a very lat an arge hea or easy bt changes upse own he Mwauee 5680 s one of the nosest an toughest of routers esgne to flop aroun n the bac o a pcup truc an has long been the stanar for carpenters an outse traesen he 5680 s we bal ance an ergonocally acceptable but the nta cbac on startup has got to be the ost powerful o any 2hp tool. Its squat heavy otor helps eep the tool flat on ege cuts Milwaukee 5680 Weight

85 Ibs

Speed

Snge 26 pm

Amps

12

So start

no

Horsepowe

2

eig adjuse/mechanism

Ringng moo twist ng

Coets

Y in. Y n &  in

Baseplae diamee

6 in (sown wh an accessory ose base)

iaeter away fro te wo rk at startup.

h Mi lwauk 5680 has th ony ig h-sidd col n t and is on o h fist with an ight slottd slf-rlasig collt

The Mwauee caing are beter han o bu ill need oe debring n y view thei pli-bae cating deign hold the oor well bu ther wng nt aebly for ightening i too all Ive repaced ine with a et cew and n The niqe crewon colar gide yte aple otor travel and high power of thi roter ae i paticay uefu l fo doveai/bo oint tepate wo all edge cting and pattern ct TH E PORTER-CABLE 7518

he PorterCable 5 1 8 i he arget fied-bae roer Boch and Blac & Decer ed o copete in thi nche but the 518 i now aone in th cla t not ofen thi happen  upect he reaon for th  pcing and he econoe of cale; neverthele thi i ju a lot of outer at a price

PoerCable 7518 Weig

145 Ibs.

Speed:

Vaiabe 5 speed 1 0,000-2 000 pm

Amps

15

So sta

Yes

osepowe

3.25

Hegh adjuste/mecaism

Contiuos moto ws

Coles

X

Basepate diamee

7 i (sow w accessory ofse base)

 n  , Y i n  % n. & mercs opo

.

With its lon g motor barrl th Portr-Cab  751 8 has mo up and dow travl tan any routr fxd or pl ng.

that can't be beat This heavy-duty achne s the ost poweul ied-base us. router at  1 0 volts and 3!4 hp Eveything about this route is big  t weighs n at ore than 1 � ties  5 lbs) its closest rva.  t has at least as uch up-and-down oto travel as any oute It has the lagest base cast ing ootprint o any outer. And it has an overa height o ore than a oot. One would epect ths achine to be hard to han dle and t can be with bg cutters but it is deceptvely tactable in noral use The otor its in twin spials within the base castng and one otor revolution transates nto 1 in o cutter height change he tool is doube nsulated sot start and ncreentally vaiable in steps o 3,000 p 

Basic notchs a anothr strong point of th fixd-as rout r

his stp and rpat dcorativ cov can  managd w with a fxd-as routr a collar gu d and an offst suas Mak su  to p ull th  coll ar firmly against th tmp lat. Any dviation will spol th whol pattrn.

Fixd-as tools ar th st choic for tmplat-dg cuts. Thy hav a low cntr o grav ity and ar lss likly to tip than a plng routr.

pnge roter cs wth a cter fly eended ay case a roter to tp as yo psh the tool aong, especay w h a shortbase fooprnt n the drec on o travel. ( Pnge roters don't generally have rond sbbases ) All edbase roers have rond sbbases that beter spport he ool nder these condons The fedbase roter s a necessary roter or the lee woodworer or hobbyst. Nether a pnge nor fedbase roter wll cover all ypes of rotng saelyso plan on ownng one of each

T

he plunge router which has been around for about 50 yea rs dfers rom a ixed-base tool primarily with the ntegration of the motor with the rest o the tool and the ncorporation of a pair of tubes that provde the mechansm for controlling the up-and-down motion. The whole assembly is designed to unction as a sngle unit and doesnt come apart for bt changes or anything else All plunge routers all comprised of a base casting a nd the two pol shed tubes or the motor to pogo" (move up and down) on A stop turret is a common feature and used to regulate the depth changes. An up-stop is often used to set the motor head at the same starting point Also stan dard on most plunge routers are motor locks handles swtches edge-gude accessores depth gauges and split self-releasing collets. Some other useful features sometimes found are: a sot start so the machine doesn't jump when yo ip the switch; variable speed; two-step saety switches; vacuum funnels for chp collecton; spndle locks; protective bellows for the plunge tubes; two-stage mcroadjusters or precse depth control; and electrc braking Plunge routers are desgned to be used in your hands with the aid o gravity; they arent really meant for the router table where many of them are found today (The issue of ust what makes a good table router wil l be dscussed in chapter 6) In my view the plunge router can be utlized wher ever use of the ixed-base seems rsky or is clumsy o be sure a plunge router can be modifed jigged or ixtured for nearly any cut that a fxed base machine can do but ths doesnt always make sense Simple s best

his squard-off as casting is a typcal plung routr configuation. Fixdas castings ar rond  h polishd ts and plu ng arings in th DWalt 621 provid th tool with a smooth pung action

Th pstop on this PortrCa 6931 can  sd with a fin-adjust kno for continuos adjstmnt It also can  st so you kno w th cuttr is clar of th work whn th had is p 

The pnge roter's essental advantage is its abity to star p with the cter retraced and stab in to the worpiece in a controled ashion. Thereater t can remove the remaning sock in eqal passes changing depth, and ceanng p its mess ( in many cases)  all while its motor is rnning. Wha cod be sweeter?

Spee selecor

Pge lock

p-sop

l nge poss

Coet

Buon epesse will lock armare. Turret stop

Base casn g

MOTOR HEAD

Th RT-1 00 pl ug  ou fom in i s h nws of a las g h 3-hp mach ns I has sof sa, vaiabl spd and a 3in p lun g sok

Th DWa 621  igh, has is moo lock in h lf-han knob Spin i o lock o unock h Po-Cabl moo lock, lf, is on" in is dfaul posiio A wis of h lv unlocks i PLUNGE TUBES

All oto heads are astened to oced on, and pogo on a pai o plnge tbes. They ae hardened, sally pol shed and soeties covered with protective bellows If a wench sips o the collet nt, it will dng a tbe and spol the sooth tavel o the oto head (Soe achines now se one o the tbes or chip coection when attached to a vac.) The idiosyncasies o the tbes ae not reason enogh to accept or reect a

roue bu ther nerplay wh he oto head and colun beangs s You should caefully chec for a sooth acton when consderng a puchase he spngs hat pogo he roue on the posts shod be such hat hey pc he oto head p to ts sop n a easured and nearly boyant fash on An ovespng otor headhat s one wth too uch sprngwll pevent a sooth plunge acton

S

ome pl unge routers will jam if you plunge down on only one handle

which you can l ive wth. But if compession on both handles does not resut n a smooth up and down gide of the head to t s ful extremes, that router should be eft aside

BASE CASTINGS

The base casngs of plunge routers are all deen szes and shapes. The eason for such dvesty s control  The desgnes of hese devces assued hat a stagh secon on a base castng cod be sed aganst a gude for ore conto and accracy. n pactce he subbase/castng s the least accuae and ost roublesoe ethod of gdng a roue. In fac these truncated castngs aong wth the eevaed oor head are the reason plunge routes are so unweldy. A round base castng s the bes copro se he Poter-Cable 7 53 9 has the bggest; the DeWat 6 2 1 has one of the worst whch  w addess later. Large cear plasc stably" sub bases are avaable for soe plunge roters. The castngs eceve the pnge tubes; povde a eans for collar gude subbase and edge-gde atachent; and suppor the urre sop They are soetes also used as funnels fo the vacu systes. The vac syses do wor bt he hose can get n the way. Durng produc ton he hose s soees sppoted fro above the woer.

T DW 621 as long een te oute o coce n midweigt plunge outers Tis 2-p variale-speed sofsta 9l macine as an egonomic design and an excelent plunge action ts plunge stroke at 2% in s a it soter tan some outes ut sustan tial noneteess Te DeWalt as a two-stage dept adjuste on a ackandpinion gea Te fine adjuster s a screw penc" witn te coase aduste Adjustments to a few tousandts o an inc ae posse oweve a ock to pevent slppng wile outng woud e an mprovement Also standard wit te 621 is ntegated cp colecton capailty Te ase castng vacuum funnel and ts exaust tue (douing as a plunge tue were engineered as a package not an afeougt Te system woks very well on nside cuts te main arena fo te punge route aulng a ose as you

rout is not great un ut its ette tan getting MDF n you eye Te 621 as a spindle ock so only one wenc s needed to cange its ut tis as ts dawacks Te outer must e on its sde or te cutte cange; it wil not st upsde down t is easie to accdentally as one o te punge posts wt a sipped spindle wenc tan if you ave two wences gasped n one and opposng one anote Te doulensulated outer as an 8ft wire set tat's sor for a 6 person Also its sor suase axis s n te directon o travel so tat te tool can easiy tp i te cutter s deeply engaged in te wok An afemarket lagedamete suase is avalale for te 621 tat wl elp keep t at on te work ne common featue tats ackng n tis plunge outer is a stop to limt te upwad tavel

DeWalt 621 Weght

9 lbs

Speed

Vrbe  rpm

Amps



Soft stt

Yes

osepowe



Colles

4 i n &  in

Bseplte dimete

/i x 6in ctte hoe oset

Pge stroe

2  

Power as an Asset I think plunge routers do their bes work on inside cts dong ulistage work ike orisngjobs hey were desgned or A pnge router can approach an inside cu nder power, no tip and wase away sock in stages o an  in or so in seconds. Three or for quick passes and yore  n to 4 in deep A ct hat deep would break a ot of rouer bits in a fied-base ool. A  -in -deep ct wth a - n- or 4-n-diaeter sraight bit and a -ap tool is a cakewalk wth a pnge router. Wih ore power you can do t faster and take deeper cts b not ch ore; the cters cant take i. Consequently, or a lot of plnging uch ore han 2 hp is wased.

CHIP COLLECTION CAPABILITY

negraed vacm collecion sysems are a good idea. he DeWal 62 1 and 625 and he PorerCabe 7529 (and oher PorerCabe roers) are vacm ready Afermare vacm accessories are becoming common Chip and ds coecon are no ony imporan for or heah b he qaliy of wor can improve oo. A rec chip wears on he cer and fols he fooway n gh qarers especally wih emplae morising Coars and bearings ransmi edge and empae defecs ino he wor. f a bearng rolls over a chp  can case a bmp on he wor. he vacm hose s roblesome b beer han a chaered profile Some wor espe caly wih plascs  wl reqire ehas rgh a he cer

Pvnting Thft

S

ome sops use a 220volt router as a meas to prevet tet on te

teory tat most potetial tieves wont ave te igt electrcal outlet to

REMOVABLE HANDLES

use te tool

or hand conro grps are essenia or roer able se hey are nnec essary he DeWa 625 and red 2000 for eample have removabe handles for easer nsaaion he Hiachi plnge roers all have handles ha pivo. 220 V OLTS

he only pnge roer wh  vols is he Bosch 165 and  is soon o be phased o he 2hp Bosch 617 (fedbase) has a vo opon. Roers wih  10 vols are capabe of heavy wor b hey are no prodc on oos Someimes hey are sed in prodcion wor b he eqiva en operaon s sally done on he shaper if hors or shfs of he same operaon are called for Shor very heavydy cngs are ely o brn o a sandard roer he vo  oo will rn cooler onger whch is is essenial benef. Even if shaper power and drabily were availabe in a roer he presenday n shan ools coldn sand he sress. he power o ae a deeper c a a higher feed rae s nce b he lming facor is he c ers which are liey o brea SPINDLE LOCK

Spindle locs are fond on mos plnge roers n my vew he w o wrench sysems are easer and less iely o case accidenal harm o he roer and o he sqeezer.  sspec her presence on plnge roers is more for mareng prposes han pracicaiy How else can yo eplan heir absence on fedbase oos? COLLETS

Al roers have coles A cer seizing in he cole sed o be an ordi nary eperience B oday essenialy a roers se mlispl  self releasng designs. hey al e go of heir cers handy on demand and hold he cer igh No mch can be said abo coes ecep eep hem clean ( inside and o) a nd hrow hem away every 300 hors o 500 hors or so or  mmediaely if a cer slps in one. 6

his offst offst su bpla can b usd wit wit Pot Pot-Cabl -Cabl colla gu ids.

Ths co lt ltss a sim la la Mak tm so you won't accidn tally put on i n h wong out Sinc h collts collts a captud on thi nut, thy pul out of t amatu and nv stick in th out

Best Uses for Punge Routers Cearly, a plunge router can e used wheever the fixed-ase route can ut Cearly, the fixed-ase route poses soe riss to the the operato n applicatons where the punge router router does ts est wor We have aleady estalshed that the p lunge oute is handicapped doing edge wor, so what can t do est? MORTISING

Mortsing with a fixed ase is arely pactical o safe A plunge sta with a fixed ase and cutter extended ay cause the route to self-feed or ea the cutte. A plunge outer is the est too for otses or speed and accuacy a g shoud shoud e used wth an edge guide on oth sdes of the wor and jig (see chapte 9) Motise depths to aout 2 n are the t he practca

You can ou fom boh fom boh sides of he wo wen making a disk o hole. Obviously use he same pivo hole. If you eave a in membane, you can jus snap snap i ou of he bla

Full-hickness slos ae mulisage mulisage cus. The wok is clamped below he window whee he colla guide s siing. siing. A sample is show on he jig Thee is p eny eny of plafo plafom m suppo suppo o he oue

CUER-BREAKING TROUBLES

Th us of this :i-radius roundovr bit imits th amout of bas casting on th wok du rng startup to lss tha 0 prcnt, so I scrwd an ual thicknss stick to th casting or sup port

oute in this  utiity" function wihout hesitation its instail ity notwith sanding. Moeove any cutting eo fom he staight i wil e com pleey eased y he dovetail it Fo the es dovetail cutings ty to pe plow with the next smale doveail it ahe than a staigh it ROUTER TABLE USE

Plunge outes ae poaly the mos t popula choice fo ote ales, especialy fo heavy use his is mainy ecause hee ae moe choices in the 3 -hp ange than with fixed-ase oues hey'e also eaively inexpensiveas 3-hp oues go But he choice does pesent sevea polems Since the plunge oute moto head is insepaale fom he es of the oute you can't change the i easiy if the oo is olted ight to the aletop. Consequently, most fos compomise y ataching the plunge oute to a ig piece of plastic o meta tha's inse ino the aletop. The whoe assemly is emoved fo i changes n my view this compomises the outing pocess as well as he tale top integiy and flatness. Inevitay the top wil cup up slighty and so will he pastic inset Expect inteuptions as the wo umps into he tansitions whee he pastic meets the op Moeove, expect the pastic to defect as you pess the wo down and against the cutte Cose wo w e fusated when a tale has the inset consuction  's not so much the plunge oute eing in the ale it wil wo, u it is he inset and is insaaion hat ae polematic  pefe a fixed-ase oute oled diectly to he undeside of the oue tale op 72

Porter-Cable 7529 Weight

1 1  bs 

Speed

Varabe 10,000-23000 rpm

Amps

12

Sof sar

Yes

Horsepower



Collets

y in,  i., % n, &

metrics opio

Basepate diameter

6 .

Puge soke

 i

Porter-Cable 7529

he Pote-Cable 7 52 9 plnge ote is new in the us aet and designed to copete with the best of the o openes the Pote-Cable has a hefty pnge stoe ( 2/  n. total) and a age, stable base castng wth a ond sbbase. he Pote-Cable has an p-stop that does doble dty as a ll ange icoadste in both diections of tave he 7529 also has a spinde lock, bt the copanys standad pai of wenches can aso be sed. his doble-insated 2-hp, vaable-speed soft-stat too also has an electonc bae an ipotant safety feate  t has a eatively qet and well-balanced oto, with a 10-ft powe cod. he aoed egonoic gips ae cose to the contols. One conto, the depth stop can be adjsted with the left hand while hoding the gip a the while aintaining contol of the ote, a Pote-Cable ecsive.

Th PortrCab 931 lng rout

T h o on h Por-abl 7529 an b work whil or lf han i ill on   gr  a mart af mov

Pote-Cable has also desgned the base astng as a vauum funnel wth a onneton fo a  -n vauum hose Colletos ae also avalable o edge tmmngs whh ae hade to pk up. The vaable-speed seleto s saely out o the way, but s dult to otate The tool has two swthes wth themal oveload poteton, but I have touble wth the tgge swth oodnatng the two steps to lok t on The plunge glde s aeptable, but the head wll  am  downwad pessue s only appled to one knob The tool s heavy at 1 1 lbs and muh wde than t s thk, makng t unstablebut less so than most Anothe plus s that Pote-Cable has desgned ths tool fo oute table o hand use wth a mehansm that povdes fo ontnuous adjust ment ethe upsde down o ght sde up Pote-Cable also has two othe plunge outes The 693 1 plunge oute s essentally the 69  fed-base oute wth a plunge base The 7538 and 7539 ae plunge vesons o  the Speedmat 3 -hp fed-base outes DeWalt 625

The ndusty standad n the heavyweght lass  s DW-6 25  omely the Elu 3338. Lke all outes, t s not peet but deseves ts poston as the best bg plunge oute. ts ontols ae well stuated and funton smatly. The plunge glde, as on the DW-62 1  s as good as t gets The mamum plunge depth s 2  n Its eatues ae othewse unemakable eept fo ts onspuous upstop. t lmts the up-tavel and untons as the fne adustment knob. The 625 s a double-nsulated, 3-hp, vaable-speed, so ft-stat, 33-lbs tool t has a spndl e lok o one-wenh utte hanges a two-stage depth adjuste, and a tgge swth wth a lok. It's a good tool t sues fom the usual plunge oute nstablty poblems beause the base s so small, but an oset subbase wll keep the tool at on the wok Also, ts base astng s tunated and the utte openng s so wde that t an snag on the ones of the wok. Anothe mno poblem s that the aton of the up-stop quk elease button s stubbon DeWalt 625

DWalt 625 Wegh

133 Ibs.

Speed

Variable 8,000-24000 rpm

Amps

15

Sof stat

Yes

Horsepower

3

Colles

Y4 in. , Y in. & % in.

Basepae diamete

5 n. x 6': in

Plunge stoke

2716 in.

La minate Trim Routers ainae ri roers are essenialy sa roes designed or lgh dy hores. They have 4-n. oes range ro � hp o 1 hp and generay weigh 3 lbs o  lbs hey spn as (25,000 rp o 30,000 p) b se sho r ers Wih a sal diaeer o ah he shan sze hese ers don' genealy have baane pobes a his high speed. The eld has gown o he pon where here ae qie a ew hoies, inlding Poer-Cabe DeWa Bosh, Hiahi, Maia Ryobi and Fred Pore-Cable has hee deren odels, so hee are a le as nne hoies. he DeWal, Bosh and Pore-Cabe riers an be spple ened wih lng o ose-base asings hese will alow spealy operaons sh as sribing a onerop o a wall wh he oner in plae. The Hahi sandard base wi i 0 o 5 degees.

L

Guide Systems In a way he variey o anae  ng syses is a bi sprsing  They range ro sipe ba-beaing gides o aeae iroeer-ype sys es sh as he Mio Fene gde wh preison roee adjsen. he bal-bearng-gded ri e ay be he spes ehod o ng ainae lsh o s sbsae. The sandard sh-ri b has he bearng a he boo o he er b he op-oned bearng s

This Bo sch Mod el 1 609A offset trim router has he cutter off to one sde so it can tr im closer to an i nside corner and scribe the wall profile onto a countetop or back splash

The titingbase Htachi Mode TR6 trim router can be used when the edges of the sub strate are at an ang le. I can aso be used with an edge gu ide and straight bit to bevel wih a straight cutter

Top-bear ing pattern bits used wth tr im routers are excellent for temp late rou ting jobs s uch as small hinge motises.

inceasngly popula. The Achill es heel of the ball-bearng trm route is the bearing Sma ll bearings at high speed j ust don't ast very ong. You may get as ittle as an hour o so of cumulatve use befoe the bearing runs out of lubrication and fas to spin propey

76

Mico Fence edge guides can be used with trim routers.

TH SUBBAS  G U I D  B  A R I N G

Mos iers have an aessoy oller-bearing gide assebly ha fasens o he subbase s posion relaive o he ue an be adjused soe wha for a easured offse fro he uer ( he uers diaeer should resde jus inside he diaeer of he bearing ) The essenial advanage of hs seup s bearng lfe and u qualiy The bearng ols a he feed rae of he rouer so i never spins fas enough o bun ou. Anohe advanage s he beaings solaon s separae fo he u e and araue so   doesn' vibrae wih he. Moeover any eess sde fores of he oo agains he wo are ransfered o he subbase no he aaure hese faos esu  n less haer sooher us and longer oor and beaing life  a sounds prey aional bu n realy repang $3 beaings on a ri-roue uer one a wee of seady use is no al ha erbe of an aernave o he guide bearing desibed above

all-bearinggUided bits can be expected to rim about 1 ,200 ft off couterops at a feed rae of 20 ft per miute. That's about 120 average legth coutertops.

Most trim routers have these accessory roller gu ides availab e. S ince the bearn gs don 't spin at the rate of the route, they last a long time

Solid carbide bits can trim and bevel si multaneously, and ae surpris ngly inexpensive. However they leave skid marks o th e edges of the work

SOLID TRIM CUERS

EDGE GUIDES

In place o (o n addon o) ball beangs soe anufacues ae s pe plasc edge gudes ha fasen o he subbase he edge gude has he advanage of connuous adjusably and he sde pessue s ansfeed o he casng o subbase nsead of he cue o aaue. hps can ap heselves beween he edge-gude surface and he wo and scach  Edge gudes can aso be ade o nes  n cuved suraces W h an edge gude you have oe cue choces bu cabde s essena wh pasc lanae

HE PRER-LE 30 HS G hed its ostio as the idstry stadard i tim oters t has bee  odctio fo ove 25 years eviosy der the ockwel ame his qet (27000 rm, 4am, 3 .75-b. sqat oter s hadsized ad the east toheavy of trim mes. Wth its sral god motor ied by the deth rig ctte height chages are easy ad tavel greate tha 1 i is ossible. The rod moto lock kob s ot great bt accetabe. itig ad osetbase cast igs ae o oger avaiabe fo the 310 A two-wrech colet ock (o sidle lock s ather cove iet. I'd recommed a arge trasaret ofset o rod sbbase fo ths ote. As edgeoy toos all tim oters are stabe, ad the 310 s o exceto. ts sde switch s exosed ad verabe to a accideta start tte vsbily is from oe sde oly becase ts moto is cetered i its widowed castg ad is ot cateveed like the Bosch ad othes.

Poer-Cable 310 Weigt

7 bs

pee

inge spee: 7 rpm

Amps

4

ft strt

N

Hrsepwer

Abt 

Height ste/mecnism

Rg hung twist rng t 1in+ rnge

Cllets

 in

Bsepte imete

4n sk

Other Features and Applications Trim roues are indeed ouers es we foge. They accep oue bis and guides, spin a abou 2 5000 rpm o 30 ,000 pm and can rou he same maeria as big rouers. As such a im ouer can be used or genera wood and nonerous meawor. Howeve I woud never epec indusria ouer service fom a rim roue.

A trim router can be used for hardware mortisig emplate cutters like this one have top mou nted bearing s to follow te pattern

he transparent sub base accessory will accept the two-piece Poter-Cable col lar gu de assembly.

This roudove it is perfect for knocking off the sharp corners rom the planer or jointer

You can template-out shallow excavations usng top-bearng-guded bts Also, ts handy that both the PoteCabe and DeWat trim routers wil accept PorteCable colla guides or tempate wo Smal poile cutters ae also good or oundoves (up to a adius o X in.) , bevels, and Vgrooves. But d eep the depths o cut very shallownot more than the euivaent o / 6 n square I now a carver who wastes shallow reie rom hs blans beore using his chsels. Wth an edge guide and straght bit you can mae wide, shallow, decorative abbets here isn't much depth adustment with trim routesmaybe 1 n at most Remembe, these tools ae designed or trim mng, not o timbe-rame oney. STABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY

You woudn't thn one-handed tools would have stabity problems but they do. he suat designs ae moe stable but the tal Tom Collins" tumbler desgn is more precarious A 3 -in.- or 4n.d iameter subbase tim route with a -in. cutte has less than 2 sq.  n o contact on the wor piece as it rounds the coner. t will ti p A lager subbase is recommended Also Ryob and Mata have clear see-through subbases all the rest have blac bases, and the cutter vsibilty s poor

The author's offset subbase provides increased control for edge work, especially around turns ad on ends.

SPINDLE LOCKS

Mke ife Esier

U

se wo wrenches o change he

Th spndl loc is sots pasd as a good fatu fo out-it changs I would ah us two wnchs A spndl loc on a i out is unwildy; th otos a so sall that you can't hold th whn using a singl wnch. Howv cus an't changd that oftn n th t out

bis on rim rouers so you don '

have o srugge o hol d on wh ie ry ing o urn he wrench.

DEPTH OF CUT CHANGES

Th cut dpth whn ng plastic lana s no citica Plus o nus  n. is asy  toal and quid to distiut th wa ov th lngth of th fut Sinc h sn't uch dand fo a pcis dpth of cut fancy dpth changs a not found on os ti outs h on xcpion is th Pot-Cal 3 0 which you can adjus vy accuaty Th oo s hung on a dpth ing hat vnly suppots t. A un of th calatd ing aiss o lows th it in a pcis and a sud way. Cantlvd oto/castng dsigns wih scw lfts tnd o ja unss you suppot h o to with you f hand as you chang dpth st ings

Bosc 1608 Wit

35 Ibs

Sp

30000 p

Aps

5.6

So sta

o

orspowr

Abou 7/

t ajust/hans

Srw-n vs s, in an

Collts

 n

asplat iar

%-in x - in anl

Bosch 1 608 he Bosh  608 tri router a 5 6 aps and 3 5 lbs , is ight and powerfuand wih is shielded swih you an aidentally fire i s upanddown ehanis is better han os wih Ip in of srew-driven depth adjustent. The ole is spli three ways and holds its uters wel  is tighened with one wrenh, while th e arature is hed wi h another wrenh near he top of he tool ts retanguar subbase asting is stabe, bu no ore so han a round one. The oo ould beneft fro a larger or oset subbase he oor is interhangeabe wih oset, iling, and under sribe bases.

BOSCH 608

Router Tables A

outer table can hande ost routing procedues, but not all of the safely and efficiently he router table has a big advantage whenever its boad conto sufaces (fence and top) are required The table's ost efficient use eploys the wide surfaces to support the worpiece for edge routing. he ost difficult operation on a table is  rout ing on the ends of ong, na row stics ie stiles and ails. But even dii cult jobs can often be safely accopished by using jigs and fitures designed to securely hold the wopiece and eep you hands safely away fo the cutte. But it's aso ipotant to reeber that a handheld outer can be the best solution, especially for age or awward worpieces And, as with a route operations, neve forget that the spinning cut ter is unfogiving and provides no second chances. A route tabe can range fro the siple to the idiculously cope; ost ae over-engineered Fo soe peope, a poduction-ade pastic ainate tabe wi do For othes, a handade, jobspecific contraption is bette. To be sure, a good table with basic features does tae tie to ae well if you build you own. Router Table Basics

The outer table has lots of appications, but it does have its liitations You can rout short or odd shapes otherwise unsafe to rout with the hand router, but you can't rout big, wide, long stics or anything so big it ight tip the table over Edges and faces of narow worpieces are easily routed,

The authors router able has an MDF top that's suppoed by a seres of ribs underneath He us es a fixed-base router so he can permanently attach the casting and emove the outer motor for bi changes

bt a table isn appopriate for woing on the ends ornatey in those cases where the rote table is not sitabe a hand-held roer wi do the ob. Neverhe ess 70 pecent o 80 percen of al obs can be safey and accrately roted on the table Table roting is ofen more efficien than hand roting Most of the wo needn be camped o wored wih a fixte; a fence with a vacm sysem will eep he able clean Adjsments ae easy and setp is qic. he same stic or pane can often be roted on is edges faces o ends with no changes in setp An enclosed roter able is also relativey qi et Since he wor can be fed j st as easily on its edge o face a c te may have moe appicati on on he roter table than in th e hand roter.

made this fence for chamfering the edges of round subbases he work rolls on two 1-in. bearings and th e depth o cut is determined by raising o r lowering the cutter.

Usng a fence with a cutte allows you to use more of the cutting surface. he bal bearing desgn esticts cutting to a smal portion of the edge By rasing ths cutter and positioni ng the fence can use a sec tion o the cutter that has not yet seen any wood.

A 30-degree beve cutter for exaple, can produce a 60degree beve if the work s fed on edge. The fence and cutter height can aso be adjusted so any part of the flute can be used to better dstrbute the wear he sae pioted cutter in the hand router wil wear out its flutes near the bearing eaving shap carbide near the shank. A router table can be a patform for routing with piloted bits and col lars or you can use the fence. Most cuttngs on the table use the fence and as such no ball bearings are needed on the cutters. he sae cutter without a bearing is often saller and safer but not necessarily cheaper When cutter bearings are absent and the fence receves all of the horizon tal force fro the work, the router and bit are under ess stress and last longer. Moreover when bearngs are not used edge defects are not teegraphed back into the profe and in general router fence cuttngs are crisper, wth ess chatter.

A typical router table has a stand top and fence. The stand's essentia functon is to bring the heght of the work up to a cofortable level t should aso provde a eans for supportng, fattening and attachng the top. Materia (usuay MDF) and rgidity w inhibit vbration and contain noise. A stand ade fro in plywood and in by n egs will sup port a router But a stand with 2 in by 2 in egs  -n by 2 1 in ras and 5�in.thick MD will be stronger and support the coponents n the subassebles

A outer stand should e le the stands or jonters planers and and saws: no drawes or storage, aye an access door, and a place or eect cal equpent. t shoud e stong enough to e puled around wthout cong apart  a not opposed to casters ether peranent or detachale  have a we wnde n ne as well as an  -n. straghtedge and a -n. shoulder olt to lo c a set o spacers on the top to t the wor to vaous heghts n reaton to the t

A 5amp rocker switch bued in a mortise pevents accidental startps but s easy to shut of

he wire wnder can hold about  8 ft of wre here is a 6in disk beneah the  0-n o ne yo see . he straightedge at left comes n handy for setups

The router table box rests on four 1 -in . ball casters that are screwed no theaded brass inserts Two Lexan brakes keep the 8D-lb  bo x fom rolli ng away.

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can use t he adstabe table of

a drill press to detemine the

most comfortable router table height Try clampi ng a straghtedge (to simu late a roter table fence) on the d ll press table and run pie ces of varous szes over the setup Try the procedu res at heights from 36 in. to 42 in

 use a 2-ft.-wide by 2-ft-deep by 3 9-in.-high stand  can just manage a hefty 6-f. board whch is aso my physical lim so  wouldnt need a bgger sand he bgger these things get the heavier hey getand the more likey hey are to warp. Rouer work is not lke chiseling or oher common woodworkng aciviy You should not epect mos shop furnture to be at the optmum heght for rouing m 6 f tall and al my rouing surfaces are high about 38 in. o 44 n Obvously he sand s used as the support for he top As such you shoud put some framng nto he upper rals o suppor and connec i My able has si upper rails that  strugged to ge ino the same pane They provide the means to keep the op fa so he top iself can be as thin as is pracical. he maerial, desgn and thickness of the op depend somewhat on the router able design and whether a fed-base or plunge router s used But before  address tha  would lke to presen my case for a fied-base router n the table. Usng a fied base simplfies the op and mproves rouing accuracy

and bi ld to th e height that woks best

FIXED-BASE OR PLUNGE

Safety note: Do not out on the d rill

Alhough both types of oos are used n rouer tables  prefer o use a fed-based rather than a punge rouer. One reason for tha is that t's no practical o bolt a plunge router o the underside of he tabe. ts motor s permanently fasened to he casting so cuter changes upsde down are complicaed Most people screw the plunge rouer to large metal or plasic subbases which in urn are nesed nto rabbeed wndows wthin he op

press, just go th ough the motions

88

Wth ths arrangeent cutter an epth changes can be ae snce the router can now be easy etracte. Nevertheless that one aneuver brngs about one coprose after another. or eaple the tops the seves get overy coplcate wth teeolngs or lanatons of fber boar pywoo or partceboar The wnow has to be a precse atch or the large subbase an the absence of a thr of the top (for the wn ow) wll spol ts ntegrty an proote cuppng an twstng n what s left Moreover the eges where the nsert plate an tabletop eet becoe ust colectors an nee constant cleanng to prevent the work fro hang ng up. Precson work wl be ore fcut because the pastc nsert can ben wth ownwar pressure causng sa changes n epth o cut Every te you pul l the router an nsert out of the tabe you nee to leve an nspect the rabbet seat an nsert for a goo ft A ebase castng bote recty onto an MD top has none of these probles. You spy reove the router otor fro the castng to change the bt Spc ty agan s always the best opton. Ths oes l t your router choces however. or serous router table work such as rasng panels you ay nee a 3-hp achnean there are any ore avaable as plunge routers than as ebase routers However the PorterCable oel 7 5 1 8 oes fll that bl. or lghteruty router tables there are a host of a chnes n the varous power categores.

 TBLETOP MTERIL

Given the fxed-base opion, then, the material o choce s MDFthin (k n.) MDF f you table s stessed wh enfocng ra ils Cabinet-grade MDF (such as Mede brand) is fnish-sanded to a unifom hicness Ths untreated surface will wea and scratch easly Howeve wo o three coas of Watco will mpar a Masonite-le oughness to t and do no harm I wll no be as tough as plastc lamnate but i wll esist wea and last a long time What could be easer? I would not expect to use cute-hole nsets or the same reasons I wouldn't use a baseplate nset A 2-f by 2-f by 5k-n MDF slab s about $2 so its bete to mae a spae than degrade eithe one with an nset Mae one wth a hole fo you biggest cute and one wh a cuter hole o general use exchangng hem as necessary MDF can be boled down on a table frame wthou dimensional conse quence; no allowance is necessary o changes n humdty o temperature I would mnmze overhang though as unsuppored suface can cup

hi p h n hndd f h f ing wih  w Fn ng h G ph min wihin 0.002 in

90 Router Tables

A dial ind icator on a routr tabl fnc may b ovrkill , but or prcis joinry it can sav prcious tim.

The Fence

he fence s the ost citcal eleen of a oute tabe dealy  shoud be staight and squae o the abletop A stic on a pvot wil do bu fo speedie adjusens a spl fence wth a scew-dven adustent s be e Also note that ang a pecse oue fence s uch ease if you aleady have a fence So you ay wan to find a good staigh boad to use fo a sate fence Moeove even he os copehensve and sophsti caed of fences ay no be copatibe with all cues. Fo eaple it ay no ae sense to ove-coplcate he design of you fence fo the occa sional use of a 3 - n-daete panel bi Insead you can ae a second uch spe fence wh a 3 -n cutout fo hat opeaton. The oue fence has wo essenal functons: One s to gude you sc by the cute and he ohe s to eguate the hozonal depth of cu The gudance functon as pled, is no tha dffcut o desgn no the

A rot tabl fnc can b as simpl as a pivot stick and a copl o clamps

Th auhor's rout tabl nc is drivn with a machin scw T 1 -in alum inu m bars fit into ways ct into th bottom of th fnc so that it tracks straight and dosnt twist

fence; a wel-ointed stick will do hat. he deph-o-ct fnction is also easy to manage, b it is more o a challenge and is oten ovelooked. Roer bis, horsepower and the natre of wood ae sally in sch conic tha the desired l depth of c is not possible in a singe pass (the easies way to manage this poblem is wih an adstabe ence) . I know of three methods o moving a fence: the tap and clamp, the pivot, and the scew drive. he first and simpe st ence is camped o the able and tapped with a hammer fo adjstment s nsophisicated nepeat able, and rstraingb is the most common mehod. he second sys tem ses a sick wth a pivot so only one clamp is needed (Stops and screws can be sed to advanage hee. )  he thid mehod and the east

coon incorporates a eadscrew to drive the ence. My own is asse led on a carrier throgh which a couple o clap  levers secre the whole thing. he leves are coped to teenuts eneath the top

Protection from the Cuer A roter it is an nfogiving ctting too One of the safety eatures o a ote tae is that ost o the tie the ctte is uried in the stoc or ehind the ence so you are protected ro it. I your ence is spit its good practice to iniize the ctter opening to redce the cutter epo sre. When roting ll thicness alow only  6 in or so o cutter aove the stoc again to hide as uch too as possile. Pastic cutter gards are vaale in soe cicustances and yo shoud se one if yo need ore protection. or e if  thin a pastic cutte guard is necessary then  now ' at ris and  wor ot an aternate roting strategy to iniize it. f the wor is too narrow short or peculia or pts y hands too cose to the it ll uild a holder or a specia tility ence A roter ence has a ner o uses esides the usual fnctions such as giding the stoc hiding the ctter and controlling the inandot depth of cut. Its also handy for pacing a variety o stops and oers a plator for dst-collection equipent. My ence has a vacuu port right ehind the ctter and does an ecellent o of picing up the chips Pastic vacuu accessories or router ences are coon (see Resources on p 1 80 )

Usi ng a saightedge an d sh ims  the author adjusts te outeed haf of the fence for a O.020 i -deep cut he cutter line s up wth the outfeed ence to make a full thick ness pass for a jointed edge

Wheher your ence s s pit or no you can use i or o nting opera tions and making other ull-thickness cuts With a carbide stragh bit you can oin plasic wood M pywood, and some nonerrous metals However, MF and plastic will ruin HSS onter knives he oueed ence should move in and out abou /4 in., and  you adus it parale to the need ence and n line wh the highes pont o the cutter i wi uncion lk e a onter. I t wil l take a th in slic e rom the u thickness o the workpiece. You can do the same thng with a one-pece ence by ataching some hin (0 0 1 0-in o 0002 - in.) meta shims on the ence beyond the cutter A straghedge placed on the outeed side should ust touch he high poin on the cuter Open mortses and other sopped" cus are easy to do on the rouer tabe Oten hese cuts are ony 2 n or 3 in in length so the outeed ence can be posiioned slghy rearward and ou o the way I made a sop with a slo to slide and lock on the oueed encea nice convenience It's designed o stay above the table so it won't accumuae a pile o chips here are more hings you can add o a ence Several small compa nies are even makng a busness out o it Jo inech, Wood Haven and Incra or eampe make ences and accessories or dovetails and bo onts . Nonetheess, your ence mus always be straig ht and square to the tabe o be accurate My ence aces are uninished, so I can sand scrape and true them up I keep hem a to plus or min us 000 in.

The 1 -n p lastc tube is a DeWat 61 router accessory (3859-00) that comes in h andy for chip collection on a router table. A brass (crome-plaed) 1 -in drain tube s also a good coice

A deep, pen mise ike this ne if attempted in ne pass will break the cutter r sta the mtr Rutng n %-in. ifts slves te prblem; remve ne fr each depth change. The sul der lt keeps the lifts frm slidi ng

I se an 1 8-in Starrett gru nd straightedge t verify the straghtness f the fence haves. A O001 5-in  feele gauge cannt get unde the straightedge.

Depth of Cut Strategies Maeria o be cu on he rouer able mus be la, uniform n hickness, sraigh and square. ha s no a peculary; all woodworking machnes require . If your work is cupped, bowed, or oherwise disored your cu ng resuls will vary. Gven suiab e maerial a good rouer able will cu o plus or mnus 0.002 in o cu hs cose you need a good fence and a a abeop f any of he hree (sock op, or fence) legs of hs riad is less han accepable your resuls will vary.

e adjusted y he rouer or he fence  should e adused y one or the other (not oh) for a gven cuter Changng oth wl easy doue your chances for a screw-up ortunately he choce of whch o manage for a gven cuter s easy o mae. HORIZONTAL DEPTH OF CUT

Large-dameer ts are usually shor often ntoeran of vertca depth changes and are used on he edge of stock; o sage-cu wh hem you move the fence o do ths set the vertca depth" to ts fnal poston n ally and move the fence n equal ncremens. The dameer of the argest avalae router t s around 3 n.and 'k n of that s usually for a earng. hat eaves l 'k n. for the profile so hree or four -n fence changes wll complete the cu Usng spacer lfts and fence changes at he same tme should e avoded. If you fnd yourself dong oth you shoud consder movng up to a shape

The sample on the eft has a pretty good sde wal but the outside edge of the corner is torn The sample on the ght as been climb cut (fed eft to ight) but only about Y2  i n 

se this sled holder i he work is too narrow or too deep to work safely I hold the sled by the toggles. I

Climb Cuting Th convntional an saf wor-f irction on h rotr tab is fro right to lft as yo fac th cttr In this way th f is agains th ctr roaion an as sch h wor is safy pll into h nc covring p th bit Li planing agains th grain th rotr bi can cas tarot if h wor is f against th cttr rotation. Sharp cttrs an spira flt sign can a this ss of a probl bt xpct so arot spcially on iicl woos i ng h wor fro lf to right h clib ct will arly rc taro bt at sbsant ia ris. h clib ct is so na bcas o th tnncy for th rotr or wor to pl (or cli b) as yo try to f vnly h wor is constanly bing pl fro th hans an away ro h nc. This ct is chily s for ificlt woos in which th grain changs irction  is ss fficint han othr cts an as sch or orc is rqir o conro th wor This is risy bsinss. or tnatly hr ar conrasrs h ain s for h clib ct is as a vry light scor" a as an initial pass h ight   in. ph of ct hlps prvn th svr clibing acion. No ha yo shol a a habit o pacing th wor in a holr that ps yor hans wl away ro h cttr for clib cts Using this tchniq witho sch coonsns proction is xtry angros. h ony ti to s a clib ct withot a holr is wih worpics that

ae so lage ha you hands ean wel away o he cue. In any case, don ae off oe han a !z in o a sngle pass. An MD wo holde is pey heavy and esisan o powe ansfes fo he cue in a clb cu Even if an acciden should occu, you hands ae on he jig and canno be pulled ino he oue b. inally sae cib cung can always be done wih a powe eede. Bu you shoud noe ha a oue able should no be consdeed a poduc ion oohe vey eason o a powe eede he seup s aso echnque sensive and you oue abe has o be a qualiy one The feede wil  pess down had on  he o p and agans he ence. If ehe shoud delec you cungs wi l vay.

The Miter Gauge he ie gauge can be useful on he oue abe, bu is no y favoie choice I jus can hold he wo on one and eep i o slipping. Moeove os iegauge cus ae acoss he gain and subec o eaou as he cue es he wo A bacup wase piece is alos always equedconfoundng handing even oe. A ie slo in he face of he able can weaen i o cause ohe ino pobles f a ie gauge is needed a bee souion s o use wo epoay peces o in. MD o ap he blade of he gauge ahe han cung ino he op Wh hs saegy he fence can eain n play fo added wo suppo. A bee soluion ye is o buil d a sed fiue wih sops and ogge caps o hod he wo (see he phoo on p 1 00) . Welldesigned fiues ae ipeaive o good wo educing accidens and injuies.

wo piec es of %-in MD  clamped to the table provide a temporay pathway or the miter gauge blade. h is method doesnt co mpromise the router table by ctti g into it or a groove

It takes a major calamiy to kick this jg o t of my hands Work held in a fxure aways machines well

Router Tabe Safety It is cear that hghspeed spinnng ctters have two possible reslts: one is to ct the stoc the othe s to ct yo There are other theats on the oter table, bt none as foridable Safety s an atttde that when fo lowed wll ipove yo effciency and ctting reslts Once in a whe, there are genine sprises bt os t eegency roo visits ar e de to cae essness. A shoddy setp, diclt wood, infeor achney, and a fghter pilot entaity are soe of the factos This boo can help yo wth the nepected, bt not yor disposition And frany, if yo are clsy, acci dent prone, and patent, yo shold not be a woodwore The ato obe indstry has done a yeoans job of potectng yo fro yoself and others: air bags, seat estants safety glass, and so on. oweve, the woodwong ndsty is a wo-safety dsgrace Start to beeve that, and yo wil be a conscentios woodwoe CUER SAFE

Edge otng s the ost coon tabe oting practice Yo can ot the whoe edge or part of t. Ether way, there snt ch ctter eposre ecept at the end of the ct. Roting narow stcs ( Z  n or les s) can be scay becase yor hands are paced near the ctter for best reslts Whenever possible, pess down and aganst the fence beyond the ctte. Shod yo have a slip, yo hands will dash away fro the ctter Whle paying attention to that anever, prepare fo the ctters sdden appear ance at the end of the wo

When edge-rouing the full hcknessoining for nstanceprojec ony I/6 in of cutter beyond the work Any more is unnecessay and rsky. For bes results, mach the ute lengh o the hickness of the wok Push stcks are always acceptabe, but hold-ns, hod-downs, and feaherboads can pesent thei own dangers In my vew, they get n the way, upse the uniform tavel of he work, and present  some risk them seves To me, they signa tha trouble is near; the work is too narrow, too shot, too long, or oo awkwad I'm the fis to act when t comes to safety. f you see the need fo a hod-down or featherboard, hen start lookng for a ig, fxture, holder, or an alernative method. It coud easily be hat what you're tying o do s no a able-ouer opeation at al Some dangeous ouer table cuts are uncomplicaed when done wih a fixture and a hand router And ust because you've seen an operaion n a book or a magazine, don't assume it's safe If you resuls are inconsistent, you don't lke doing it, or you are otherwise uncomforable, you ae pobably at risk and should consder another method.

Always push own and against the fence beyond the cutter when op eating a router table.

TRAPPING THE CUER AND THE WORK

Because outes geneate so uch toque, t's cucal o eep he cuttes fo getng tapped. he wo can be tapped beween the cute and he fence o unde the cute. he bi can aso be tapped n he wo o stuc in the side of the stoc. hee of he fou situations should be avoided altogehe The fouth s essential to outng and quie coon, but done at a is you should now abou appng he wo between he fence and the cute s abou as bad as dving on he wong side of he oad The quesion isn whethe an acci dent wil occu, bu when Neve set he fence so tha the wopiece s sandwiched beween i and the cute Any sght devaton in stoc thic ness wi j a the wopece and ( vey lely) pul you finges into he bt. You can aso  ap the wo unde the cute his is fa ess coon, but the hazads ae neay he sae. hee is less s of he wo sef feedng, bu i wil liey un he cute and the wo Be awae: if this happens, i is the esut of unsafe pactce. An inside cut ie a slot o dado again taps the wo between the cu e and the fence. A bad feed o an ill-pepaed (pooly jointed edge) wopece w  un the cut, ay bea he cutte, o ic bac the wo Ths s coon pactce on tabe-saw dovetail and box-join jigs and the eason fo caution when usng a fixtue fo such a cut. he cute sipy has no p ace o go in the event of an accden except nto an aea of the wo you didnt wan to ou

The same size dovetail s possib e on different thicknesses of stock if both cuts are refer enced from te same side o the work But tis strategy shod be avoided; it is very risky

A tongue pr oduced thi s wayboth cuts referenced from the same face of the stockis high-risk woodworking f your hickness plane is welltuned, there s never a need for this

tere s a safe" method of widening sots it is on the ou ter table Bu beware of the sur prise climb cu Wih the work tapped between the fence and the cuter a bad feed may brea k the cutter and jettison te work. he safe feed di rection to widen t he so i s always against the cutte rotaton (eft to right in this case) If

An accdenal clb cu can aso occur whle wdenng he pahway on nsde cus  you gnore he cuer oaon Wdenng he so as shown n he phoo above wh a rgh o le hand eed s a clb cu and wll n all lelhood p he wo ou of you hands A eed ro lef o rgh s no a clb cu bu any devaon n worpece ravel can spol he cu neveheless

Soe cterssch as those for sotting and oring gle oints are bried in he wor or nora operaion. ha is to say, i yo lit he wor while roting it, yo wi  spoil the ct. Again, yo can brea a cter this way and the wor can ic bac Yo need to ae sre yo never ift the wor while sing hese cters. Moreover, i the wor is bowed, twisted or cpped, is trip down the roter able wil be tippy and it cold a and y bac at yo nteritenty pressing and relaing he force down on a bowed worpiece wil increase its chances for a icbac A hold-down ay nepecedy tip the ends p on sall wor he best defense agains sch a caaiy is good stoc preparation wih at sraces and sqare edges. B L I N D-END TABLE CUTS

As enioned, there are penty o nsafe bt relatively coon wood woring practices he roter has is shareaybe ore so than the jointer and able saw. Blindended cts are those cts hat begin and end inside the stoc and do not eit or enter throgh the edge t is possibe to do this on the roter tabe, bt clearly the cter is trapped in the wor he heroics go ie this: the daredevil irst claps stops down on the roer table top, trns on he roer, bts he wor against he sop, tits it p, and drops i down on he trning cter Net, the operaor slides he wor to he oher stop and its i off he table. f sccessfl, said craftsan eeps his aternoon bngee p appoinent. he above procedre wi brn the wood at boh ends o the pathway and the s ighest waver will rin he c on both sides. B the proper alternaive is obvios. t is he epress prpose o a plnge roter o facilitae blindend cs hey shold be done with the wor in a ig or fire and roted wih he porable plnger and edge gide, never on the roter able

Router Bits t s nterestng to note that the purhase of 10 o 5 oute bts an easy eeed the doar value of he ost epensve rouer These hghly engneered arbde oute bts an stand fou o s egrnds, even hough ost hobbyst woodworkes raey shapen he But despte hs duable aeral, a new utter an and w ea out break ou or hp out a peetly good staght-graned pee o wood The ute shapness or geoety doesn ae nearly as uh as a sol d unde standng of whh bt o useand how o use the bt one you'e there

I

A few premium cutters can often exceed te price of the rote they're used in These retail or abou t $7enou gh t o purchase nearly any -hp router

The cer is a crical facor he sep and he ype of oer are he oher wo pars of he big pcre. All hee facos play ogeher n he cing process he wrong roer, an l-conceived sep, or a poorly cho sen oe bi can n he work. Workng wh hese vaiables does ake eperence, b a coser ook a cers can ceranly hep he opeaor ake soe nfoed choices

Evaluating  Performance Manfacrers have a lo o say abo roer bs Soe of he ore co on bzzwods are sper cro-gan, faige-poof seel, spn balanced, ankickback, precison grond, op hook anges, and efon coaed B he boo ne s perfoance, whch can be prediced fro spe nspecon or even knowledge of ong. A single anfacrers ces can vay in qaliy, and dsrbors don always carry a anface's enre nvenoy, so selecon can be peplexng. As in oher prodcs, a anfacrers repaon and ongeviy n he bsness are reasonabe consderaons. Vey cheap bis shold be sspec, since yo will "ge wha yo pay fo A good le of hb s o selec one or wo ces and evalae her perfoance he folowing wi show yo how FINISH

he fnish ha a n ew cer eaves on wood shod be nearly flawess. Rogh grnding will elegaph self ono he work When sed properly yo shold expec ile or no earo, no brnng, and an ohewise sooh and glassy fnish Use he oe able o evalae hs; i s he leas sensve o echniqe.

Any grindng dfct on a carbid bi wll show up plainly on th work.

To check fo vibration in a large bit, stat it at the slowest of speeds and ncrease the speed a notch at a tme. This PR trimmer s the longest of all commonly avalable router bits.

Vibraion s your wos enemy Clamps loosen, scews unwind, ences squiggle, cuers slde up he coe, and he work can resonae agains he cuer In he wors case, he cue breaks or comes ou o he coe Mno vbraion of he roue b, once uncommon, seems more and more fequen. Bu any vbraion, in my vew, is unaccepabl e o es for cue vibraon, use a variabe-speed roue and sa he oo a is sowes speed. Hold he rouer n he ai and advance he speed seleco a sep a a ime f you ee vibraon, sop he rouer befoe gong o he nex speed. (Wih a hard-sa oo you don' have hs luxury) Cues whose diameers and lue lenghs are less han  % in. should spin o 25000 rpm wihou vbaion Bigge cuers are fa more likey o vibrae even hough hey are supposed o be in baance beyond 30000 pm Be suspicious of all new big cuers and all newly reground cuers A bad colle w make mos medum-szed cues vibae, balanced o no Beaings, good or bad, may make a bi vbae,  oo, so o ule ou he cuer as he soe vibrao remove all bearings and screws from he bi

Jus how cose does he manufacurer grind o he saed specificaion such as radius and diameer? Mos makes hod he shank diamee o an exeme olerance o pus or mnus 0.00025 n, bu he es of he ool may vay For decoraive bs, ovolos, beads, and oundovers, or exampe, i doesn' maer much if a radus is of by a few degees, bu joinery cues shoud be moe precise he fi rom ongue-and-groove oos, gue-join cues, cope-and-sck bis, and doveas s vey sensiive o ginding eros.

Adjustment for Bit Wobble

M

ake some trial cuts n he intend ed material and adust your jig

to accoun for the cutter's actua pro fie. If your spacing between dovetais actualy measures say, 0.76 in. be cause of cutter deflectionand you want exactly :4 in-adjus the spacng on the t empate to reflect the pacical error (n effect, 001 in. closer)

The overall easureents o the outer bi ae soewhat dficut to establish pecsely without eaborate equipent op dead center can be dicult o ind; he cut er needs to be paced in a spe cal holder o j ig and specal easurng gauges ae equired. A ore pracica stategy is to eas ure the wo cu by the too.  your seup is good and your ling is pre cse it will be easy to easure your cuting resuls Fo exaple a dal

Making a tes cut and measuri ng the results with a set of calipers i s a sure-fire way to check the accu racy of a router bit.

Straight cutters come in three primary styles: spiral bts, frst and second from left on shear; and standad staight cutter. he s pia and o n-shea r bits ct more clealy than the straig h bt

Shaper cutters, whic h have holes for the arbor, cut the same profles as router bitssuch as te straight cutter at rghtbut will outlast them by a factor or 10 or more.

Cose i spection reveals the cutter wear in e on the work. The sight step wi l rus trate or prevent a close-fittin g joint 

wth one cter and fnshct the eanng 20 percent to 30 percen wth a new tool a fll deph n one pass Unfor, lght cts ay exend cter fe three to fve tes Yor cte s ready for a regrnd when t stars bnng stock, needs ore handfeed pressre and shows wear lnes on he work Jonery ctes (gle jo n rabbet, stragh, or dovea) sed for exended peods at one deph w show wear lnes at anoher depth. f yo n 50 ft. of a n by 4n abbe on MDF an d then ake a 6n sqae abbe, the /4n. wea lne wll lkely show p For a decoatve pofle ct, he wear lne ay no ater; bt for a doveta and socket, the pars ay no f properly Both cters wl sll ct, bt hey ae effectvely dead sodes.

Roter bs vary n atera SS sed o be the cheapest and os co only avalable B os roter bts for he sall shop ae now ether cabde weded ono stee or sod carbde Poycrystallne daond s anoher opton, b s sed n prodcton work only HIGH-SPEED STEEL

HSS s good atera, and capable of vey sharp edges that can be sharp ened by he end serbt  doesn't hod p nder proonged se Wth SS expect ony 1 0 percen to 20 percen of the nnng e of carbde. Its vae today s fo the vey shorrn, csto profles o pehaps for an expeent. f yo're wondeng abot how the acta profe of a $35 ca bde ogee gh look, an $8 bt wl gve yo the answe And t gh even seve fo the shor rn n a gven poject.

Another advantage to HSS is that woodwoes silled in too gind ng can make ther own custom poiles HSS outer-bit b anks are avail abe or this purpose  especiay e HSS bit s o mortisng, since they are oten ground to plunge better than a carbde-aced stee bit, and a mortise un o a piece o urnitue is usuay a short run CARBIDE Carbide on steel (the most common mateia and design) w  outlast HS S 5 times to  0 times. t s actual le wl vary, but t s cearly the best com pomse o router-bit lutes both economically and pactcaly he mate ral can be egound (bu t never as well as the actory setup) shap enough to un nearly as ong n my view, hand damond honing is agey symbol ic, and proessionas should grind carbide or results and saety Cabide s the god standad in too-bit materia today, athough t does vay in hadness durablity, and density Some cabide bits are selected or their duabity n speciic mateials; one gade does not t a occasons POLYCRYSTALLI N E DIA MON D Polycrystalne diamond (PCD) is vey had mateial, unnng 50 times to 1 00 times onger than carbide. his is sticty producton mateia, mosty custom-made and designed to un o hours or days in materals ie MD iberglass and aeospace composites. But cutters ae vey expensi ve, start ng at about $200

his Wis consi n Knife Works cutter has an over-center gind i n the e nd o the flute for better punging.

Shank Diameter Shank diamete n the Unted State ae /4 in 5/1 6 n 3h in. and  in; metic ize ae common in Euope Lage hank povide moe uface aea fo the collet to uound and ao geate tiffne. Con equenty -n hank ae t he mot popua. Fo a gv en too geomety thee often le machning equied fo a -n tool than the in  equival ent Conequenty they ae about the ame pce. The advantage to male hank tool i thei mal adii fo coe inide cut, o whee it j ut make no ene to ue the lage hank. Tim oute ue ony /n hank.

Cutter Types Thee ae many way to caify oute bit They nclude poted (wth beaing) o unpoted bottom and de cuttng decoative pofile and jo iney bit a wel a vaiou combnation. Hee a ampng with pecia featue you hould know about. BEARING BITS

The beang ued to guide a cutte can be paced on eithe end of the oute bt o between a et of cutte dependng on the intended ue. In all cae they l mt the cutting depth. Cutte with beang on the end of the too typi caly o ll aong the wok and ae often attached to decoative po file bit. Beve ogee oundove cove and bead ae the typca cutte They can be ued in the hand oute o on the oute tabe Eentiay they cut vaiou pofile. Thee cutte ae plentfu cheap competitive and pobaby the mot popula of a oute bt They emove a  ot of woodand ome ( aedpane bit) ae enomou Often they ae of anti kickback deign

Solid carbid bits last long  than th sam-sizd bit wit brazd-on carbid  tips, l ft Unfotunatly fw cuttrs ar soid carbid 

he Amana Nova Ctter System has replaceable carbide ctters that lock into the arbor assembly Their carbide not havng to be braed, has been selected fo its keen edge.

Bearings come in a variety of sizes and can ft above below, or between ctters

he an-cbac tool has a lot ore stee n  than a convenona b an runs soother because of s greaer ass an even balance. The cuter esgn s such that t can ony chop at he rate of 1 n. o 3/64 n per revouton. The guets of these bs are shallow an soc oesn get caught n the hey on't c bac the wor  ust a that he cu quaty at 20,000 rp s nstngushable fro hat of a sanar cutter at tha speean tha both wll ceranly cut you.

The sa ndwich of temp late-work-templ ate shows two beari g and ctter optons for the same r eslt The topbearng pattern bit is easier o set p ad there are mo re cutter optios

BEARING IN THE MIDDLE

A few bis have beaings sandwched beween wo cues op and boo The beang ainans he space beween he cuers and povides a eans o li he sideways deph of cu I is sange ha he os popular of hese he ral and sile ses use a bearing a all This s a roue abe oo only and os doo wor is sraigh-line and should be woed off he fence Noneheless hese ses are supped wih bearings ongue-and groove cues and a few oher isceaneous bis are suppied wh cuers o bearings sandwched beween each oher BEARING ON THE TOP

Sraigh bs wih a beang ouned on he op ae os ofen use d wh eplaes. They roll aong he edge of a eplae for an eac ransfe of he desgn o he wopece he praccal and safe ii for full-hicness eplae cus is abou  l n Longe cues are coon bu should be avoided You can howeve use nceena seps o each deeper f a 2-in-hic pece of wor fo eaple is roued wih a  - n rier you can use he achned surface of he soc o copee he cu Essenialy al op-beaing ools ae used wih he eplae on op of he wor. Using a epae below he wor equies a rier wh a bearing on he end DECORATIVE PROFILE CUERS

Mos cuers h a decoae do so aong h e edges and ends of he wor They are iporan and occupy one-hrd o one-haf or oe of os cu e caaog invenories. These cuers usualy have bal bearngs o li he deph of cu o abou one adius. Moeover he bearing-guided oos wee designed piarily for he hand-hed rouer Ogees beves beads

coves and so on are generally suppied wh R3 bearings (0.  n 1. = 3/6 in.). f he wor is anageable and he cuer won coe apar hese profiles should be roued on he abe whou bearings hese cu ers produce a lo of wase ha can be easiy coleced, and he wor is ore ecien when guided o he abe fence here is also less operaor rs han wh he hand rouer. or exaple a 6in.daeer rouer (he ypical base casng dae er) aways has less han 5 percen of s fooprin on he wor while edge rouing f a   n diaeer ogee bi is n he rouer hen on sarup here is only 38 percen of he rouer on he wora hazard indeed When he bearing (say an R-3 ) does fnaly engage he edge of he wor, ha nuber ncreases o 6 percen. Bu as he rouer urns he corner o rou he ends, less han 25 percen of he base s fuly suppored his oenary insa bliy is a bg reason ha burnng and icbac are so liey a he ends of a worpece hs doesn' happen on he rouer able

=

BEARING ON THE BOOM

Flushri bis are designed o ri a worpiece o he sze of he eplae or underying subsrae. These cuers are ypically used wih he hand rouer, bu can jus as easily be used on he rouer able. Wh a r ouer able ore e and sill are required o ae he epae and safely fas en he eplae o he wor.   is reaively easy o jus cap he e pae o he wor on he bench and use he hand rouer.

A patern bit, et, has to have its entire flute extended for the bearing to engage the tem pate he end-bearing flush-trm bt can be extended the m ini mum a mount to engage its template.

Flush-tri bis are safer han top-bearing-guided oos beause they do not boto ut" and you an always eend us enough bit to do the utng Bu with he shan-bearing tools he whoe ue has to be etended for he bearing to engage the eplate Moreover these ools (top-bearing utters) are boto utters and as suh present another u tng surfae where none s needed he end bearing on the flush rer overs up he sharp edge a the end of the oo for additonal safety ush triers are very popular bu due o the poor seleion of stan dard bearngs ost are only  in diaeter wih narrow webs of 7hz in or less. What that eans s inreased defleion. No atter how sharp or who suppies he these tools w dee signfiantly when their flutes are an nh or onger. There just sn suffien eal lef in he o re of he ool to eep it fro bending. The few 4-n uing diaeter (-in shan) flush triers are very strong however

In spite of its -in diameter this trimmer is pretty narrow in te web, less than V4 in at the end of the tool

Testing Joinery Bits

J

onts made with dovetal and straght bits are usaly quite for-

gvng, but it is good practice to take a lght swipe on the edge of some maple or birch deeper than you ntend to use on the oint. If any wear lnes or " chip telegraphy are evident on the sample expect to have prob lems with the fit These defects are never canceled on Bits fo interocking oinery must meet i gh grin ding standards to do their ob  Your setup must also be exact to minmize erors

oppOSite sides of the joint and are des tined to frustate cose joi nery.

Though the faces of ths glue joint don't line up the proiles do nest in one another

JOINERY BITS

Roers are good a joinery Coon joins incde half lap, onge and groove orise and enon, cope and sic, scar, inger ge and doveail. Many cers are precision-grond precisely or he ob; ohers are no Soe doveail bis are job-specifc; so are he ge join and cope-and-sc cers. Halap, onge-and-groove, and orise-and-enon bis are non specic b reqre precson noneheess For he os par, good onery s qie dependen on good lling and good j igs and resand less on

Interchageable cutters used o n a separate arbor provide an alternative to individual bits with arbors

he uer isel. Neverheless i an be very frusaing o disover ha a poor fi is aused by he ue. As a maer of ouine I make a praia hek on he fi of a sample oin befoe I ommi he ues o j oinery on real poje siks Die uer measuremen may no evea he poeni al for eror, and eain u es require sophisiaed measuring oos and a go od undesanding of igonomery and geomery o pedi heir behavio  is easie and more impoan o aually es a uer on srap f you don you'l risk spoiing expensive sok MU LTIP IECE BITS

Mos manufaurers of roue bis make a few uers ha are assembled ono an arbo. Someimes is done ou of neessiy for he speed of pro duion.   migh j us be heaper o make he ue han grind he whole hing ou of one hunk of mea Someimes i's done o give he user a hoie, say an in vs a 4-in slo uer. Someimes is done fo he sake of eonomy Epe a lile more vibraion wih mulipiee uers and pay aen ion o he assembly direions. A uer aidenaly plaed upside down an burn ou in a minue or beak

Examps of scary potntially angros bits, from f Th 1 0-oz lock m itr's iamt is 5\ tim s larg than its sa nk. h  rabbt bit is fiv tims g ratr h big ovtail bit has lss han a 76 in. of stl in t wb h HSS spia bit is so flxibl it "zngs whn it cuts An th cabi Oflt is 1 2 tims l ong r than ts  iamt.

Sharpening A utting toos get dull As they ose their utting edge, thei powe deand to ut inreases, the tools ae woed harder and duin g inreases at a faste and faste rate A router bit's life is shot, so  have developed stategies to inrease it One way to inrease utte ife is to sequene its use A utte that buns in end grain, for eape, ay be aeptabe on long gain a utter that won't ut edge gain will burn the end gain, but you an probably rout MDF with i t f it wont ut MDF it ay ut pasti but not for ong. A utter that won't ut plasti ay abade MDF but won't eally slie it. o be sue fo the best of uts on any aterial, use a new utter Carbide grinding equires sophistiated diaond tooling the stuff is hard You an diaond hone it a ittle and you an sharpen highspeed steel But to get the aiu tie between sharpenings, epet to have you tools professionally ground t is very osteetive Four to si reginds are possibe if the utter has inured no serious fratures It is ipotant to note that if 80 perent of the utte l ife ( if eground fou ties) is fo the grinding servie, not the anufaturer, finding a good ginder ay be oe iportant than finding a good anufaturer.

s mentioned, routers cant do much wthout a gud e of some sort A cutter wthout a bearng on it w require a router tabe or an accessory to contro its pathway. Even cutters wth bearngs often requre a jg or tempate to guide the too around t so happens there are quite a few accessores for routerssome that are manufactured and some that you can easy make yoursef Heres a sampng Guides and Bases

The coar gude is avaiabe from the manufacturer for most routers, whether fxed-base, punge, or trim These devices fasten to the subbase or the base casting, surround the cutter, and with the cutter act ike a pattern bit but wth an offset between bit and guide They are used wth tempates, especiay with doveta and jonery j igs The router is pued aganst the tempate to estabish contact wth the coar. The coar sides aong the tempate and cuts a swath parae or concentric to the pattern. A 1 in. diameter too bt is about the argest cutter that can be used with a coar.

nay kits ncude a coar, seeve, and �in.-diameter cutter The seeve wi oset the cutter pathway to compensate for diameter dierences of the cutter and coar f the cutter was ike a aser and coud cut wth no waste, the pug and the recess it fits nto coud be created wthout the seeve on the coar

With an aftermarket offset subbase and a shop-made edge guide, its nearly mpossible to spoil this decorative cut

EDGE GUIDES

Edg guids fasn o h rour-bas casng wh a par of ods Nay all rous ar dsignd o accp h  hough hough no al anuf anufacu acurrs rrs a h for hi rous. h guds povd a ans o cu paral o h dg of h wor. hy ar coninuousy adusabl and gnray usd wih p olss curs. Add-on or rpacn fncs fncs can b ad concn rc o insid or ousid radii so h who pacag pacag ( dg gud rour rour and bi ) can ravl aong curvd dgs ROUTER SUBBASES

Round os squar and ohr shaps of subbass ar avaabl for rans parncy cono and spcaly applcaion Sars DWal Porr-Cabl Woodhavn Vron Aican and ohrs cop in his afa nich (s Rsour Rsourcs cs on p p 1 8)  CIRCLE CUING AND ELLIPSE MAKERS

Plasc pivo subbass a in os caaogs and h all sl and aunu Micro nc jig can cu pcsion cicls (shown a righ) Th ig is aso dsgnd o wo wih an lli ps bas shown shown a fa rgh rgh whch povds an asy way o adus h inor and ajor axs

DER ORIGNA EQUIMEN ROUER COLLS oen would et hei cuters slp o gue" themselves to he cute Two wrenches, equenty dieen were and stll are a necessty for cute exchanges. ewe colets are asened asened to he collet nus raey sip and aways ee hem seves om he bit. tl thee ae hose who thnk tha is no enough.  have Two aemake companies com panies have been ryng o ceae a market for wench ess coles he Jacobs Powe ole s ooless and he lminato chuck uses only a T-handled hexkey hey are some wha outer-specfc outer-specfc but gven su cen dsbuton hey shoud be avalable for al outers soon They he Jacobs Power Collet replaces are bgger han the ogina colets wrenches wth a snap -in system that and hold their cuttes well bu they reeases and tghtens with a click can vibae moe

Mico Fences adjustable cicle cuting jig fits most routers and can be tuned to wthin a few thousandths of an inch

Used wit an afterm aftermarke arkett jig, the Micro Fenc e can be u sed to rot precise elipses he mountin g plate plate and a set of pivoting pivoting blocks provde a way to qu ickly set the min or and maor axes of the elipse

L Vallys Routr Bit Jack is attacd to h dpth stop of a plung rout. T tool allows dpth cangs with a lvr (Photo courtsy  Vally)

Router Table Accessories

Routers are essenialy desgned for hand use and as such do no necessary adjus up and down very we against gravity when underneath a rouer tabe. Eractng he springs fro punge routers and reroftng the router with an afterare fine-deph aduser are coon straegies ha can hep A coupe of dieren devices fro ee Vaey and Jesse ool Copanies accopish the sae hing he Jesse Rout-R-Lif is a subsi ute rouer able inser hat carries he rouer in a crankdrven echa nis The ee Valey Router B i ac uses a ratchet echans fasened to a hreaded rod of an upsde-down plunger.

he router table fence rom In cra Jig can be used as a standard fence and, wth anattach ment, for cutting dovetals (Photo courtesy ncra Jig)

ROUTER TABLE FENCES

Incra an JonTech are the ey player n afterare rouer tabe fence The ncra g fence yte ove a notch a a e on a aw-tooh rac wth a nob for fne ajuten between op. The onTech ue a crew for connuou ajuent hroughout t range. (See p. 9 for ore on fence) PIN ROUTING

Pn routng   an neretng eplate eho of routng whereby an over hea pn n lne wh he cuter, engage the ege of the eplate fatene o the wor. he cuter then r he wor even wth or parael o the teplae ne wor  ao poble wth the yte. DOVETAIBOX-JOINT MAKERS

here are at leat fve oveta jg for han rouer hree of the fve are capable of box fnger an oher cae-corner jon The On g  a Porter-Cable oo wth any tepae for box, through haf-bn an ng oveta he Jonech fence adjusts contnu ously and can be used on other stationary tools (Photo couesy Joinec.)

he Po rter-Cable O mn i  g is an i ndustrial dovetai jig that has many accessories for various k inds of dovetails, as well as other joinery. (Photo courtesy PorterCabe.)

he Kelle Dovetail System uses matched templates to cut precisely through dovetals on fixed centers he idea s to do only through dovetails but do them well and with a minim um of setup (Photo courtesy Keller Co)

he eigh Jig uses adjustable fingers for cutting variabespaced dovetails and it has become the industry standard for this opera tio n Leigh offers a wide variety of accessories for other jon ery applications as wel. (Photo courtesy egh i g)

Half-bli nd dovetail jigsPoer-Cable 41 1 2 is shownare com mon ly used for drawer constuction he setup s rathe fussy though and can require several test cuts (Photo courtesy Porter-Cable)

he Kelle  ig is a se of epaes ha clap o he wo, one fo ails an he ohe fo soces o pins he openings in he auinu epaes ae fie so he oveails ae c on fie cenes Leigh ] ig is he os vesaie of he j oin aes, capable of vaiable space oveais, bo jo ins, an ecoaive ineocing joins shape lie flowes he wo is clape o h e benchsuppoe j ig

his router table fom Bench Dog comes with an adjustable split fence system and builtin tracks for accessories. (Photo coutesy Bench Dog)

Many routers are now being fitted with chip-colection tubes. Fom left: DeWalt 621  DeWalt 65, and Poer-Cable 7529.

he Kai e Jig and he Stotts eplae Mang Jig als o copete in the edspace, hroghdovetail j gs or hand roers. Fnally there are a nber of halfblind dovetail aers by orter Cable, Sears, and any others hese are for aing drawers in vary ing widths.

Chip Collection Roters ae a lo of wase. A 300 cts to 400 cts  per second they can only prodce wafer-hn chps hese shold be colleced as soon as possble for yor health and he qality of he ct. he DeWalt 625 has an afteraret vac fnnel accessory as does he Porter-Cable roter syste. Roer tables, the biggest chp prodcers shold all have a vac syse A roter able is a necessity rather than an accessory for any wood worers. here are at least 1 6 choices, varyng n sze ateral, design, and prce Prces wih both accessories and roer can rn p o $500 or ore See chapter 6 for ore on roter tables his over-arm pin router assembly is used wth a tempate attached to the top of the wokpiece. It's vey efficient for making mutiples of pieces with a c omplex shape. Its also capable of iside template routing (Photo c ourtesy Le e Valley)

Simple Shopmade Jigs S

hopade outer jg and ure ue he route to i lit. Thee jg and ture can be vey iple or ereely cople. Soe o the itue Ive een are o ophicated tha you'd need o be a achin to build he. Router g and ure eentialy erve o hold and nde the wor a we a provide a guide o a controlled cut. A te the j ig or iure hold the wor o the cutng can be done on he router able At othe tie, hey hod he wor o a handheld outer can be ued ealy and aely. Eithe way, g and ure can be thought o a aety device or pece anageable and contoed ouing.

Right-Angle Templates Righ-angle eplate are iilar o bench hoo ued a holder and cut tng guide wih hand tool. Ued with clap they hold the wo and etabih a pathway o the oue to cu perpendcular to he edge o the wor. Ue he wth cola guide or paten bit.  ae ine ro -n M The eplate hould be at ea a long a the wor  wide and 6 in. to 8 n. wide. Two or thee deent length are better han one ize or al. Screw and gue a 2in ceat to the bot o o the eplae. To get the o ou o one o thee quare boh wong edge o the ron edge o the cea.

Rightangle bech o oks registe r off the frot edge of the work ey can be used wth a col lar guid e, as show n. Backup scap is clam ped to te ear of the temp lae to prevent earot and breakou

he adjustabe stop on my fence is useful for cts like open moses.

Slot Makers Ajsable sops wih sloe ways are qe common n wooworkng  wiho a jig hey're no easy o make.  solve hs prolem y ceang a wnow slo emplae I clamp he work ner he emplae an se a collar ge an plnge roer o make he slo The wih of he slo is saly one cer iameer an s lengh is reglae wh he sop. Mae he plaform rom -in MDF an ig enogh o camp o he workao 1 1 in. y 1 7 n Make he narrow openng j s we enogh

Sotte mortises require a jg ere the workpiece fits nerneath an the pattern bit rns in the slot

or yor collar o slp n n s a common collar dameter Make e slo longer tan te longest slot yo plan to se6 n n my case Yo'll need some ences nderneat to regster te work, and on wc o mont a clamp Slot te MOF ences or a par o screws and wasers so ey are easy o adjs

Shopmade Mortiser A good morse s essental o qal y j onery ere are many ways to make tem, eac wt ts advantages and mtatons Gven well-mlled materal, a good plnge roer, wo edge gdes, and my sop-lt mor tser (see te op poto on p 3), I can ndex and excavate a mortse p to 23h n deep n s a mnte or so A lock o sragt-graned ardwood s te ondaton o te j g Make t aot  4 n y / n y 2  n and screw on some  /- n y  /- n sock o te same spece s or more roter srace Add a clea to te otom o eac sdeone or j ackscrews o spport e work, and te oer as a old-down A se o tree oggle clamps screwed o one o e cleas wll secre and ndex e work To e sre, a par o adjsale stops on te op o te jg wll smply te morsng process Poston and slo tem or te lengts o mortses yo expect to make A g, a waser and macne screw wll old em n place

his mortisin g g uses a pair of slidin g rods so it can easily adst to make many moise widths.

This simple tenoning jig uses a abbeting bit with a ba bearing and an oversized rote base to cut square tenons he plung e mechan ism al ows yo to cut a deeper teno than the width o the rabbetng bit

Tenon Maker Squa shouldd, can-acd sagh nons a a snap wh my shop mad non ( aov ) h wndowd pafom, comnd wh a p lung ou on a wd wood as, a h ky componns o oung pcs nons h wo s ndxd campd and squad up fom lo w and h ong-shan a  maks h non chs fom aov Should wdhs vay as h dam of h  and ang dff

Fr the y  the j g se /4 n MDF r maple Screws aes an ange rackets are se fr the assemy Ct a wnw n the tp r wrk an ctter access Als ct ne n the vertcal memer s the ctter can access the entre sectn f the wrk Y can clamp the g t the ench when rtng shrt stck r camp the wrk n a vse wth the j g campe t the wrk r g an ng stcks An ajstae fence that pvts wll permt angle tenns A small tgge camp n the ence w acltate setp, t at least ne ther Ccamp wll e neee t hl the wrk saely

T enon Maker Wi this teon make a a alleaing g uie raetig bit you can easily form tenons o te en o te workiece. The winow cutout al lows access o te en wi e the workece is secure to the ase of the jg y a cla m

Wiow cutout, 3/4 X 6/4

Route atfor 31 6 x 8/ X 1 3

Tonge an groove an screws on latfom to cang oa

Camng oar, � 1 31 6 X 5/4 X  3 Clearance notch  i sq vo in

Inex-fence locking ot Ha ko quck astent o fece's angle

/

_ Austale iexig fence  516 x 3/ X 7, ivots o a machnescrew ivot in.

Slot is aiuse eative to vo i Coner races screwe o to enforce latfor

and roang leve fo connos adsmen The ork s camped o he fre, hch s clamped o he ench/beam Make hs one o o ood, almnm, and MDF fo he adsale emplae Make a ghange assemby as long as he des sock yo plan o ork pls 8 n o so or a fence a camp pedesal, and a hodfas Yo ms e abe o  he j g o a rgd scre he emplae shold be 5 n. o der fo peny of roer sppor  ravels on a se of  n paralel ars morsed no he plaform and he

Tenn Jig Screwadjustable platfom gud ed by a ls provid es precise positon ing . Toggle camps quickly secue e work

i

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Moving boc is screwed to

screw Platorm edge gudes router.

Panhead scew eeps patform from lifting duing travel

Paalel rails of steel or aluminum guide platfom.

Pivot screw Lock scew

Jg oding arm

secure ig in a vse

Toggle clamps

lamp pedestal is screwed to Lsectio. Ts adjusable teno n make has a sliding plaform so you can ea sily adjust the thickness of te teon oggle clamps o ld the wokpiece vertica and a collar gui de rides along the pl atorm edge

0.055

emplae iel.   i dive by a crew ha  /   . i diamee by 1 8 head per ich Two clamp o he pedea ecue he work A fece (pivoig a ew degee) quare he work o he emplae he hodfa i 4 . wide ad crewed ad rabbeed o he ig

Thi ubbae ( above) ha a l dg pivo ick o make cicle o dk. Ue i wih a puge rouer ad a oid carbde aigh b fo be eul. The hape of he oo i o crical, bu hould be a mal a prac ca. The bgger  ge, he moe lkely   i o bag o camp a i evolve You coud ao ue a paddle wh hoe i , bu a ig wih a fuly aduabe arm  a lo hadie Make he g fom -i. mape wh a log lo i  fo a aduable lde  you wa, make everal ide of diere egh fo coveiece u a ew hoe  he  ide fo a pivo p. A flahead machie crew ee he boom of he lde ad exed hough he lo ad o a u o op o ecue he arm

Mo had-roued work i eihe r doe o a aemby or a looe  ick. Aembie ae uua y abe eough o rou clamped o he bech wih ou much ado Sick, o he oher had, could ue a f hi ho beam, how a lef wa made wih lo of ovehag o ge he work up high eough o ou comfoably. Nomal 3i  o 36 . high aemby beche ae oo low o ou o

I

27 in .

      -

Mae ths 1nthc jg abo 6 in hgh and 36 in ong. A 6-in o 8-in width will sot a 1 0n  to 1 2 nwide woiece The oo is joined n fo laces The oehang on the hoizonal sface is somewha abay: allow abo 4 in o 8 in. The eical end iece s oehng by 1 0 i n o allow bete so fo woieces held on end Thee is no need o comlcae ths; jst hod the jg togethe wih shaow dadoes and a ltte hadwae The bottom stic is sed o hold the g down and s inned by a clam. Afte assembly, add a fence to he e ical anel and agan some handy toggle cams o hold the wo on end he gh-ange jig can be sed o adantage hee fo maing tenons o dadoes

Permanet C-Clamps

A

C

ompared to other technologies woodworkng and machinery processes change slowly The hazards and risks associated wth power and hand tools are essentially the same as they were decades ago. Its a dangerous busness and accidents are common-a fact that's refected by insurance rates or woodworkers Workng with wood requires sharp cuttng toos often used very cose to the operators body. It shoud come as no surprse that butchers use bandsaws on anmal carcasses, and orthopedic surgeons use hammers chses, circular saws d ris knives and sanders on humans.

The rues of ote safety are sim ilar om ma nual to ma ual , b ut it's sti a good dea to read them.

Haring protcton and a ust mask ar snsib prcations

Wooworkig machiery is i the ark ages compare to the atomo bie as far as safety goes he atomobie istry has oe a thorogh ob  protectig rivers whie  the cars they are rivig a rom the oes they may crash ito Seat restrats ar bags hazar ights ABS brakes oor pae gars teescopg steerig coms safety gass a pae ashboars a protect the rver However efesive rvg skis are sti as importat as ever  wooworkig as we  its st as importat to pay a active ro e i yor ow safety to ear how to prevet acciets a to practice that sk costaty  make it a poit to rea a roter safety res i texts artices a roter owers maas hese maas are very poor; bt yo sho rea them evertheess becase  this book I am gog to omit forma tio o rotg  a eectrica storm wearig OSHAapprove saety gasses a the regatios o jewery og hair og seeves a og extesio cors  am aso ot goig to repeat the materia o overreach chre i proxmity operator fatge the fece o acoho or rgs orcig the too goo hosekeepg or savg strctos or ftre se  wi te yo abot the thigs that have scare me ear y jre me a take me by srprise These expereces have e me to eveop some precatios that yo wot f  the operator's maa I sho poit ot that a of my acciets a earaccets were etrey my fat 've ever ha a acciet e to eqipmet aire Ive wrecke a acre o woo bt 've ever raw boo from a broke too or a machie fare A as we a kow there are geera heath isses besies the rect physica agers of rotg.

Hand-Router Safety Fied-bae and nge oter were fit deigned for right e n the hand of the woodworkernot to be inverted nder a rote tabe f they are ed wthn ther degn lmit they are retty afe They are ntmidat ng and cary bt they are afe CUTTING RESISTANCE

The amont of ctte engaged in the wok determne it gr in the tock Ctte tracton increae roghly by the qae n othe word the area wet ot in a -in by -in ct i nine time greater than a -in by -in abbet not thee time A ch the ctting dynamic are omewhat

he cuttng procedure for the -i n. by in rabbet eft s the same for the %i by %-n  rabbet right bu t the volume swept out in the latter is  in e times geater tha th e smaler cut Expect substantial chages in handlng as you scale up.

Neglect the motor lock i n the route r table and expect the depth of cut to change like it did while routi ng this slot.

npredctale Dn epect e same cntrl wen dlng te ct If yre n dt make dep canges n sma ncrements e dfferences are especay ntceae n end gran were e fers are a rg angles  te ctng drecn Epec mre eertn n endgran r crss-gran cts lke dades SPONTANEOUS DEPTH CHANGES

On ccasn, a mtr may spntanesy sf n te casng r a ctter may lsen n te clet A plnge mtr may as mve n ts pss f ts nt  gtened dwn eng Te cnseqences can range frm a mnr msap  rned wrk t  s yr respns lty t make sre e mr n a fedase tl des n mve nder pwer ey rarely d, t  eeve wng-n lck levers sld e repaced w lnger levers fr mre gtenng prcase Plnge levers sld as e pstned s tey dn rn  f tws trave efre ckng p te mtr Al pnge ck levers ave an adjs ment fr s INSTABILITY

Rters can nepectedly tp wen nder pwer ey can e awkward t se and dffct  ld secrely as y wrk Fedase tls are sme tmes sed n narrw edges, r w less tan alf er aseplates n te wrk In eter case, a le can case e cter t dg nt te wrk, even reakng r endng te ctter and reslng n kckack Often  e rer tale s a eter cce fr narrw sck ecase t allws mc et ter cnrl Y can als se se rer ases, as swn elw ta allw fr mre cnrl y makng t easer t press dwn drecty ver te wrk pece. n s case even an verszed sase can make a g dfference

The locking lever of this PorteCable 690 router has been replaced with a long er verson The extra length provides more torque for easier locking

Addig an ovrsid sbbas to a plng otr, shown at owr lft, can add a lot of stabi lity to th too .

Dry Rn o Te Setp

E

ve though you wo't be cuttg stock ts a good idea to get the

eel o a pl ug e cut beore you start the moto Smulate the cut with the motor o ad the cutter at its maxi   cttr is loos ly trappd bwn two sticks o qa l thickn ss st to t  maxim m intndd dpth for th ct st wih a 5- lb or 1 0lb psh t o s if th tool is n stab

mum depth Move the router alog to get the eel o it ad to make sue the opeatio wil go easily ad smoothly

A plnge oter nde sl ar condtons can aso  p e andles are wdey spaced and oten g p on te poss.  a ong ctter s engaged n a deep c yo and-eed orces ay tp te too over VARIABLE SPEED AND SOFT START

Vaable speed s a elatvely new eae n roes and a good one especaly o sowng down agedaeter ctes. Also all varabe speed tools ave sot (ap) star a nce saety eate evereess sowspeed otng can be rsky. A slower speeds ctng ecency s redced and 

For diicult cuts, it's aways a good idea to do a test cut i scrap stock

takes more hanfee force to move the work or roter As a rest, the risk for pening the roter increases an aeqate campng s essentia Before rotng at sow spee, psh an p on the work ences stops an ege gies to check ther secrity: yo be sing more force than sa f yo o start a ctter spnnng an engage t in the work beore t reaches maxmm ctting spee, yo may break or ben it A softstart too has tte rotationa kinetc kickback on startp so the keihoo o the ctter samming nto something beore t is at maximm rpm s ess of a probem Conser a softstart variabespee too to be the eqvaent o a shock absorber in yor car ths making accients sch as bt grabbng n en grain ess terrifyng Withot ths eatre, the knetcs (reaction forces) rng ctter jams an bobbe are spontaneos an mch more frightenng.

S RE DE H FERRKE SEED CONROS ae as good as he vaable-seed eedback microrocessors i ew roes.  my vew that s o tre ad some oomakers wi ot guaratee ther oos wih aemake devces i use. Vaiableseed cools o outes ae ot aticulay accessble ad o good reaso eed-corol devces ae sed o sow dow lage-dameter ools; a hgh seeds hey reset moe sk. I he seed cotro s vey accessbe, t could accelerae wth a accidetal bum thus causig a accidet I ay case i you use oe o hese roec  om a accidetal da chage. aly advertsemes showed the cotato o he oea o's beta vey sae actce.

Wit  this template on a sight i ncl ine  you can ou a grip into the side of this box KEEPNG THE ROUTER HORZONTAL

Tere w be occasions wen roting wit te roter sidewas (sndle oriontal) ma look like a temtng solton to or woodworkng rob lem I wod resist tat temtation ot on w o get cis in or face and air, bt te dnamics of te oeration are so ecliar tat it s nvariabl dangeros Rotng on an angle, owever, is safe as long as te ange is not stee enog to make te roter easil t

Router Table Safety As a roter table woodworker, o sod kee a few tngs ermost n or mnd Most basc of a s keeing te roter secre n ts casting wie monted sde down in te tabe Fare to tgten te cams can also ave obvos drastic conseqences And cearl, or roter tabe mst be secred we o work Aso ke is wirng a swtc nto or roter table so tat o can qickl trn t off Wt tese basc recatons, te roter table s rett safe most of te tme, bt tere are some rsks n general, o sold se a sit fence for safets sake o can more easil tre  fence alves and sde te alves left and rgt to crowd te ctter, ts exosing te mnimm steel Vacm colecton and a sod means of secring te fence are essental Witot a secre fence, a sl cod make te roter grab te work, or o cold lose or baance.

In corporating a switch in the outside o a router table base provides safety insurance by alowing for q uick s hut-off in the case of an emergency he switch is mortised so i can't be accidently struck

This pair of nlong levers at 6 n from either end of the fence securely lock the fence n p ace he levers lock nto nuts under the table

Dont do this Slidi ng the work down the fence onto this spinn ing cutte s done at consid erable rsk f the fence moves you can lose your grip on the work; or i the work is bowed you can break the cutte SMALL WORK

Work ha i oo mall for he han roer can e ale roe  a grea ale an ence are no reaon enogh o ge yor han cloe o he c er Avoi nneceary rel iance on ho-in an holown whenever po ile hey ocre he c er an hiner conrol of he workpiece. f he work eem hazaro enogh o e holown i hol e he igna ha anoher kin of ig or ire i reqire o nee a fire ig enogh o keep yor han away from he cer an ry enogh o erve a a pl aorm for op an clamp The j ig may no e eay or qick

to mke t yor eslts wll e ettern mch cheper thn n emer gency room visit. DOUBLE-BLND ENDED TABLE CUTS

Dropping the wok on  spnnng ctter is ngeros t s  common t rsky prctce. Selecting the en ponts o the ct s gesswok chngng epth o motises {n other cts} is iclt, n hnlng the work s precros. Any elxtion or momenty loss o control s crtins" Expect chttere ws n ns t the ens o the piece s yo revese rection Yo'll kil the ctte premtrely n this is n nse prctice The hn pnge roter ws invente to ccommote these lin cts so yo shol se it

Two-Sep Cting

F

or thck stock o r an nderpoweed router it sometimes heps to make

a trim ct in two passes Use a offset bt that has a larger beaing tha the ctter for a initial pass, the follow that up with a fina pass sing a flush

THE HDDEN CUER

tr im bt .

t' s common when workng on  oter tle to hve the ctter e mch o the tme rng  ct only to hve t ppe nexpectely t the en t's impotnt to sty let yo mst ply n ctive prt in yor own sety. The sen ppernce o the ctter is jst s thretening s  ct ter tht s wys in yor ce ROUTING CUR ORK

Fo roting on  cve the sl strtegy s to se erngge ctters with  strting pin o to the sie so yo cn ese the workpiece nto the spinnng ctter Withot one the work is kely to kick wy rom the ct te. Even with  p n its possile tht the ctter wi ctch the strting co ner n whisk the wok ot o yor contol Wheneve possle   lit tle scricl mteril to th e en o the wok or n esier stt n ny cse yo shol ee the mterl gnst the ctter rotton

Makin g the groove is so effoless o ne may forget thee i s a cutter soon to emerge as the work passes over it

 cutter wih a be aring bigger than the ctter diameter will lig hten the cutter load for the first pass  second pass wit a pattern bit flush wth the ctter will leave a smooth srface.

A staring pi  al lows you to start the wok in a controled waya safety essential with curved work

BIG CUERS

Feed Direction

Climb Cuing T saf androing fd drcion sold  f o rig (agains  cr roaion) on  osid of  work On an insid xcavaion  fd dircion sold  clockwis aso agans  cr roaion is is a good r  fdng agans  cr roaion sal cass som aro T ffc is smilar o copping agans  grain w a cisl w moving  cisl in  dircion of  cop I s vr ffcin   cr can gra and ar o som sock If  ror is fd rig o lf on  mos rcalciran of marials will ar o onl ral incniv o clm c Tr s som rsk in fdng w  cr roaon  ror can sffd T cr ransfrs is roaonal forc ino a forward pl and nds o pll awa from  work as  sffds. Tis dosn appn wi  sandard c cas  opraor is psng agains a forc B wn or psing  ror in  sam drcion as is sffding ndnc s mc ardr o conrol Howvr lg cs w smal is ransfr vr il forc ack no  ror. Clim cing wi m is rav saf T iggr  cr  grar  powr ransfr T prolm also gs mor srios on ndgran wr  crs av  mos racion. On  ror al  cm c can ransfr a lo of nrg no a raivl lig workpc s vr as o os  work wn fding f o rg And onc  workpc sars o sffd or fingrs can  plld no  cr a dsasr indd f o av  work n a oldr a as som addional mass  likood of a sffd s rdcd and o can kp or ands saf awa from  cr A workpc no

hese toggles not ony press the work down on fiberboard but ae comfortable enough to se as handles.

Climb Cuting Reversing the ou te's feed d rection eslts i the risky c lim cut-sonaed ecause the roer bit tends to puor cli mts way aog te workiece.

THE ACCIDENTAL CLIMB CUT

maeria o relieve sress ad e wor ages sape e i ba sel eedig, or or igs a be expeed

Cutter Surprises and Risks Roer bis  or desroy mos igs  er paway eve  eyre dll  ey a eve ge o ad br yo ey a aso brea espeia y i eyre smal i diameer Mos  o e ig a d ore o a er a wor is a e ed o e b Te lever (disae) rom e ed o e oo o is weaes poi a be log eog o brea e ool  modes worig odios doveail bis are oorios or is o mimze breaage we o oer er wi do, se soid arbide or ae e   sages wi a plge roer Also oe a a soppy sep ireases e lieood o breaig e oo. Keepg a er oied o is paway elps sa e odds i yor avor No oermeasre wi preve all aides Cers brea or aely ers a brea i sde s lose er ie eergy ly agais e wall o e ad ey are say rapped ere by e over o e sbbase ey are rarely dageros A er breag ao g e edge o so is a rea, b rare ve eard orror sories b  i yore more liely o ge  by lgig a a balsi oo b ve p i osads o ors bed roers wi all sors o ersew, sed experimea, balaed, regrod ad so oad  ave ever broe a er wie edge roig ve aso ipped a o o arbide we ig ails os ad embedded ardware b ve ever bee  by er srapel.

his table leg, ou t of squae wil  rot diffeently on the router table dependi ng o n wich face is against the fence. If it s too far out of squa re, it co ld b reak the cutter.

This slot cutter is engaged i n the work Lif up the work while routing and anything can happenusually what happens is not good

THE TRAPPED CUTER

A rappe cter s any bi th a will esoy the wok if yo lift he roter hese ince sot cters, keyhole bts an oeail bs Any of hese wil rin the wok if yo ip or lft he roter f the cter s in the roe able an yo lif the wok yo also rin the c Yo may also nwi tingly isoge or pll he ctter fom the collet an change s cting epth, casng boh angeros an nexpecte resls Thee s no mch yo can o abot ths bt pay atenion OUTOF-BALANCE CUERS

Let your collet fll up with a resin ous mess from a softwood routing s ession an d the next cutter in the collet may not be secure. Colles should be immacuate if teyre not you'll see a loss of hold ing power

Bent, sefshapene regron, big ong, singe-te an een ornay ctters can be ot of balance Diry o worn coes can sen a we balance oo ino a esonant frenzy, oo Wth any of the aboe, test he tool n a arable-spee oter for baion fis o the moto wih both hans with yor thmb on he o swich Acceeae a step a a tme an sht he tool own he nsant any ibaton is fel Opeate the bi only a spees beow resonance (make ibration) o no at all rankly  wol ern an ot-ofbaance bi for a refn or eplacemen Unfortnately, I hae seen new ctes fom most sppies hat hae some ibation

Health Concerns

Routing is a dirty, dangerous, noisy business Eye protection is essential, and goggles that won't let a chip in anywhere are cheap Ear protection should not be overlooked Routers are noisy, and with a vacuum they are douby noisy Noise suppressors safe to NRR: 25 dB minimum should be worn at all times when routing, as sound-energy insults are cumulative and can lead to noise- induced hearing loss Every reasonable eort shoud be made to colect the dust and chips from a router to prevent nasal and lung damage The router tabe is very easy to set up with dust collection equipment, and you should use this whenever possible Repeated exposure to wood dust is a recognized heath hazard, so you need to minimize exposure. ( For more on this, see Woodshop Dust Control by Sandor Nagyszaanczy, The Taunton Press) POSTURE

Most shop furniture is too ow for routing, not only for inspection of the work but for your posture For me the best height is around 36 in. to 38 in high for table routing, and about 40 in for hand routing. Select the best height using the adjustabe height of the drill -press tabe as an experimental surface Theres no sense in stooping and tiring before youre ready to uit

R

outing can produce very sharp cornered w orkpieces-sharp

enogh o cu your hand. Althogh routing with goves can have its own hazards, I do use rbbe gloves from me o time for protecon. Be cau tious hough If a cutter caches a gove it can pll your hand with it winding up he glove n a second

Hearing protectors, safety goggl es and dust masks el p prevent long-term heath damage from frequent router use.

11 Common Router Limitations ith more tha 75 differet roter avaiabe at ay oe time, their imtatio ometme eem deepy bried  a the prod t hype Ad with ome 35 roter book i pbiato mot of the iformato dwe, eiby eogh o what the too a do Thi i fie Bt t' away a good dea to d the ote' imitatio a we

W

earout is easily caused by big cuts with dll ctters in difficult wood

Du l cutters, or even new cutters, if lef to coninue beyond the ir cuttng t imes ( tme t akes to rot the cut) wll brn the wood.

Risks and Problems

 've menoned he nheen nsaby of roers and ha hey ofen have oo vsby becase of back or oaqe sbbases Roers aso rodce a o of wase fo he ar, and can even n yo hearng f yo fa o se roecon The cers ae obvosy vey nforgvng and hey can qcky weck a wokece f yo ose cono They aso w case sevee njy f any ar of yo body ges n he way s aso ossbe o beak a oo b evey now and hen and have a ece of mea whng hogh he ar (ahogh hs s ae snce boken bs generay ose he enegy rady agans he wokece sface) Pehas he mos common coman agans roes s he endency o rodce earo n he workece Panes chses, and saws have he own obems b hey don ear ke roer bs do  Roes can nexecedy ose he  deh of c As oned o , he moor may s n he casng, o he ce can sqm n he coe (ese cay w h dy o worn coes o f he oo shank has been scrached o dnged)  And, of cose, worn roe bs can aso bn wood PRODUCTION WORK

Neay a of he obems menoned above show  more feqeny wh hghe and hghe odcon aes he sandad 1 1 0vo oer can be oveworked when made o do heavy cs sch as ased anes n nea connos-dy condons Yo shodn' exec hs odcon efom ance fom a  -vo oe Sho-rn med odcon can be done wh wo roes havng smar ses Le one oo do mos of he dry wok even f he cer s won o ched and e he oher oer wh a

nly h right cornr w l ar on this crosscut so a spoi l boar camp on th g wil pvnt tarout. Th cuttr spins in to th work g on th ft an cant tar

T up-spiral bit lavs a fuzzy surfac

Th floor o tis abbt shows th slig ht swirls of th cuttr tp h wall is typcally muc h clanr than t bottom cut.

Roer echnology hn een perfeced o cheve gre rel for h oom poron of he c Roer  e degned prmrly  de ce. Coneqenly he oor of mny profe my no e  wee  he wl c from he me ool. Thee n mch yo cn do o h   lgh core c   n. o o) cn elmne  lo of ero long he oor/edge coner nform feed e commenre wh he cng re nd chp eecon w  prodce he e c

h cut on th ft was pr-scor wit a Y-in pass. Th cut on th right was not

ry usi ng a pattern bit with a top mou nted beari ngthey're fre que ntly arge in d iameter and stiffer instead of a flush-trim bit. The pres sure on the top beaing causes less deflection Collar g uides also have the same effect

Pair an intrlocking  oinry cuttrs ar vry snsitiv to fnc an cuttr ight p ositions. O  a ba ay, xpc 5 to 10 tst cuts to st up a un of joinry

Th markings on ts pth ajustrs ar vy confusing

close enogh o joney with any of the DeWalts xedbase eado is accate to 4 n , bt nealy iossbe o ead and its acandnion gea eacts too qicy to adjst o sa changes Mxng eic and Englsh nts on the sae indicato only confonds the oble osch and DeWalt boh have nealy indeciheable ndcaos

Weight and rgonomics Rotes do the shalow-deth wo of chisels saws oding anes, and othe hand tools hogh they do he wo vey wel, they can also be awwad o handle They ae geneally egonocay designed o basic bench wo, b they can be difcl to hande de o thei weght and the act hat he ctte is not a diect extension of the tool, as on a chsel o hae head.  thei adatabity aes the sefl in ess-than dea cicsances Moeove, becase he ctting oo is ess han  e cent of the achne by wegh closeness and contol ae coosed. A wallo o a allet on a chse on he ine is a ety staightfowad exe cise t conoling the cte athway o a ote wth two oosng nobs and  0 lbs o coe, steel and aln beween the taes soe acice Fotnaely as with bcycling exetise wil  coebt sets,  igging, and sch will ae tie acice is the essence of otng and woodwoing

Starting Up the Router R

or nq and sp ar qi indvdal Many if no mos woodworrs arn by ria and rror rar an rom a orma ors B w mllions of ror ownrs o r  nd for rainng is ovrwlmng. Aog ror niq old asily ill anor boo Ill ma a fw sggsons o p o  nov To do a propr roing job yo nd o prpar  marial sr  wor and s p  ror T aa rong nq is sraig forward b  wil dsrib wa wors for m My niq s basd on say iny rsp for  qipmn and so and o ors a qaliy rs

Preparation and Setup Roing sodn' b don on rog nprpard so. Jigs frs and ror gid sysms ar all snsiiv o  sap of yor wor and ma ral prparaion. Pronond mll mars rom joinrs and planrs for xamp w as a baringgdd r o bon and lgrap  irrglar sra ino   Edgs a arn sqar wll rgisr dir nly n yor jigs. Jons won' f  yor wor is poory md. Qal y woodworng rqirs ara maria prparaon yo wil  nd is sil o g onsisn rsls wi a ror or any or ool Yo ms sragn flan nssplan and sqar p on dg of yor marial bfor yo rn o a ror A ab saw inss planr and joinr do s ob qiy and araly wn s p propry

Overzealous joi nting may yied too few and often b mpy cts i the stock. A ball-bearing cutter will b ouce o n these m l marks and transfer imperfections to the work.

• •

There is no reasonable substitte for preparing stock properly on the jointer

•

To BE SURE N CCENL startup whie changing a cute o motor seting can be a catastope Because I sometmes cange cuters 10 to 20 times a day i n 5 to 10 outers, unpluggng is a lot o lost time o me so  don't do it. On the other hand,  aways ceck the switc position and pay speca attenton Sears and some other power cords have red LE Ds in their transpaent sockets indicating they're hot. to ts ocaton so I dont This socket also has a clamp in it that holds the accdentaly tp it. his s plug to 30 Ibs of pull active and necessary saety vgilance. But fo novice users, o tose wo only use te tool occasonaly I 'd recom mend unpluggng Also emembe tat plugs and sockets are not switches and tey pesent tei own electica hazads. Moeove the ears powe cords  use ave pug ocks tat equire you to press the ock to reease te plug Foget tat and you uin the socket. A powe-ndicatng amp on the moto ead woud be a geat featue; but n te interim  actve saety practice is you responsbi lity. D on' t expect te government, ndustry, o anybody ese to be answerabe to you safety. f tat means unpug ging the toolten d o it .

Smooth S urfaces

or smoother edge cuts with a had router, use a edge gude when ever possible istead of a ball-bearig guided cutter. The edge gude wll bdge small imperections ad pre vent them om telegraphg through to the cut

Th  n rsi o this sloting ji g sown hr, has a st of stops to crow th wor on two sis an a st of togg cl amps o p i th.

Ths mortising jig fastns to a bam T twocamp nobs go rght thog th bnch into a st o Tnts on th bac si of th g 

SECURNG THE WORK

Clamps o all sors wl l mpose nense orce on e work, bu usually on us a small spo For example, and screws exer 200 lbs o 00 lbs, I-beam Jorgensen bar clamps more an 2,000 lbs and some orged Cclamps squeee up o 0,000 lbs Een so,  oen akes een moe an e local concenraed orces o keep e wok rom mong Frequenly

youll eed o fece it i as we ll as clamp it i place. You'll eed at least two clamps to out a wopece ats ot feced i 's rarely a good idea o deped o a sgle clamp for a outig opera tio Two is safe. Templates ad fxtures ot oly old te wo bu tey also eed o be clamped dow Do't deped o a usecured jig tat c a slde aoud te worbec as you rout Put a couple of clamps o it, or fd a way to secure t o te bec or oter wo suppor Doublesided ape ad route mats are commo wor olders but teye ust ot secure eoug I do't use eite. B ads ad ot glue are safer but stadard idustry practce icludes clamps cams, eces ad cowdig te wor wit stops. A sigle clamp as plety of local foce but wll ot preve te wor fom roaig; a worpiece wt two clamps is very ressat o roaio ROUTER SETUP

Befoe you set up fo you fis cutg operato brg your ouer to te bec uplugged wit its collet weces. For a basc fxedbase router emove te motor fom te base assembly ad uscrew te locg ut o e collet. Iset at least 3/4  of tool sa  te coll e Do't ser te bit so far at e flute fillet (sow below) s  te col let ad do't clamp dow o e area wee e flute starts o fade out ito e cute. If te sa botoms out  te colle lift i up a lttle (about 1/1 6 i)  f you use collet reduces, e gp is bes we e slos  te sleeves ae led up wt te slos  te colle I your tool euies two wreces, squeeze em i oe ad to abou 5 lbs fo i wreces Adjus te cute dep ad loc te moor

Saving Knuck les

R

emoving a outer bit with two wrenches can be hazadous to

your knuckles If you're not careul, the sudden release o the collet wil catch your knuckles in a scissors-like bte as the w renches suddenly come together. You can prevent this by using the benchtop as a second hand. Position one wrench so that ts held in place against the benchtop and press down with your open palm on the other wrench. Cuers wi small cuig diameers ofen requre some gindig io  e sak, unlike largediameer cuers of % in or more on -in sanks Do' cam e colle on e fadeou

To ensure a good tool it gri in te colet squeeze a air of wences i a "andsake gi to 1 5 Is or so.

A safe cut egi ns wit a wid e sick wit two clams on it. e stic k as seen at east te joi nte r and l ane r; te V4-i  raet it (cuting a Vin . y V4n . raet) is extended V4 in

Bgnnrs sh st p f a practic ct with a straght it fr a /4 in y /in rat n a wkpc clamp t th nchtp nspct th stp an with th t still nplgg pass th tr ang its ntn pathway f y n't snag th wir r rn int a clamp wth th rtr y ay t plg it in Rst th tr n th wrk, t kp th cttr at ast n cttr ais away fm th g Fr ns cts with a plng rt, kp th it p in th as casting Thn start th mtr an as it int th wrk Dn't am t aganst a aing r stp

he feedig mi hld be eady eve gracef Sdde lrche ca cae ear ad break cer Th fir lgh pa  a preview c fr me.  he fr few ecd f rg,  lear hw harp he cer  wheher I have egh pwer wheher 've e he cer  deep, wh eher my camp are hldg, ad he geeral dyamc f he perai Beger hd pracce a hallw deph  crap piece 1 0  20 ime befre mvig   he wrk. he impra pi  keep i md are aly wd, perir millg, gd wrk lckp, igh cer ad mr ad gh eady c A a rle, edge c are he fir hig de by he vice wih ew rer ad cer ad hey are meme dffic  d we Sice e ha half he caig  alg he edge ad le ha a arer f he f pr  pree a he ed i  early impibl e  keep he rer la. here are afermarke vered rer pae  maage hi iabiliy Ide c ch a mrie ad dade are a mch f a prblem here becae he bae   lid grd al ard he c Y wll hwever, eed a jg, edge gide, r emplae fr iide c There' away a radeff

Feed Direction Feed d ecton o the oute is fom eft to gt-conecock wise aond te wokpiece eed di ection fo e ote table, ow eve is te evese ecase te oute is iveted.

Wopece

Safe feed direction

A straight bt is quite satisfactory for making rabbets on the router table. Close the fence down so there is 'B in. or so of ai around the cutter. Project the cutter above the top by Y4 i ad move the fence Y n b ack from the 12 oc lock position of the cutter's circle

Always keep the work down and against the fence Walk along with sort stcks and use suppor rolles for long ones These fence halves are straight parallel to each other, square to the table, ad flat Miss any o those variables and your cutigs may be in consistent

Router Table Setup he setup for the router table requres a few more steps than for a hand held router Again, yo u'll want to unplug the router. Remember that an accidental start may eect the motor pack from a fixedbase casting if you forget to tghten it before startng the router The cutter nsertion s the same You wil need to adjust the height from underneath the tabe sometimes an awkward move, depending on your router For a 4in by -in. rabbet you need to poston a fence and bt so that a straight bt extends exactly /4 n away from the edge and 4 in. above the tabe. Before routing press and pull on the router fence to check ts security. A fence that moves unexpectedy can ruin the work or the cutter Tabe routing is very similar to rppng on the tabe sawbut without nearly as much kckback risk Its easy and safe Neverthee ss, take no chances. Rout only when the process adds up safely in your mind Once you're ready to go, plug in the router, and feed the work eveny from rght to eftthe opposite of the handhed dir ection because the router is nverted Push the work down on the table against the fence and side t steady at a rate of about 10 to 20 feet/mnute Wax the table and fence for more sip if necessary

 13  Template Routing  T

Precision ues calper, compass and hardeed-stee squares ae necessary for close work. In addtio to ayout you'll need these to solate error, should that ever occur

Founately, making he templae is reatively easy. he echnques used ae usually ordnay woodworking poceduesnohng fancy In much the same way, the actual use of the empate s fairy saghtforwad. or example, he aveage woodworke can mase he haf-bind dovetail drawe-makng templae jig n a few hours Templaes for makng eraed onery (box j oins, doveails, e tc ) are some of he easies o make Rouers are the idea ools o make these "comb ype emplaes The ouer simpy cus one cuter wdth in he emplae maeial and is sepped and epeaed usng a bock or bar to ndex subsequent cts; anybody can do hat. Getng the numbes to add up so tha the acua cuers, bearings, and coas do her job is another maersomethng we don' have space fo here, eihe At any ae, con sisency is cica, and accurae measuremen is necessary empates sove many of ou mos compicaed woodworkng pob lems. hey ake much of the rsk ou of pecarous woodwokng The accuracy alows preview of any operaion on scrap sock befoe sking he expensive chery, maple, or wanu on he acua projec. You can un hrough an enire joinery sequence, for nsance, from sar o fnish whout rsking any of the projec sock Tools and Materials

You choce of maeral depends on s use and to a ceain exen on your skills in shaping i Mea, plasic, fibeboards, and wood ae the ypca materias Dimensonal sabiiy, ansparency, expense, wea, hckness,

availaity, a woraity al play a rol  t coc A sortru tm pat migt  st ma of irc pywoo or ust a scrap pc of ar woo A prcisio ogrru tmplat migt rquir plastic. Crta plas tics (Lucit a a) ract to gsp a arigs siig o tm y mtg Plastc lamiat will tolrat at, ut ts oious ust may  a prolm. Tr ar may factors to cosir Tr's otig facy aout t tools for maig tmpats Youl  a staar assortmt of wooworg powr toos: sars, saws, joitr, r prss, a routrs aout covr it Goo ayout tools ar as importat, toug You soul av a st of maci ists ruls, grou straigtgs, a a calipr, a ar squar, a a prciso protractor for accurat agls Tos tools o't com cap, ut ty av crossovr possits i fwooworig macitool stup a quaty cotrol

Template Uses and Types O y fact is tat tmpats ca  us  a sris of stps to crat a surprisg varity of tais  ca gt iffrt typs of cuts from a crc tmpat, as wll as myria variatios y cagig coars, arigs, cut trs, a cuttr pt First I j ust camp t is oto t wor a rout t wor  full ticss wit a pattr it  I sift t tmplat ac a ic a cut alf t ticss of t wor Fially,  st t tm plat ac agai a wit a collar a straigt it  cut a oamtr corativ patway So, a tmplat ca  us to sap t tr worpic  ticss, ay fracto of it alog a g, or to cut a  or troug s cava tio Tat muc vrsity is wat mas t tmpat so importat

A ful -ickness fl s-rim med coy of e rofile

Sifing e em lae back rous a c rved rabbe

Taking Out the Guesswork

T

o simplify making straight MDF templ ates  us ualy create only

one straight edgewith two ends square to the edge on t he maste stock. The opposite edge is bandsawn and thu s never mi staken for a work edge I aways indicate the ps ide (work face) with a b ig felt-tip pen  Usin g op poste faces of the same tempate may introduce un expected error. Becase 'm using MD,  se a machine d edge as the straight edge and carefly square up the two adja cent edges o n the table saw

All three possibities of the template: ful thckness fractional thickness, and the ine cut.

M aking Basic Templates A straightedge with two square corners s in some ways the mother of all templates. Wthout it you certanly cant ae much n the way of other templates Make one as a preliminary step to makng a basc comb tem plate (Ths kind of template s used for box jo ints and dovetails ) For sta bility use MDF for the nitial straightedge. Then two different pattern bts are used to mae first a single slot thats 1  in. wide. This serves as a guide to mae the series of 5-in. slots for the comb template The key concept used in translating the straght template nto a process s step and repeat using an accurate method to step o the ndi vdual fngers  use an alumnum bar to index one cut from the previous cut thus mang the seres accurate to wthn a couple thousandths of an nch PROCEDURE

Before you begin prepare the MDF materals One s for the simple straight edge; the second s for the intermedate step; and the third is for the comb template. I use 3-n.thc MDF for the first and second tem plate and 3/4-n for the final comb template Whatever size you use shoul d be a convenent se for the job at hand.  'll also have the two router bits on hand, one with a 1 -in. cutter and a  -n topmounted bearing and the other with a %-in. cutter and a  n top-mounted bearng ( Do this n stages with a collar guide and a plunge router. A single pass in 3/n. MDF may break the b t.) Use bearng-guded cutters rather than collar guides to ensure exact centers A collar guide can be o center enoug h to mae a dfference You'll also need a pece of 1 V4n alumnum bar stock.

Ft, ue e mpe tagedge tempate o mae e eond tem pate wi a ngle o n i en ue at o mae a et of lo on egula and exa ente. e one of e quaedup piee of MDF  in. ) and ou te 1 �in.wide ingle lo ung e eang-guided te. Sandw wo eang eween e two taigt-edge eion to potion tem, and out a ingle lo tat' quae to te fae Now e  imple lot guide to , ep, and epea unil we ge e fined om templae. Poiion e lot emplae qae to te font edge of te lan. Now wi e 5�-in-damete te, o e eie of equally paed %-n. lot.

e two straigt tem ates are clam ed 1 in  aart on to of te temate stock used to make te comb master e stock sould be big enoug so wen it's clamed on te master te router wont it te clams.

Use te slot temlate to rout te slots in t e master Kee it flus to te e dge of te master for every cut.

175

Wit a 1 Y4in alu min um bar in dexed against te temlate ad a straig edge rout a series of equally saced slots Remove te ar and side te temae agains te camed straigt edge for eac cut

Mov  tmpla on 1 4 n ncrmns w  am nm 1 4n bar Car mst b takn vr m o mak a cang I a c p sol g bwn t spacr,   mplat angs p on som srac  brs, or  o bmp , o wll tow o  wol sqnc, an o mg as wll sta anw Wt caon an concnraton, o can mak a rglarl spac orgnal comb tmpla a as onl onosant to wo osants o an nc o rror n 1 t o mplatwto masrng CURVED TEMPTE

Nxt, wl mak a smp crv mplat w a vrsng ras agan sng MDF sock  cnal a s o c a sk o o MD an s bo t sk an  sronng o " mara as  stang maral Monng a cv scton o sk ajacn to a crv scton o  ol" cras a ranson rom os to ns as a can b sl. (Dpnng on ow xac o n to matc  ra  o ma n o actal c two skson w a slgtl sma ras tan  o to accon or  cknss o  k) st mak a sk 6 n or so n am ot o �ntck M Sav  ol, as  wll b s to mak t ns ras. No w scw  sk ( or part o t) o a Y nc k pc o M Tak a scon o  o" mpla an scrw  own on  MDF an p agans t sk T ranso n om  ns ras o t ots mst b mprcpb  I o l a bmp o anng otr tan a smoo anson  nal tmplat wll nrt  ct

176

Now wih he wo emplae crewed o a lank head for he andaw and c off he wae eaing lh in. or le o e flh rimmed Ue a pa ern i and rm he maer een wih creweddown emplae he ro ing emplae making (dik, ec) aemly, and andawing ake ime,  he proce  eay Cominng raigh and cred econ n he ame emplae preen no pecal prolem. ayo and poiioning are ery imporan o he c ce of he emplae and wil ake ome pracice o maer

Get a Dolar's Woth

M

ost trim mer cutters are 0.001 in to 0004 in or so smaler n

radis than their bearngs, so we accont for this sm al "oset with oded dollar bil ls (0004 in thick) This makes the window sightly bigger than the 2x4 Its transer to the work wil redce the m ortse agan-so experimentation may be necessary.

Screw e subemaes emlaes used o make e maser down on e maser  e ansiion oiner) mus ave o erceibe defecs.

Bandsaw e wase rom e emlae base before rim mi ng e wo ayers flu s

177

TEMPTES FOR A SNUG FIT

2x4

178

Rout a practic mortis though som scra Us a fnc scrwd to th bottom of th tmlat to idx th work cosistntly

Now wth he window emplate  od out a home fo he quae n a dawe bottom (o whaeve  Le'  ut epea th poedue wth an odinay tk fo a lit e paie  ay a 2x  To impify he one fi in he final wokpee , fi ound ove a fo one of the 2x wi th a 3-in-adi bi Make he window emplate ng a /4-in-diamee bit o he adii of he one math up Sew down ome -in. tagh eion of ap aond the 2x map" a hown at ef Leave abou 0008 n op between he 2x and the gide. Wate the inde of he templae wih a j igaw and then flh ou even wih he aight tempate Remove the ap gide and ae the window ono he wok J gaw o di ot the nde wate amp the emplae in pae and m  wth a h m bt

179

Resources Adjustable Clamp Co. 417 N. Ashland Ave Chicago, IL 60622-6397 (3 12 ) 666-0640 Camps

Hitachi Power  Tools 3950 Steve Reynolds Blvd. Nocross, GA 30093 (800) 706-7337 Electric power tools

Amana Too Corp 1 20 Carolyn Blvd Farmingdale NY 1 1 735 (800) 445-0077 Router bits

J&L Industrial Suppy PO Box 335 9 Livonia, MI 481 5 1 -3359 (800) 521-9520 Machine tools

Bruss Fasteners O Box 88307 Grand Rapids MI 49518-0307 (800) 5360009 Steel X-dowes

Jesada Toos, Inc 3 10 Mears Blvd Odsmar FL 34677 (800) 531-5559 Router bits and accessories

CMT O Box 4185 Greensboro, NC 27404-4185 (800) CMBits Router bits

JessEm Too Co 1 7 1 Robert St East, Unit #8 Penetanguishene ON L9M G9 Canada (800) 436-6799 Rout-R-Lift

De-StaCo O Box 2800 Troy M 48007 (81 0) 594-5600 Toggle clamps DeWat Tools 701 E Joppa Rd Towson MD 2 1 286 (800) 4-DeWalt Electric power tools Fein Power Tools, Inc 301 9 W Carson St Pitttsburgh PA 15204 (412 ) 331-2325 Electric power tools Hampton House 200 N Brewer St Greenwood N 46 142 -3605 (317 ) 881-8601 Katie Jg

Jointech 1 1 72 5 Warfied St San Antonio TX 78216 (800) 619- 1288 Joinery jigs and templates Keler & Co 1327  St Petaluma, CA 94952 (800) 995-2456 Dovetai templates Leigh Industries, Ltd O Box 357 Port Coquitlan, BC U3 C 4K6 Canada (604) 464-2700 Dovetail and joinery jigs

Makita Tools 1 4930 otham St a Miada CA 90638 (800) 4-Makita Electic powe toos

S-B Power Tool Co (Bosch) 4300 W Peteson Ave Chicago I 60646-5999 (877) 267-2499 Electric powe tools

Micro Fence 1 1 1 00 Cumpton St. #35 N Holywood CA 91601 (81 8) 766-4367 Edge cicle guides ellipse make

Taylor Design Group Inc. PO Box 810262 Dallas TX 753 81 (972) 418-481 1 Inca jig

Milwaukee Electric Tool 1 3 1 3 5  isbon Rd. Bookfied, WI 53005 (262) 781-3600 Electic powe tools

Veritas Tools, Inc. 1 2 East Rive St Ogdensburg Y 13669 (800) 871-8158 Woodwoking tools, oute accessoies

Porter-Cable Corp. Box 2468 Jackson T 38302 (800) 368-1487 Routes and othe potable electic woodwoking tools

Patrick Warner 1427 Kenoa St Escondido, CA 92027 (760) 7 47-2623 Acylic offset subbases and igs

PRC 73 1 -C Paso Robes St Paso Robles CA 93446 (800) 238-6144 Route bits

W L. Fuller, Inc PO Box 87677 Wawick RI 028 8 (401 ) 467-2900 Dilling tools

Reid Tool 2265 Black Ceek Rd Muskegon, MI 49444-2684 (800) 253-0421 ig hadwae

Woodhaven 501 W 1st Ave Duant IA 52747 (800) 344-6657 Router accessories

Ridge Carbide 595 ew Yok Ave Lyndhurst, J 07071 (800) 443-0992 Reginding of oute bits

Index Ix no pg frncs i ilcs ic  phoogph o lusrio.

A Accssois: circ/lps cig, 69,  24, 1 5 cor gs, [9, 19  29-30,  1 , 32, 22, 1 ov/boxjo krs  28, 1 9   30 g guids  2, 1  nly kis  22-23 , 1 pn ong, 2 8, 1  ortbs 16 27, 1, 28, 18 30, 1 sbbss 9 , 19 ,  2 ,  6,  2 wchlss cos, 1 5

B Brgg cus, 22-23,  2,  2, 5, 2627 Bvls,  3 , 8  ,    , 1 1      , 1 1 5    6 Bi�, , 82, 16 07 ccrcy of gid, 08, 19,  0 , 1 1      nickbc     bd ctng, 08,  4, 1 1,  -6 bng n h midl  6, 1 1 6 brig o h boom   7 , 1 1     8, 1 1 8 bng o h op  6, 1 1 6 bing yp 1 1 , 22-23 ,   6    4, 1 1      , 115 crb I l  ,   3 , 1 1  cu if    -  2 , 1 1     3 , 1 1  dcoriv po curs  6- 7 ccy, 1 1, I I  shi 7,  7, 1 1 ,  8, 1 18 u sign    highsp sl (HSS)   23 , 1 1 jory  9, 1 19  20 mulipc 20, 1, 1  1 oshr    pformnc of 07, 1 08, 18 09, 19, 0, 11  pod, 1 1  22-23,  6, 4, 11   polycrysli iod (PCD  3 rgng cus,   2 sk of, 19 squcng s of  2  shnk d,  4

shpnss/shpning, I l  ,  2  spr groun    srgh 26 rou 89 159 pl oug 8 s cuttg 1 1  vbro 08, 18 Bck & Dc fxbs ours, 0,  Bln cus, 20, 29, 0, 1 Bosch: col g syst 30, 1  32 cu dph usm,  6 ,  63 fxbs ous, 5 6, 9,9  , 5 1 2, 5   3 min r routs 7, 6 83, 8 pung rours 66, 67 B ox  o n s 9, 1    2 8, 1  9   30 Bng, by cuttrs  2, 1 1 , 3

c Chrng/cts wh bbrig crs , 226 Chip colcing 6, 65 67, 30, 1 Circs, 38, 9 69,  38, 18 Clmps/cms 66 Cib cuttg 9 98, 98, 99,  , 15 1, 2, 15 Col guids 8 22, 1 Cos 3,  2, 1 5  4, 15 Cop nd sck 9, 1  08,  9 Cfts  Ss/Cfsn Crossgi cug  7 Cutt phwy cool: biggud 2223,  24,  2, 5 26-27 blin cus 20 cic cr s guid 38, 9 cor gs, 29-30, , 3 ,  1  32,  dg gs 33,  3,  3, 5 36 fhd outg 40 gu sysms 1  22 sbbs s gu 36,  6 37 ool shnk s g 37 ,  , 38

deph  cus, 9-9, 97 determnig heght 88, 88 eecrica equipme, 8, 87 feed directin  0, 1  fence 9, 91  92,9 93 ixedbase r plunge 89 hidde cutter, 9, 19 miter gauge 99, 99 00, 1  pteci frm cuter 93 9  9, 9  95 ruting cuvy w  9, 1 9  0 safety 000 , 1 1  02, 1 03, 1 1  0, 4, 17 smal w saey, 8, 18 49 sads 8 , 89 sartig ut,  0, 1 7 tablep materia, 90, 9 rappng the wrk, 02, 1  0 3, 1  twsep cutting 9 19 usg pluge ruters 2 Rutg: appicatns, 8, 9, 0, 1  1 1 measured wasting f mateal 4,   , 5 pwer equirements ,  types  2 9 RuRLt 16 2 Ryb rues, 6, ,   8

s Safety 19 3 b g cuers  0, 15  chip clectg, 6, 65, 6, 30, 1   cimb cung, , 1  1  2, 1 cutters beakng  3 dry/w ces 4, 15 dust cn,  eye prtectin  , 15  had ruters, 3, 1 4, 1 4, 15 46, 16 , 17 health cnces , 15 hearng ss  , 15 utbaance cute  4, 15 wers' mauas 1 1  4 2 puggng/unpuggng the rue, 6  1 65 practce cug, 68, 1 68 69, 1 69 ruter able safety feaures 93, 9  9, 9 95 sarg u n he uter table,  0, 1 7 stc preparatin, 2-3, 1 rapped cutter 4, 15 wrg hegh ad pstue,   Sears/Crafsma: fedbase ruters, 46,  halfbld dveta jig 30 subbases, 24 Shan beaingguded cuttes 26, 7  28, 8 29, 9 Shapers vs. ue abes 96 Slttng, 0, 69, 7 Spdle lcks, 6, 82

Spies, 9 1 Staring up the ruter changig ruer bs,  6 , 1 67 feed drectn, 69 , 1 69 matera/sck peparatn 0, 1 1   8, 6 , 1 65   66 pugging/upluggig, 6 , 1 65 practice cuttng 68, 1 68,  69 1 69 securng he w 66, 166 6 Sc prepaai 0, 1 1   8, 64, 16 66 Sps 0 93, 9, 95 Staight Oints 26 Subbases 36 6 3, 80, 8 Swiches 6, 6

T eaut 89, 1 9 empae rutig 17 8, 18  9 , 40, 0, 1 7  clar gudes, 29,  32 curved template  6, 1 77 cus wih e template  3, 1 7, 1 7 edap, 36, 1 6 wth ixedbase uters 6 5 9 fulthcess cuts 4 maea,  2-3 pin uting, 28, 1 pcedure  - 1 7   6, 1 76 shank beagguded cuters, 26, 6 sugfttg templates,  8, 1 78,  9, 1 79 stragh empae  tabe rutig,  ts r mag templates 1 7  3 ons, , , 9, 1 69, 7 71 adusabe en maker  363, 17 , 3 8, 1 8 bts f   9 gs fr 3, 1 3, 15 gue ad gve 9, 1   08,  9 Trim ruting 6 7 2, 3, 1 22 0 vts 6

v Vacuum, 6, 93 Vermnt Amecan subbases, 2  Vgrves 8 

w Wdhaven subbases 24 Wr hders, 66-6

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