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(| Panne3 Think safety, work safely Use these tips to keep this valuable tool working for you. 4 The router— an essential power tool Met the number one woodworking invention ofthe 200 cntry 6 Router bit selection ‘With each bit your router can perform a whole nev task, Get a sampling ofthe ‘more common bits inside. 46 Basic router operations and techniques “Learn how to teach your router new treks. 24 Router jigs and tips “These jis and fstres make a router work hader and with more precision volar het Mores rere This ale otra hae evog stand sabia {ence pei fhlddouns ad eshertna ast Calotinespeity ona seetvough bt uae Ti eetee ego tate Ae salt ei shes you sold aver te yur ands o ayia the On oe npr ove arouts te pig by cms (ode hat oe nae Be Hover, ‘aha us ne se eames Sle ving i onet mve ‘Your shop: where and how you work The oft-maligned governmental OSHA, hs done alot of work idetiying safe ‘ty hazards in indostial workplaces. fe would be Wise to take cue from theit findings because Yur own skh peohably differen Size, notin the number ef posible hazards for you! Take @ good look at your woodworking ‘rovedures, and choc for hing ha ean feet, {Your work and safety Your shop: Keep it clean, organized, wel lighted, and adequately ventilated, Clas the Algor of sbsritions und sore all tools, Make cenainelecuical fixtures aad oulles ae prop cy protected. Scr finishing products cone Iy, and dispose of rags and lettover materials pron ‘Your tools: Koep all tools clean, sharp, prop: erly maintained, and adjusted. Make cerain you know how 19 operate every tool and mis Chine safely before using it. Know where the ential danger zones are fr each too. Keep all, safety guards in pice, and bave pleaty 0 fin persaving devices, such a eatherboands, push ales, and push sticks, on hand. Your gear: Wear the correct safety lasses, fuce shield, ar goggles; ear muffs: dust masks; and’ chemical respirators, when ape propriate. Avoid wearing lose-fiting clothing, slots, jewelry of dangling objects (even long Tir) ht tay eas in roiting machinery pas ‘ thinksafety worksafely Protect your hearing Wear hearing protection, even fr short pesos of router use. Here's why: Staies shos dat 105 dBA. noise level resuls in sone hearing Joss after only one-hour expose, Routers typ ically produce from 103-110 dBA, and get ‘worse when & it stars to cil, This level of noise can permanently damage your beating se hvaring protection gear with enogh noise reduction rating (NRR) to lower the router's loud sera to safe pleat least 20 NRR to reduce the sound Wo amore cept ble 90 dBA. Hearing protection items fave their NRR printed onthe packaging Protect your breathing Wood cus, 2 bypreduct of woodworking, is made up of inividal wood particles af varying sng, Th small panicles that waft cough our shop's ar for long periods of time present the atest health hazurd,Pancies 10 migoas and Staller ean be ified ito the lings and ode these. (We eaaot se parle Tess that 100 ei ‘rons in sig.) baled dst patieles ean iat and damage lung tse, which ean lead to per manent ss of ling function spd breathing ci pcty. Dost ean also restrict oxygen absorption nif contains toxins or sensitizers, it cn lead Co allergies, shortness of breth, cambnes, Aizzines and asthma problems OSHA guideline cll foe no more hana y= age of Smiligrams of cst particles 10 mictons torsmaller per cubic meter of air oe aa §-hour Pld Tn smal hop this amour 0 man ‘mum of 7000 800 miligrams (aboot ale Spoon of wood dist eran hour pio, Fr your protection, wear suitable dispos able dost mask or respgtor wa tinimumn hen ‘outing, Also, collect ihe dust with a vacua oF dust collector wn. weedmagazine.comining at speeds of 24,000 rev: ‘olinions per minute, and able to slice through hardwoods Tike 2 hot Knife through butter, the portable router is one impressive fool. No wonder ‘thas become one of the most useful and productive tools you can have in a wood- ‘working shop. Some woodworkers com sider it the number one shop tool inven tion af dhe 20th century The fist commercially manufactured routers originally were introduced in the carly 1948's. Surprisingly, their basic de- sian hasn't changed much. Many of our current models, although they may look moze trendy and carry a few more fea tures, sill work essentially the same way as their early counterparts. Only. the plunge router, a rather recent develop- ment and introduction from Europe, shows any significant design evolution Pick up a modern router and you'll find the same three basic elements: a high-speed motor attached to a base, some type of height-adjusting mechanism to raise and lower the motor within the base, and a special chuck or collet fitted to the 4 wan weeemagazine.com rose, spralb, and cearpadon seis naka outing ea, soo ‘eiges ona wore ke ‘hs at and gts ona «mary base cals is to conan, hata youre making nso eatig boas te sp ul ptr and ‘anplt, sho a ht, ‘pens up ole new wor frog apa. motor shaft to hold the cutting bits. And ‘the router bits although similar tothe few very carly elfergs, now come in buns dreds of styles, sizes, and shapes. ‘Attool with many advantages Routers perform two primary tasks in a woodshop. Cutting decorative edges along the edges of boards is by far the ‘most common. Staping the edge of & workpiece adds a decorative touch and ttansforms an unfinished-looking project into an atractive, cye-pleasing one faster than any otber singe thing you can do, ‘Although it might be a lesser known role, more and more seasoned woodvork- cts find the router indispensable for cut sing joints when assembling Zumiture pro {jects and many small items. "The router's success as a woodwork- ing tool also eux be traced to a number of inherent advantages that it has over other tools Its small size and unigue design en- able it to-do jobs that no other tool ean. Tis duplicating capability also allows you t do many jobs easier, faster, and Safer than other tools. the ROUTER—an|essential power tool ‘You can'c beat a router for portability either. Carry and use it almost anywhere and get accurate rasnits withomt fail Compare that with other cutting cools, such asa tablesaw or stationary shaper. Also, because it's portable, it will work on virtually any size stock, eliminat- ing workpiece-size restrictions and limita tions common to many machines, And possibly mest important, you'll find to day's routers still modestly priced com- pared to many other machines of eompa- rable capability or capacity. But, if you mount this normally handheld tool be- sncath table, you'll find it transforms it {nto still more versatile machine. Putting a router to work Routers are pretty simple machines, but don’t let this simplicity fool you—they «an do literally hundveds of tasks, We've used them to straight-edge and surface boards; cut dadoes, rabbets, and grooves; work circles and curved surfaces; and edge them. Many woodworkers use thera 10 make decorative moldings, form hings mortises, shape delicate pants by follow- ing templates and patterns, bore holes, andl cut many different kind of great-fit- ting joints. We'll show some ofthese uses Tater in tis book. Routers continue to be viable, expand ing tools. Manufacturers continve to ex ppand their lines, providing more power choices and features. Similarly, bit manu- facturers have teams of engineers design- ig new and innovative bits to do moce sand more specialized shaping and cutting. Both manufacturers and woodworkers keep coming up with new accessories to extend the tool's usefulness or make it safer. Information about nev figs and fix- tutes is being published in magazines at a rate never seen before Routers aren't exactly the sort of tool you take out of box, plug in, and bandle casually, As with many things, it takes a bit of practice to develop skills using the tool, abit of knowledge to transfor the tool's eapabiliies into practical applica tions, and experience w make the end re sults aceeptable, To master this tool, be- ccome a student oft. We think: you'll find ivboth fun and rewarding,