digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Steve Ramsey recommends beginners get a fixed-speed router, a set of straight and roundover router bits, and a router table, then learn the basic safety and feed-direction rules. Steve Ramsey argues that the router bits, not an expensive router, drive the fun and capability of routing, and that most of his work relies on straight and roundover bits. He also says a router table is the tool to get next after a router and a few bits.
Key Points
- Routers are used for many common items, including kitchen cabinet doors, edge profiles on desks, dado and groove joinery, and creative carving.
- A router is essentially a motor spinning a bit at high speed; a fixed-speed model under $100 is sufficient for beginners, since routing's capability comes mainly from the bits.
- Ramsey guesses that 80 to 90 percent of the router bits he uses are straight bits and roundover bits.
- Bearing-guided bits ride along the edge of a workpiece and need no fence, while bits without bearings (straight and cove bits) need a fence for cuts through the middle of a board.
- Routers are very loud and throw wood chips, so hearing protection and safety glasses are necessary.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Hand routing: keep the router's base plate flat on the work surface, feed slowly, and feed from the left side of the router forward, since the bit spins clockwise when viewed from above (chips should spew out the front, not toward you).
- Changing bits: switch the locking mechanism on top to the locked position, insert the bit into the collet, tighten the nut, then use a wrench to fully tighten it; return the mechanism to the unlocked position before routing.
- Setting depth: turn the depth adjustment ring to raise or lower the bit, set the depth, then lock it in place.
- Router table: mount the router upside down through holes in the table top; use the fence, and keep a shop vac connected to the back of the fence to collect chips.
- Router table feeding: always feed from the right side of the router to the left side, since the bit spins counterclockwise when the router is upside down; keep the board against the fence.
- For deep grooves, do not cut all at once; make a pass, then raise the bit gradually in multiple passes while keeping the board against the fence.
- Use a bearing-guided chamfer bit (45-degree angle) on a router table with the fence pushed out of the way, letting the bearing ride along the edge.
- The router table in the video was a store-bought Craftsman model under $100; a viewer named Warren Downs sent Ramsey a router table he said he built for about $15 in under an hour.
- Many stock router tables include a miter gauge and a safety shield; Ramsey says he rarely uses the miter gauge and leaves the shield up.
- When running small pieces, the default fence opening can let them fall through; Ramsey made an extra MDF fence to clamp on.
- A quarter-inch straight bit was used for the demonstration groove, and a Roman ogee bit was used for a hand-routed edge profile.
Bottom Line
Start with a basic fixed-speed router, a small bit set, and safety gear, and treat a router table as the next essential purchase before tackling more advanced techniques.
