If you’re new to woodworking, you’re likely just getting used to using a router. These tools are used to rout, or hollow out, wood or plastic that is hard. So, just how do you use this tool? The basics are really easy, and after you learn them all you have to do is get some practice using it to get better.
Routers can be either hand tools or power tools, and they are used for trimming, shaping, and cutting not just wood and plastic, but also metal and many other materials. Keep reading if you’re curious about how this tool is used.
A Router Is an Indispensable Woodworking Tool
It has been said that with a piece of wood and a router, you can make almost anything. You can find these tools in any builder’s toolbox – it is just that valuable. If you’re trying to decide whether or not you should purchase one of these tools, consider some of their many benefits, which include:
- They reduce a lot of wood waste.
- They accommodate a cutting area that is quite large.
- They give you more control over your project.
- They come with numerous time-saving accessories.
- They allow you to repeat patterns with more accuracy.
Routers make all of your projects much easier and even offer accessories such as dust collection systems, bushing adapters, centering cones, and edge guides, among others. In fact, you can even complete your woodworking projects while having a lot of fun at the same time.
If you’d like some helpful tips to help you figure out how to work this very versatile tool, keep reading because below are just a few of them.
Getting Started with Your Router
Although it’s impossible to go over everything you can do with your router in this one article, we can at least go over a few of the basics. Once you master these, the rest will come much easier, and in fact, you can keep learning more and more techniques for a long time after the basics are perfected. The following are a few of those basics.
Move to the right. When you work with a router and you’re a beginner, it’s easy for the tool to be used incorrectly, including having it go in the wrong direction. When you’re using your router, make sure it is going the opposite direction of the rotation of the bit. When you do this, you’ll gain more control over the tool and it will cut into the work and leave the edge of the piece alone.
Mount the tool upside down. To make your work easier, you can mount your router upside down on a router table, giving you a hands-free way to do your work. Using the tool while holding it restricts some of the possibilities when you’re cutting or shaping your product, but using a router table and mounting the tool securely gives you a lot more freedom and makes every project a lot easier on you.
Template cut. If you need to make two or more pieces that are just alike, this is the type of cut you want. You have to use a top-bearing straight bit and a pattern, and it works because the bit carves the wood at the same time that the bearing rolls along the pattern. It is not a difficult cut, but go ahead and practice it because it will likely be repeated quite often.
Conclusion
The above techniques naturally don’t cover every single thing you can do with your woodworking router, but it’s a great start. A router isn’t as difficult to use as you might think, and we believe this article has proved that. What do you think?
By now you should be pretty excited about getting started with your router. Because there are so many things you can do with it, it’s good to know that this tool is easy to find and easy to learn how to operate. Indeed, you can do some amazing things with a woodworking router, because it is one tool that will make you glad you got into woodworking in the first place.
