How does a wood working router work and what does it do

Before discussing our woodworking router I thought I’d try and understand a little more about the word router. Router derives from the verb to rout. As a verb there are definitions such as to hollow out or to furrow or to rummage or to scoop or to gouge or machine. The choice is yours but these are some of the explanations for our woodworking router. So what does a router do – it will gouge or scoop out pieces of wood perhaps in the form of a groove or an edge.

With the evolution of the router from the conventional hand operated product to the modern spindle plunging router we have seen the product evolve to become more functional than the early hand devices. The early units were much like a conventional flat wood plane but instead of the single flat blade the router would have a number of interchangeable and shaped blades. The router would be used like a hand operated plane and would be used to make a groove in a larger piece of timber or used to create a shape on the edge of the timber. The electric router can be used to create grooves an edgings but also can be used to gouge out almost any shape with with or without a template ( i.e. circles).

The first electric routers had a fixed base and subsequent routers called plunging routers were sprung such that the spinning blade would not protrude beyond the based as the weight or pressure was removed. These types of router were moved over the wood area. The alternative method of use is to mount a router to the underside of a router table and then move the wood over the router and maintaining a fixed position for the table router. This is ideal for a workshop environment and lends itself to additional safety features.

The hand-held plunging routers can be used (should be used) with a variety of controls. The base of the router can be fitted with a sidebar device to ensure that the cutting blade remains a constant distance from the edge of the wood you are routing. For example you may wish to cut a groove 4 mm deep and 3 mm from the edge of your piece of wood. The depth can be set to the maximum 4 mm and the sidebar guide will ensure that the groove is not made more than 3mm from the edge of the wood. You could achieve the same results by clamping a straight edge over the surface of the wood to be machined and keep the electric router pressed firmly against the straight edge.

Router cutters or router bits come in many different shapes. The different shapes allow you to use your router to cut square, vee and rounded grooves. There are more router bits to enable round, angular and decorative edge finishing. An edge finishing router bit has a spinning guide at the base of the cutter that prevents the blade cutting deeper into the timber. Generally speaking buying router bits can be a little of a lottery because you want the best bits but don’t want to spend a fortune. Unless you need a large selection of router bits for professional work I’d suggest buying a set of router bits with most of the shapes you could ever envisage using. You’ll probably also require 1 or 2 straight cutting bits and you may wish to pay a little more money to get the best you can afford if you are to use these bits frequently. For example you may wish to have a 3-4 mm straight cutting blade for groves and rebating edges of your chosen timber. A larger 8-10mm is always useful for taking a little timber off a wider area. Cheaper blades will soon lose their cutting edge and could scorch or burn the timer if you are not careful.

Most of the well known manufacturers have a range of routers and they include Dewalt, Makita, Bosch, Milwaukee, Porter-Cable and Ryobi. At the moment there are very few cordless router and it is understandable that many jobs are continuous and would demand a powerful battery system. Porter Cable have a 19.2 Volt Cordless Router for lighter jobs. You can also take a look at factory reconditioned routers to give you more more router for your $.

When you have had the time to use a router you’ll be amazed at some the tasks that can be completed with this tool.

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