Woodworker's Journal winter-2010, страница 8

Getting Started in Routing

With a router, router table and bits,

you can add profiles, template work and joinery to your projects. here are some suggestions for what to buy.

By Chris Marshall

Trim routers are ideal for delicate routing operations on small workpieces where a heavier machine would be hard to control. New models are more powerful and feature-laden than ever.

Know Your Router Options

If this will be your very first router purchase, choosing the "best" machine can be bewildering, but it doesn't have to be. Before you get lost in the sea of router sizes, prices and features, step back and consider what you want your new router to do. Be realistic about your needs. If a router will basically be a means for you to soften sharp edges or cut an occasional small profile, a trim router may be all the machine you need. Let's start with this category first.

Trim Routers: Small but Apt

Today's trim routers are compact, nicely appointed and affordable. They're small enough to stand on the edge of a board for trimming off edge banding or laminate, yet powerful enough to handle most smaller profiling bits. You can grip a trim router easily in one hand, and the compact size won't feel intimidating to control. Trim routers are also ideal for cutting hinge mortises,

Routing will add a whole new dimension to your woodworking. In addition to all of those lovely coves, chamfers, ogees and other shapes you can cut along the edges of your workpieces, a router will do much more. If you need to make a bunch of identical parts, a router can follow a template of nearly any shape using a piloted bit or a guide collar attached to the base. Want to make dove

tails, rabbets, mortises, box joints or dadoes? Here's a tool that can produce them all. A router can cut intricate recesses for inlay one day, then muscle through raised panels the next. It is truly a shop wonder tool, proven over and over again.

Getting started in routing means you'll need a router and some router bits. Eventually, you'll want to add a router table. It'll bring much more versatility and stability to your routing tasks. You may even want to buy a few more routers and accessories to build your collection as your skills grow. While no one article can cover it all, this introductory overview should help you begin to narrow down those first big hardware needs.