Nice find Katie. This answers a LOT of common questions that newcomers have.

 

i just came across this and thought it might be useful to those new to the router table (like me). It explains a lot of basics. I'll likely refer to this for a while as i get the hang of the table mounted routing.

http://www.woodworkingseminars.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/101807_bonusdownload.pdf

thanks...

 

Really good piece. Thanks Katie!

 

Yes, this is a very good introduction to table based routing. The annotated pictures are very helpful to beginners. Even though it is 11 years old, a lot of the products mentioned are still available. Though, some prices have changed and at least one company (JoinTech) is out of business.

 

Great Find.

 

Good stuff I can see this being used often by me,

 

A lot of good idea's.

 

Thanks, Katie. I've saved it and will study/use it.

Roy

 

A well written review is always worth a read regardless of how experienced one is or thinks they are.

A helpful post.

 

Great find Katie. Very useful.

 

Thanks for pointing, Katie.

 

This was awesome, i got a boat load of knowledge and product information. Thanks for taking the time and posting it.:dirol:

 

Thanks for sharing this helpful find. I wish I had this 20 years ago! NICE.

 

You will find that there is a great deal more that can be achieved when the router is taken out of the table and used in the plunge mode

 

Wow now you have opened a can of worms. I asked the question several years ago on what people did with a handheld router that they couldn't do with it table mounted. What I got were a few things that were the exception rather than general everyday routing. Cutting mortises were mentioned. How many mortises does the average person do? My guess is not many if so then they would buy a mortising machine and make their life easy. Making signs, Well you can't make a real sign with a handheld router you can carve letters and designs but these aren't real signs, for those reach for a CNC machine. Someone mentioned routing out stringers for stairs, Okay raise your hand if you make a lot of stairs. How about flattening boards with a ski. Well if you're at that level of woodworking I would hope that you would have the correct tools for planning wood. How about dados for cabinet shelves? Good point but how long does it take to set up guides and how difficult is it to get a router bit the exact size of the piece of wood that you want to use for the shelf? If you're doing a dado then head to the correct tool which is the table saw. So the list went on. So yes you can use the handheld router to do tasks that can't be done on a table but doing those jobs are done out of necessity and not because the handheld is the best tool for it. I think that getting by with a substitute tool only leads to exasperation and limits how far you can advance in woodworking (or any other hobby)How many have reached for the closest hardest tool such as a wrench to try and drive a nail or straighten one out? Using the router in the table is the only safe way to make molding and it's the only sure way of keeping the edge perfect and not wavy. The table is the only safe way to make rail and stile doors and the only safe way to make raised panel doors ( a table saw is even better for some types of raised panels). The table is also the only safe way to route really small pieces. Since I did my last post, several years ago, on using the table-mounted router I haven't removed it more than once or maybe twice and I can't remember why I removed it. Maybe I haven't removed it I don't know. But for those that use a handheld let me know what for. I honestly have no use for the handheld features.

 

As someone who is such a beginner that I am highly intimidated by my Router Table, I am beyond grateful for this.
Other than which end to plug into an outlet, and what the on/off switch looks like, I am sadly, totally, clueless.

THANK YOU for sharing this article!
~Moz

 

would list your intimidations please...

 

Now, after a couple weeks rubbing elbows with you confident and crazy peoples, they are lessened, but still present.

#1 Intimidation - The ever-present chance of major permanent physical injury. I bleed easier and heal slower than when I was young. My reflexes are likewise not what they once were.

Beyond making sure I have appropriate Ear, Eye, and Lung Protection, the bestest advice I've gotten from RF is
"Focus on what you are doing like a cat focuses on a bird on the windowsill."
Keeping that level of attention on what I am doing will hopefully keep me safe.
But I'm still intimidated. I think for Safety, perhaps a little intimidation is a good thing.
At least I'm past the "petrified hesitation," stage.

#2 Intimidation - Unfamiliarity with tools - Up until now, the largest project I've ever tackled was cutting 4" baseboard trim for the entire house - We ended up buying a compound miter saw and stand from Harbor Freight or I would still be cutting the damn things. Mainly it's a hand hacksaw, or my Dremel tool, or a hammer, or buy a readymade whatever.
I now possess a 3 HP plunge router in a Rockler router table, and a 15 Amp 10" portable table saw...I feel like I'm buying General Mills in order to get 10 pounds of buckwheat and rice flour blended with all-purpose...

All I can do is try to find people who know what the hell I am trying to accomplish with these fancy tools, and help keep me on the path by nudging me away from dangerous precipices of obsessive overthinking, or careless/clueless omission.
Thankfully, I found RF...
Words cannot convey the confidence you have given me to tackle this project and feel firmly confident that I can do it.

#3 Intimidation - Clearances and Tolerances. Unlike hand tools, where you might make a mark or ding, and then correct, these things can too quickly turn an "oops" moment into an "aw poop!" moment.
I'm not too worried about trashing out my tools, I'm too intimidated by their speed and power to be careless and drop tools on the tables or scatter screwdrivers near my bits and blades.
But I have some concern on ruining a piece of wood that is to be an inner cover for a hive, and having to start over again.

So this one will best be tackled by 1) Having a very clear idea of what I am going to be doing - I guess like visualization, where I walk through all the steps in my head, before tackling it, and 2)Practicing enough before I tackle my project, making sawdust as I get comfortable with the visual placement of the bits and blades to the fence, or the jig, trying to follow lines, with different depths and multiple passes.
One of the things I have to figure out how to do well is to make a rabbet cut inside the hive walls on two parallel sides to hold the honeycomb frames. The Down&Dirty method nails plywood inside the two walls, but plywood isn't real good for bees, although a lot of people still use it...

Old Dogs, New Tricks...Very hard to learn, but exciting as all get out.
~M

 

Nice find, Katie...thanks for sharing...

 

Precious guide! thanks for posting!
Sid.

 

I will read this tonight. Thanks.

 

Thanks Kate !


Gary

 

Cautious and concerned is good. Petrified is very bad. Fear takes over your brain's operating system and prevents the good thoughts from taking over.

Always run a piece of scrap through first to verify your setup. Actually that has been a discussion topic before and the consensus was that there is no such thing as scrap, only wood that doesn't a purpose yet even if it is to test a setup.

Router tables are fairly safe as long as the fence only exposes part of the bit. As long as you feed from the correct direction the tendency of the bit is to push the wood away from the fence. Just keep your fingers away from the sharp whirly thing.

Running an operation through your mind first is perfect. It prepares you mentally to look for problems and to make sure your method is correct.

Once you've made a few cuts most of the fear will go away.

 

On the contrary, the tendency is for the router bit to push (or is it pull?) the workpiece TOWARD the fence.

 

Thanks, Katie.
I down it and have more knowledge from your sharing .
another question :
I am finding a new combo set Bosch RA118EVSTB , any one had this one , please give me a quick review of this combo ? any site with good reviews for reading before purchase one . Thanks :wink:

 

Hey, John; welcome!
That package is based on the Bosch 1617EVS. Excellent router... a lot of us here have them, but you might get more bang for your buck by buying the same router in the 1617EVSPK configuration. It comes with the plunge router base as well as the fixed base (1617EVS)...the PK designation means the package deal.
Making a simple basic router table is cheap and easy. Having the plunge base is priceless!

 

agreed...

 

Welcome to the forum John. As Dan suggested building your own table is easy and cheap. You can use our Community Search function to look up router tables which will bring up all the posts about them and there are a lot. This will give you ideas to work with and you can always ask questions when you need help.

 

Great posting. Thank You


That PDF down load came with my second router table system. I purchased a Bosch RA1171 table years ago. Taught me how to use a table as a beginner. I still have the table as a back up and still use it on occasions. There are now great video clips on youtube that take that knowledge even further.