How to use a Router

 

This means that some jobs take a bit longer with a low powered machine, because you need to make two or three passes instead of just one.

The “overhead router” used in industry is a fixed machine, suspended in a large stand – like an enormous drill stand, but fastened to the floor – and lowered onto the work piece with a lever. On the portable router, however, the motor is mounted in a frame or “carriage” with handles, in which it moves up and down as you adjust it. This frame has a flat base, through which the bit projects to make the cut. In operation you generally rest the base on the work piece, and move the machine along bodily – though you can fix the machine and move the work piece instead.

Portable routers are either fixed base or plunging models. A fixed base router is lowered into the material with the bit already protruding from the base, after you’ve got it to protect the required amount by adjusting the height of the motor in the carriage.

With a plunging router the motor is on sprung mountings, and this means you set the projection (ie the depth of the cut) in two stages. First you lower the motor until the bit just touches the work piece, and you rotate one of the handles to lock it in position. Then, on most models, you simply adjust the height of the depth bar – a sliding or threaded vertical rod fixed to the side of the motor – so that, when you “plunge” the motor right down to cut, the lower end of the rod will meet the base of the carriage and prevent you going any deeper than you want. Lastly, you turn the handle the other way to release the motor so that it springs right up, back to its original position.

That done, you’re ready to start cutting. This is a straight forward matter of positioning the router where you want it, switching on, and pressing down fully on the handles to plunge the rotating bit into the work piece. Then you turn the handle again to lock it there, before running the tool along to do the actual job. When you’ve finished, you just use the handle to unlock it, allow it to spring back up, and switch off.

If the sound of the router motor drops from a high pitched whine during a cut, you’re probably trying to work too fast – or cut too deeply. The harder the material and the wider the bit, the slower and shallower each cut will have to be to avoid straining the motor. The general rule is to cut no deeper than the diameter of the bit.

 

A smell of burning may mean that you are cutting too slowly. The important thing is to acquire a feeling for the tool’s natural cutting rate.

 

But either of these symptoms may denote a blunt bit instead. So may a “furry” finish, or difficulty in pushing the router along. And remember that, as with any other tool, the texture of your material matters. In solid timber, the grain may dictate the direction in which you have to move the machine for a clean cut.

As for safety, remember that a power router runs at a tremendous speed. Treat it with respect. Wear goggles to protect you eyes from whirling dust. On a plunging router, always release the lock after a cut to let the bit spring up out of the way. Unplug the machine whenever you are not using it – and keep it in a cupboard.