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Want to double the usefulness of your router? Mount it in a router table and you’ll be able to shape long moldings as well as cut decorative edges on small pieces with ease and safety. In this article, we’ll show you how to set up and use a router table to cut moldings, rout small pieces freehand, and plane a perfectly straight edge on plywood or other boards.
Router tables are great for cutting your own moldings. Using a router table is easier and faster than using a router alone; you don’t have to clamp the board. And narrow boards that are hard to shape with a router are a cinch on a router table. Use featherboards and a push stick to protect your fingers.
Start by tightening the bit into the router, mounting the router in the base and adjusting the height of the bit. Don’t worry about getting the fence square to the table; it doesn’t matter for this type of cut. If your bit has a bearing guide, lay a straightedge against the fence and adjust it until there’s a paper-thin space between the outer edge of the bearing and the straightedge. Clamp featherboards to the table and the fence to hold the work against the bit. This allows you to concentrate on pushing the board.
To avoid burn marks from the router bit, feed the board at a steady rate without stopping. The rate of feed depends on the bit and type of wood. With experience, you’ll learn to judge the best rate by listening to the router and feeling the resistance as you push against the board.
Cuts more than about 3/8 in. deep can strain the router motor, put undue pressure on the bit, and leave a rough or chipped surface on the wood. To avoid this, adjust the fence so the bit removes about two-thirds of the wood with the first pass. Then readjust the fence and make the final pass at a faster feed rate.
Easy End-Grain Routing
Shaping end grain with a
router table and square push block has three advantages over
end-grain routing with a handheld router. First, you’re not limited to
bearing-guided bits, since the fence is guiding the cut. Second, unlike with
handheld routers, it’s just as easy to rout narrow pieces as wide ones. And
finally, the push block backs up the cut to eliminate the chipping and tear-out
commonly associated with end-grain routing.
Buying Router Tables
With a router table you don’t have to hassle with
clamping the workpiece. Just guide it over the table and past the bit. You can
build your own router table and fence using plans included in many basic router
books. Or for less than $200, you can choose from dozens of commercially made
tables. Buy the biggest tabletop you can afford; you’ll get more accurate cuts
on long pieces. Fences with two adjustable, replaceable wood or particleboard
sections mounted to a solid one-piece metal fence are the best. You can shim
out one side to plane board edges or slide the sections tight to the
router bit to eliminate extra space around the bit. Make sure the table has an
easily adjustable bit guard and slots in the table to mount featherboards or
other accessories. Removable base plates make it easier to mount
your router and take it out to change bits and make height adjustments.
Router Table Safety
Router
bits spin so fast that they demand your constant attention. Accidents can
happen suddenly. Here are a few of the most important safety
rules:
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Always unplug the router when changing the bit.
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Push the bit into the collet. Then lift it to expose about one-quarter of the shank before tightening the collet nut. This will keep the bit from coming loose in the collet. At least two-thirds of the bit’s shank should be engaged in the router collet.
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Cover the bit with a guard whenever possible.
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Wear safety glasses and hearing protection.
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Use featherboards and push sticks to keep your fingers away from the bit.
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Move workpieces from right to left against the fence.
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Move workpieces counterclockwise around a piloted bit.
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Never position the fence so the workpiece is pushed between it and the bit.
Plane Perfectly Straight Edges on Boards or Plywood
It takes a little time and patience to set up your router
table for planing the edge of a board, but it’s worth the effort, especially
for plywood edges. The smooth, straight surface left by the router bit makes it easy to
create an almost invisible seam when you’re gluing wood edging to
plywood.
The key to the setup is shimming out the left half of the fence and aligning the bit with it. If your router table fence isn’t adjustable, you can attach a piece of plastic laminate to the face of the left half with double-faced tape so it can be removed when you’re done.
Here are a few of the tasks you can accomplish with this setup:
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Plane the edges of plywood panels before applying wood edging.
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Remove saw marks from the edges of ripped boards.
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Straighten the edges of boards so they can be glued together.
Gain Control of Freehand Routing With a Starting
Pivot
Small pieces that are difficult to hold down while you’re
shaping them with a handheld router are easy to shape on a router table. Use a
bit with a bearing guide that rides against the pattern. You can also shape the edge of small pieces with any bearing-guided router bit
using this same technique. Pivot the wood against the starting pivot block for
greater control over when it contacts the bit. Some router tables have a hole
for a starting pin that serves the same purpose as the pointed stick we’re
using. It doesn’t matter what you use as a pivot as long as it’s firmly
attached and placed 2 to 3 in. from the bit.
Cut the pattern from MDF (medium-density fiberboard) or tempered Masonite. Sand the edges smooth because the router bit will transfer every imperfection in your pattern to your workpiece. Rough-cut your workpiece with a jigsaw and attach the pattern with small nails, hot-melt glue or double-faced tape.