re aN iy WOODWORKING 1 eS ew Wes Dec Tem ey try Jics ROUTER ™ i , ai es r — os Bill Hylton and Fred MatlackWOODWORKING WITH THE ROUTER Professional Router Techniques and Jigs Any Woodworker Can Use Bill Hylton and Fred Matlack Illustrations by Frank Rohrbach Photographs by Mitch Mandel© 1993 by The Reader's Digest Association, Ine. Illustrations © 1993 by Frank Rohrbach, All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, ‘or any other information storage and retrieval system, ‘without the written permission of the publisher. ‘The author and editors who compiled this book have to make all of the contents as accurate and as cor- rect as possible. Plans, illustrations, photographs, and teat have all been carctully checked and eross-checked. However, due to the variability of local conditions, con struction materials, personal skill, and so on, neither the author nor Reader's Digest assumes any responsibilty for any injuries suffered or for damages or other losses incurred that result from the material presented herein, All instructions and plans should be carefully studied and clearly understood before beginning construction. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hylton, Bil, Woodworking with the couter; professional router techniques and jigs any woodworker can use Bill Hylton and Fred Matlack ; illustrations by Prank Robrbach ; photographs by Mitch Mendel po om, ISBN 0-7621-0227-6 1. Routers (Tools) 2. Woodwork. 1. Matlack, Fred U.Title. T1203,5.H9S 1999 684" O83-e21 90.1491 Reader's Digest Illustrated Reference Books Editor-in-Chief: Christopher Cavanaugh ‘Ant Director: Joan Mazzeo Operations Manager: William J. Cassidy Director, Trade Publishing: Christopher T, Rewgio If you have any questions or comments ei al content of this book, please write to: Reader's Digest Feitor-in-Chief, Illustrated Reference Books Reader's Digest Road Pleasantville, NY 10870 coming the editor Reader's Digest and the Pegasus logo are registered trade- marks of the Reader's Digest Association, Inc. American Woodworker isa registered trademark of RD Publications, Inc cour website at: wwrreadersdiges com. Authors: Bill Hylton and Fred Matlack Copy Editor: Barbara Melntosh Webb Art Director: Anita Patterson ook Designer: Jerry O'Brien Cover Designer: Frank Milloni Photographer: Mitch Mandel Ilusirator: Frank Rohrbach Printed in the United States of America 579036CONTENTS Routers #1 The Motor 1 The Collet... 4 Speed Control 5 The Base .... 8 The Baseplate ....- 10 The Assembled Package 2 Laminate Trimmers 16 Bits" 17 Your Need to Know 7 Titling? .wmisaamaeacn AB Carbide-Free Bits “ 19 Just Starting? .. sen 23 Interchangeable Cutter Systems... 24 Shane SiZE on 25 Using Bits 26 Bill’s Bit Case .. “s 30 Bit Care 30 Router 101 * 33 StH OP a assctvndern ceil 33 Work Loads 7 Safety 38 Feed Direction 40 Jigs and Fixtures 42 Router Maintenance . 8 Dust Collection ... B iii Custom Baseplates = 47 Baseplate Materials 47 Upgrading the Mounting Screws wun. 48 How to Work Plastic 49 Sources for Plastics and Hardware .. 51 Clearing the Throat se 192 Fence-Rider Baseplate .. 53 Offset Baseplate a4 Router Table Design * 56 Design Alternatives... . 56 Materials and Construction 58 Constructing the Ideal Top cnn 59 Keeping That Top FLAT 60 A Router Mini-Table von OL Beneath the Tabletop ... 62 Mounting the Router 62 Bit Storage enn 2 Dust Collection... senna — 63 What Router to Use? . 64 Not in My Rower Table! 65 Electrifying! i 66 Cabinet Router Table" 68 Horizontal Router Table = 74 Horizontal Savy 78CONTENTS Router Table Accessories = 80 Starting Pin ... 80 Stand-Alone Bit Guards 80 FRG ae cra rtenenmnasinnencnecnn cad Split Fence .... 87 Sled erase 90 Pin Router AMM occ oO Router Table Savvy "94 Changing Bits... 4 Setting the Bit Height oF Choking Up 0M the Bit wvccwnnenmn OT Controlling the Workpiece wesw 97 Using a Starting Pin 99 Fixing the Fence ..... 100 Special-Duty Controls 103 Js @ Table-Mounted Router a Shaper? 106 Router Bench = 109 Sealing Your Bench svevewewnens 110 Shop Math .. 113 Decorative Treatments «115 Profile Bits . “ us What Pilot? ... i « I Edge-Routing Techniques ...... 124 Magic on the Edge .. 27 Routing Trim for Furniture 7 Architectural Moldings 132 Template-Guided Work = 139 THEE SEWDE mcnnescnennunusasien 18D Making Templates 0... 144 Routing along a Template 151 Feed Direction ... 151 Inlay Basics 151 Joinery Cuts 156 Pin Routing. rue 160 1g Curves and Circles * 162 Circle Trammels e162 Router Table Circle Work 169 Overarm Pivot 170 Oval Cutting vee UL Penciling In the Profi 179 Template-Guided Cuts .... 179 Surfacing with the Router * 183 Flush Trimming wccccnsnseennnn 183 Jointing with a Router 188 Thicknessing 192 Shaping Surfaces ..eunsinneuunes 197 Frame-and-Panel Construction= 200 Making Frames 200 Making Panels ....nccnnnunneeuee 206 Raising Panels with a Straight Bit... 212 Making Architectural Doors and Windows 214CONTENTS Working Laminates *219 Edge Joints » 252 The Material 219 Routing an Edge Joint .u.csneee 252 Cutting Laminate ... 219 Splined Edge Joinery 255 Trimming Laminate . 220 Biscuit Joinery with a Router 00. 258 Offset-Base Laminate Trimmer 224 The Less Flegant Solutions 260 ‘Tongue-and-Groove Joints 261 ‘Shiplap Joints 263 Special Joinery Bits . 263 Mortise-and-Tenon Joints = 267 Dadoing and Grooving * 225 a= ar The Basic Process .. Hand-Guided Through Cuts 25 Hand-Routed Mortises ..... Fractionating Baseplate wocvonesonn 230 Designing the Joint 270 Grooving with an Edge Guide 233 ‘Table-Routed Mortises 276 ‘A Homemade Edge Guide 235 Routing Tenons . 281 Cutting Denticulated Strips 236 Hand-Routed Tenons ... 281 Grooving the Work’s Edge ... 237 Router Table Through Cuts 238 . ‘“ Stopped Cuts 29 Lap Joints +286 Bit Choices 241 Routing Laps sestatainennn 286 Edge-Laps sos sane 293 Dovetail Joints *295 Half-Blind Dovetail Jigs 295 Rabbeting= 244 Keller Templates 302 The Leigh Jig 303 Rabbeting with a Piloted Bit ...... a4 Precision Positioning Systens on 304 Rabbeting with a Straight Bit .... 245, Porter-Cable’s Ommnijig ... sine, 305 Stopped Rabbets nm.» 245 Routed Tails, Hand-Cut Pins .. Wide Rabbets ... , 246 Desng ak Caputo ond ayy Sliding Dovetail Joint= 308 Rabbeting an Assembled Box. 248 Cutting the Joint... 308 Deep Rabbets 249 The Half-Dovetail Rabbet.. 312 Custom Rabbeting Baseplate 250 Drawers with a Different Dovetail... 314 Rabbeting Curved Work 250 Breadboard Ends ...... 316Splined Miter Joint= 317 Flat Miters Edge Miters Box Joint» 324 The Box-Jointing Jig Template Guide-Centered Jig. sone Dovetail Splice Using the Jig... ‘Swinging Fingers CONTENTS 317 320 324 327 328 329 329 vi Spline and Dovetail Keys = 330 Making the Jig Slotting on the Table Swinging on a Template Guide Splining a Frame Hand-Routed Slots .... Fitting the Keys Sources = 337 Index * 338 330 332 333 334 333 336INTRODUCTION ‘The router is woodworking’s most versatile power tool, You ean use it in just about every aspect of a job but assembly (it won drive nails or screws). In the extreme, used creatively itl do almost any kind of cutting and shaping of wood. You can use itto prepare rough-cut lumber for a project, shape the pieces, cut the joinery, and embellish the finished assembly with decorative edge profile. Though configured by manu facturers as a portable tool, one that you hold in your hands and pass over the work, its just about the only portable tool that can sensibly be mounted and used as A stationary tool Not every woodworker has a router, but most do. An increasing number of them are aware of all the terrific things you ean do with a router A half-dozen or more books on router woodworking are available. Every wood working magazine has articles about rovter woodworking, “Tool catalogsare londed with routers, bits, and all sorts of router jigs and fixtures. At every woodworking show, there’ at least one person demonstrating novel router uuses—and selling gizmos so you can make your router do the same jobs. Fred and | want you to be more than aware. Get out there and try that router in new applications. You may discover that the old way isn't the best way, This book will be your basic router woodworking. manual, It tells how to do all sorts of woodworking operations using the router. There are jobs that can be done only with a router—edge treatments and template- ‘guided work, to name two, Other jobs—cutting curves, most joinery work—can be done exceptionally well with a router, though there are other options, And finally, in some situations, the router wouldn't be your first-choice tool for the job—we're willing to concede that. But the router may be a reasonable alternative. ‘The “whys” lead to the “hows.” How to do a jeb may be easier to assimilate if you grasp why it’s being done a certain way, And knowing why may lead you to another way that’s better for you—maybe better period. Which leads us to the next point Imall these situations, there's always more than one way to do a given thing. Fred and | have tned preity conscientiously to find more than one way to do every: ‘operation we talk about in this book (more than one router-oriented approach, that is). For example, plunge router may make an operation simple. We explain how, But not everyone has a plunge router, so we explain hhow to do the job with a fixed-base router, too (tha possible). And finally, you may want to try doing the ‘very same operation on a router table, sohow todo that is covered as well. ‘Though the opening chapter is on routers ands fl- owed by one on bits, Woodworizng with the Router ist really a shopping guide. What we are trying to do is open your eyes to the variety of routers available and to features and configurations that you ray not know about. Instead of telling you what jigs to buy, we show you what jigs to make, A jig may be as simple as an over- sized baseplate, but it's never more complex than an adjustable trammel, Sure, youcan open your wallet and buya loc of these jigs, but why buy ajig if you can make it (its alays seemed xd that folks who consider them- selves to be woodworkers would buy items they can ceasily—and more economically—iake themselves.) ‘Our projects include several diferent router tables, including one in which the routeris mounted horizontally. Itoffersan “angle of attack” that makes some jobs easier to perform than they would be on a regular router table. To increase the value of any router table you make, we have a range of accessories—bit guards, fences, sleds (which are like your table saw’s miter gauge), and a variety of hold-downs and guides, Most are surpns- ingly easy to make. Is all this information original? Of course not. Cut- ting a dado is cutting a dado, Sometimes the best techniques are the tried-and-true ones, ‘What is original, you'l find, isthe logical, thorough, in-depth presentation. For this to be a basic operating, manual, i's got to cover those solid, taditional tech- niques, as well as the exciting, new derivations, Likewise, the information must be easy to find, complete, and clearly presented. Its got to be down-to-earth and ‘practical. When you've got a question, when you can't remember an operation's exact sequence of steps, you ‘want to be able to flip to the proper page without thumbing through the entire book. You need to be ‘confident that the operation is covered, and that i's covered thoroughly and understandably, and that whats being presented isn’t some speculation, however well- intentionedINTRODUCTION A basic operating manual is exactly what we were trying to produce here, a systematic, thorough guide- book to router woodworking, So we've included an index and cross-references. Cutting laps is a lot like cutting tenons, for example, so you'll find cross-references from one chapter to another where such references ate pertinent ‘Whether we've invented a technique or not, we've ted it in the woodworking shop. Thanks to the cooperation and generosity of router and bit manu facturers, we've been able to prove out our tech- niques using a simply capital assortment of routers and bits, And we had a ready supply of criticism and advice, as well as an abundance of suggestions, from our woodworking colleagues. There’ nothing in here that we aren't confident about, nothing that we havent successfully done. What's here is not the sum total of what we tried, of course. We left out techniques that proved to be problematic, excessively involved, too specialized, or simply hazardous. ‘What you will find is the distillation: Bill and Fred ‘most excellent router techniques The Authorial Team Bill Hylton has been writing and editing wood- working books for 20 years. He is the author of Build It Better Yourself, as well as the backyard building books Projects for Outdoor Living and Outdoor Furniture Fred Matlack has been building projects for mag- 1es and books for 12 years. He has designed andi constructed hundreds of projects, ranging from solar food dryers to toys to antique reproductions Frank Rohrbach created Woodvorking with the Rowers countless illustrations. A longtime dralts- man, Frank illustrated figs, Fixuures, and Setups, Outdoor Furniture, and other books. He is a regular contributor to American Woodworker magazine. Mitch Mandel took the photes in Woodworking with the Router A photographer for more than 12 years, Mitch is an avid and accomplished woodworker. He is, 4 contributing writer and photographer for American Woodworker magazine. Bae (Left to right Bill Fred, photographer Mitch Mandel, hook designer Jerry OBrien, and illusirator Frank Rokrbach. viiiROUTERS The basic router is extremely simple. In general terms, i's a motor and several crucial controls, The motor an range up to about 3/3 horse- power and can tum anywhere from 10,000 pa up to around 30,000. A rovary cutter i fitted into the collet «nthe lower end of the router mower I is direct drive in the purest form. Butjust to complicate things a bit, 2 huge variety of cutters is available Gee the chapter “Bits.”) Being the business end of the machine, the ‘cutters largely determine what you can do with the router. ‘There are four main parts wo a rouner:the motor, the collet, the base ‘and the baseplate. The moteris the type known asa universal motor, the same sort tha's used in your other portable power tools, (Your table saw, jointer, and other stationary tools use a different kind of motor called an induction motor) The power ratings of the ‘motors used in routers range from ¥% horsepower up to about 3/3 horsepower. The more power the motor has, the bigger the router is. ‘The collet is a simple but accu: rate chuck. Attached to the end of the rotor amature, t holds the bit othe motor can make the bitspin, Designs vary, and some collets are intrinsi- cally better than others. All collets, however, allow you to change bits. The outer base is what holds the rotor, positioning it in relation 0 the work. It usually incorporates two handles so the operator can hold and control the machine. One of the most critical elements of the base is its depeh-of-cut adjustment mech- anism. There are two fundamental types of bases: the fixed base and the plunge base. The type of base your router has is pivoral to what your router does, how it handles, and what it costs, The baseplate is a plastic sole on the bottom of the base. Itserves asa bearing between the router and the work, enabling the router to slide smoothly across the work without marting it Let's take a closer look at each of these four pans. Bhi eM eedi8 Here’s a euriesity, Mentally che over the power tools you have, and those you'd like to have. Whats the measute of utility or capacity most ‘commonly used with each tool Does ‘any, other than the router, depend upon its horsepower rating as the primary measure? You talk of your table saw, ci ‘cular saw,chop savr,or radial arm saw in terms of the blade diameter first. Diills? Chuck capacity for portables, measure from chuck to column for drill presses. Band saw? Depth of the throat, Planer or jointer? Length of the cutting knives. Sanders? Size ‘of the sanding area or belt. But with the router, t's the horse powerratingyou mention fist. You're ‘goingto find thet’sso throughout this book. ( know that because we've al- ready written most of i). There are some other measures that might be meaningfal—collet eapacity, range ‘of motor travel, baseplate diameter (orlength and width fora rectilinear cone), weight. But the power rating conveys the size of che bits it will drive, and suggests a size and weightPLUNGE RowTER: THEINSIDE STORY COMMUTATONEND BALL BEARING AosusTAENT WDB AnATURESwAFT, ANI peera-stor “anne Power Ratings What may be more important than the horsepower rating, however, is the amperage rating. The amperage rating of each tool is assigned by ‘Underwriters Laboratories (UL). It is the maximum amount of current the ‘tool can draw in continuous use with- cout overheating and, eventually burt- ing out, (Overheating is defined as raising its temperature more chan 60° Celsius above ambient temperature) Horsepower ratings, on the other hand, are assigned by the manufac- turers themselves, based on tests they've conducted, The horsepower rating may reflect a marketing pian as much as it reflects the design cengineet’s intent forthe tool ‘The rating procedure usually be- gins with the motor mounted on a dynamometer, which applies artifi- cial loads as the motor runs. Speed and torque data are recorded as the test ranges from a no-load state t0 the point at which the load simply stalls the motor. The data are charted as the horsepower curve, and thats sgencrally reported in terms either of peak horsepower or of continuous horsepower. And, of course, there's a certain amount of data massaging involved—rounding up to thenear- est quarter horse, for example. Peak horsepower is the absolute ‘maximum horsepower generated,very probably when the motor is drawing two to four times the UL's amperage rating and consequently starting w overheat, stink, and smoke. (According to one manufacturer's documentation of is test of its 15- amp router, the motor was pulling 54 amps at the moment it squeezed out its 3 horsepower. That's an in- credible draw, and translates into a lot of heat.) Continuous horsepoweris what the motor can produce during con- tinuous, safe operation, meaning hours of operation when drawing no ‘more than the UL's rated amperage The industry convention is ‘© report peak horsepower on a uni- versal motor, the type that drives @ router, and continuous horsepower ‘onan induction motor, the type used instationary powertocls. The utiversal (brush-type) motor is used primar: ily for intermittent, variable-speed operation. The induction (brushless) motor is used primarily for long- term, fixed-speed operation. These diferences will help explain why a Lshorsepower router is 50 much smaller than the 1/horsepower mo- toron your table saw. The big table saw motor will deliver that power for hours on end, while the router motor will squeeze it out for about 30 seconds, then dle Now let's go back to the amper- age ratings. An amp is areflection of power output, even though it is a ‘measure of electrical input. The UL is an independent testing agency, using uniform methods. Its ratings willbe consistent from brand to brand and model to model, So if you want to compare the power output of one brand of router to another, compare their amperage ratings. Here's an example of what you'll find: * Black & Decker’s mode! 3310, raced at 1% hp, draws 8 amps * Bosch’s model 1602, rated at 1Y hp, draws 9 amps. * Ryobi’s R230 model, rated at LY hp, draws 9.5 amps. * Porter-Cable's model 690, rated at 1¥ihp, draws 10 amps # Bosch’s 1604, rated at 1% hp, draws 10 amps. ‘You would probably be justified in concluding that the Porter-Cable unit is more powerful than the Black & Decker, even though their horse- power ratings are the same. And that the Bosch isn’t any more powerful though its rated with an extra quat- terhorse, (However, horsepower dif ferences berveen two routers of the same amperage ratingmay result from some design or efficiency advantage. The higher-horsepower router may have a slightly better cooling sys- ter—a fan that moves air faster, for ‘example—thatallows itt run some- ‘what longer at some mega-amperage draw than the other.) An. interesting sidelight on amperage ratings is that the biggest General purpose routers range sige and power from asmall horsepower model (left center) through Z-horsepower models tothe horsepower, 1&-pound production dbehemoth (far left). Even plunge routers are available ina range of sizes: horsepower (right center), horsepower, and 3!horsepower arrighd. Both the router and the induction ‘motor it rests om are rated at 1 horsepower. The relatively huge in- duction motor, which powers a dust runs at more than 5 times the speed of the large motor but ean produce its rated horsepower for relatively brief spurts when under very heavy load, ROUTERS