Router Bit Panel
Router Bit Panel
A Professional Furniture Maker Talks About The Routers
As the son of a carpenter, I learned to respect and appreciate tools at a very early age. I also learned that most tools will last a lifetime, if cared for properly. Many of the tools in my woodshop were handed down to me by my father. There's a lowangle block plane that I use on virtually every project, and a classic DeWalt radial arm saw that will surely outlive me. My favorite acquisition by far, however, is a Stanley 1-horsepower router. My father bought it back in 1959, about 20 years before Stanley sold its power-tool line to Bosch.
This router was already more than 10 years old when I first used it, and although there are newer, more powerful routers in the shop, I instinctively reach for Lord Stanley when I have to shape an edge or mill a joint. It doesn't feature sophisticated electronics, and the collet can be rather stubborn at times, but I've grown accustomed to the way it feels in my hands and to the throaty hum of its thirty-something arbor. Admittedly, old Stanley doesn't perform any better than the newer routers, but it serves as a link to the past;It represents two generations of craftsmen and is a survivor of a once-proud tool line.
It wasn't until my woodworking hobby became a vocation, however, that I truly appreciated a router for what it is: the shop's most versatile power tool. As a cabinetmaker for a custom-design shop in Miami, I relied on the router for everything from cutting simple rabbets and dadoes to milling precise dovetail joints. For the building of plastic-laminate cabinets and counters, routers were used to trim and seam the laminate. I was able to replicate period moldings and fabricate custom paneling right at the job site with the help of a portable shop-built router table. To enhance the router further, I designed and built jigs and fixtures to perform specific tasks. These simple shop-made accessories not only expand the router's capabilities; they also make the tool safer and more accurate.
Now I m glad to see that routers are more popular now than ever before. Somehow, I'm not a bit surprised.
About the Author
This author writes about Wooden Furniture Plans and Woodworking Plans and Ideas.Visit the Woodworking4Home Review website and get 14000 woodworking plans.