Wood Router

[johnny2007]

Oh, so you've never seen a kickback? Never seen anyone overload a cutter which is too narrow for the cut and have the router push back? Personally, I think that recommending a 1/2in router to a rank beginner (sorry @Sonic70) when there are safer options is just irresponsible. As @big-all said - it is easier to learn the basics on a smaller router. Then progress.

Tell me, just out of interest, how do you trim door bottoms, then?

No, sorry, never seen a kickback on a router.
Possibly because people who use a router know the basics?
Trimming door bottom: I use a circular saw or a planer for a little shaving.
Never found the need to use a router for such task.

 

[big-all]

general comments
as this is a diy forum where people off mixed abilities will read and digest [mostly only the bits that meet there needs ] will tend to gloss over the danger bits a bit -a lot -or fully ignore we at least need to emphasize with a slightly OTT emphasis to get the point across but not so ott its dismissed as paranoia
in other words get the attention to the dangers and educate in a helpful non-judgemental way no matter how frustrating it can be 'a couple off fingers saved can very fulfilling for the ones giving advice also the ones who dont have to live with the consequences

 

[Deleted member 174758]

No, sorry, never seen a kickback on a router.
Possibly because people who use a router know the basics?

So how do you learn the basics? "Back in the day" I was taught at work, because they were barely mentioned at college. I haven't ever seen the topic discussed in any depth in the user manuals which come with the tools. TBH I haven't seen many kickbacks, but when I have seen a kickback it was pretty much always down to climb cutting - often resulting from lack of training or inexperience or just plain inattention.

Trimming door bottom: I use a circular saw or a planer for a little shaving.
Never found the need to use a router for such task.

Precisely why I commented that a router isn't an appropriate tool for the job after the OP had originally stated he wanted one to trim doors

 

[Sonic70]

Thanks for all your help everyone. I tend to err on the side of caution with any tool and I must say after seeing how fast these things spin I now have a healthy respect for it. I'm now busy watching youtube vids for beginners on it.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The basis are actually very simple, @Sonic70:

On edge cuts the material is to the left of the citter, the cutter is to the right of the material, the fence (if used) is to thevright if the cutter, and rhe direction of work is pushing the tool away from your body and slightly to the left.

Cuts outside of a workpiece (e.g.such as a chopping board) are made anticlockwise

Cuts inside of a workpiece (e.g. such as the inside of a picture frame) are made clockwise

When edge routing always have less than 1/2 of the diameter of the cut in the material. So, for example, if you are working an edge rebate of 10mm width with a 12mm diameter cutter and a fence you need to set up to make two passes, each of which only takes a 5mm wide cut. If you take a 10mm wide cut in a single pass you would be taking a partial climb cut and you could provoke a stall.

At one time there was a series of router instruction videos made by a (British) chap called Roy Sutton. These were useful training aids

 

[Mr Chibs]

I've got two routers, learnt on the ¼" version (Blue Bosch GOF900) and have a ½" one for meatier jobs Makita RC.
Lots of jobs can be done with the ¼" size router. Edging cills, worktops, picture frames, I even made a sash window with mine.

Routed out for an undermount sink, in 40mm oak, this was a struggle full stop, but the ¼" Bosch wouldn't have coped.

 

[opps]

Routers dangerous???
How???
Unless you somehow you manage to take one of your hands off the handles and stick it underneath, how could such a tool be dangerous?
I've seen more people get injured with hand saws and chisels than routers.

If I slip with a handsaw, on the balance of probability, a plaster will suffice.

The same is not true of a 1/2 inch router.

The OP, in their first post mentioned that, it would be their first router purchase. I interpreted that as them not having previously used a router.

All tools, are potentially dangerous, some more so than others.

Over the years, some tools have had safety features built in- an example that springs to mind is track saws. If something goes pair shaped, hopefully, the blade will retract in to the housing, additionally, many have brake locks.

The same cannot be said of routers. Mine are fairly old, but after using them, you have to lift them and wait until they stop spinning.

If I use a plunge saw and hit a knot, the blade will slow down, the same is not true of a router. If I hit one, that knot may spin off at great speed or the router will be kicked away from the surface.

Of all of my powertools, my 1/2" router is the one that I am most "aware" of. It is the one that devote the most attention to whilst working. Granted, I should be aware of all tools. I guess part of my apprehension is a result of it being one of the few tools that surges to the right when you turn it on.

 

[johnny2007]

If I slip with a handsaw, on the balance of probability, a plaster will suffice.

The same is not true of a 1/2 inch router.

The OP, in their first post mentioned that, it would be their first router purchase. I interpreted that as them not having previously used a router.

All tools, are potentially dangerous, some more so than others.

Over the years, some tools have had safety features built in- an example that springs to mind is track saws. If something goes pair shaped, hopefully, the blade will retract in to the housing, additionally, many have brake locks.

The same cannot be said of routers. Mine are fairly old, but after using them, you have to lift them and wait until they stop spinning.

If I use a plunge saw and hit a knot, the blade will slow down, the same is not true of a router. If I hit one, that knot may spin off at great speed or the router will be kicked away from the surface.

Of all of my powertools, my 1/2" router is the one that I am most "aware" of. It is the one that devote the most attention to whilst working. Granted, I should be aware of all tools. I guess part of my apprehension is a result of it being one of the few tools that surges to the right when you turn it on.

Sorry, I disagree.
I think that if using simple common sense rules, routers are very safe.
The fact you hold them with 2 hands it's already a safety feature in itself.
Then if you're spinning the router midair, plunging, cutting inch deep and pushing at the speed of light, you shouldn't be handling even a toothbrush.
Again, common sense makes routers very safe and I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

[big-all]

Sorry, I disagree.
I think that if using simple common sense rules, routers are very safe.
The fact you hold them with 2 hands it's already a safety feature in itself.
Then if you're spinning the router midair, plunging, cutting inch deep and pushing at the speed of light, you shouldn't be handling even a toothbrush.
Again, common sense makes routers very safe and I'm sure you know what I mean.

i agree common sense rules 10 out off 10-------the problem comes when you lack common sense and by that i mean dont fully understand the equipment or dangers connected to it

 

[big-all]

just to further add common sense is different the world over /from country to country/area to area the word "common" in this instance means sharing common experiences and learning the" common" lessons its when you dont learn the "common lessons" you then dont have common sense but only on shared experiences in this instance routing is not a common experience for most

 

[Diver Fred]

May I suggest that you look at this Katsu Router. It has a good reputation on this forum. Importantly it comes with a plunge base as well as a Trimmer (single handed) base. It is not powerful enough to do heavy jobs but is good tool to get you into using a router safely.

As for bits - please do not be tempted to buy a set with many bits in instead a set with 10, 12 or less good quality (TCT) bits is a better buy - e.g. Trend from Toolstation. Out of all the bits I have I primarily use 4 common bits and 2 specialist bits.

 

[big-all]

J&K is the man for katsu/makita compatibility
in general i take a different approach get a cheap multiset off cutters try them out and disguard 9/out off 10 and buy trend or other [axminster /charnwood/ rutlands ]£15-50 a cutter the actual cutters you use most but at least you can play with the cheap ones then replace

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Thanks B-A. The Makita RT0700/Katsu are cracking little routers with about the same amount of power as the first pale blue Elu MOF96 I bought in the 1970s (600 watts). They are powerful enough to undertake many smaller tasks and are cheap as chips, especially if you buy directly from the importer, AIM Tools in London. The fixed base router is currently about £39 , and the plunge base adds £26 to that for a total of £65. This is well within the OPs budget. Whilst a small router like that won't make heavy cuts, such as a lock mortise, it will do a lot of useful work like edge profiling, cutting ironmongery recesses, trimming lippings, etc. I no longer use the corded versions for work, having moved onto cordless about 4 years ago, but I am still using the same type of router - here is a Makita DRT50 cordless trim router motor mounted in a Katsu plunge base with a home-made lipping sub-base fitted:

Sorry, I disagree.
I think that if using simple common sense rules, routers are very safe.
The fact you hold them with 2 hands it's already a safety feature in itself.
Then if you're spinning the router midair, plunging, cutting inch deep and pushing at the speed of light, you shouldn't be handling even a toothbrush.
Again, common sense makes routers very safe and I'm sure you know what I mean.

Unfortunately, sense isn't that common, so instruction is often needed to instill the basics (be that reading a book or whatever). The things you mention, such as spinning the router in mid air, over plunging, plus inserting the cutter so far into the collet that it isn't gripped properly, not pushing the cutter far enough into the collet so that it comes loose, bends and wrecks the router sub base, wrong side cutting, etc are all things I've seen so-called experienced people do over the years - often combined with the "I've always done it this way, and never (yet) had an accident"... So I'd trust training over common sense any day

 

[johnny2007]

Thanks B-A. The Makita RT0700/Katsu are cracking little routers with about the same amount of power as the first pale blue Elu MOF96 I bought in the 1970s (600 watts). They are powerful enough to undertake many smaller tasks and are cheap as chips, especially if you buy directly from the importer, AIM Tools in London. The fixed base router is currently about £39 , and the plunge base adds £26 to that for a total of £65. This is well within the OPs budget. Whilst a small router like that won't make heavy cuts, such as a lock mortise, it will do a lot of useful work like edge profiling, cutting ironmongery recesses, trimming lippings, etc. I no longer use the corded versions for work, having moved onto cordless about 4 years ago, but I am still using the same type of router - here is a Makita DRT50 cordless trim router motor mounted in a Katsu plunge base with a home-made lipping sub-base fitted:View attachment 293469


Unfortunately, sense isn't that common, so instruction is often needed to instill the basics (be that reading a book or whatever). The things you mention, such as spinning the router in mid air, over plunging, plus inserting the cutter so far into the collet that it isn't gripped properly, not pushing the cutter far enough into the collet so that it comes loose, bends and wrecks the router sub base, wrong side cutting, etc are all things I've seen so-called experienced people do over the years - often combined with the "I've always done it this way, and never (yet) had an accident"... So I'd trust training over common sense any day

Come on man, what sort of people do you work with???
Anyone who doesn't know how to fit a blade/cutter/bit in any tool, shouldn't be using that tool.
I admit it: once I was given a mitre saw from a "carpenter" who said the blade bolt was stuck and in trying to remove it to change the blade he had rounded it up.
It took me 10 seconds to release that bolt with grippers turning CLOCKWISE
I never told him, changed blade and bolt and sold the saw...

 

[opps]

Sorry, I disagree.
I think that if using simple common sense rules, routers are very safe.
The fact you hold them with 2 hands it's already a safety feature in itself.
Then if you're spinning the router midair, plunging, cutting inch deep and pushing at the speed of light, you shouldn't be handling even a toothbrush.
Again, common sense makes routers very safe and I'm sure you know what I mean.

Granted, common sense is king, but can you honestly say that when using a router on a long surface, you have never over reached or stretched too far? I know I have. In the event of something going pair shaped, it will be less forgiving than many other tools.

I also have to admit that the first time I used one for fluting, I went too slowly (thinking that slow and steady is better and safer than rushing) and burned the timber.

My circular saw has LEDs to tell me if I am pushing it too fast/hard, my router doesn't. That said, I doesn't tell me if I am going too slow.

At a guess, I have only done a total of about 200ish hours with a 1/2" router throughout my life. In no way do I consider myself to any more than a router novice but recently I had to ask for advice regarding using a collet extension. The advice from the likes of @JobAndKnock was that they are not suitable for use other than in a router table. The respectable retailers sell them as being suitable for inverted plunge routers in tables, but they don't explicitly say that they should not be used with freehand routing.

I accept that perhaps I am being overly cautious with regards to routers but they strike me as being one of the least suitable for a DIYer that has not taken the time to read up on their usage (no offence intended to the OP).

I respect your opinion, so I guess that we will have to agree to disagree.

Regards.