The router is one of the most versatile tools in the wood workers tool cabinet. It can be used for cutting, planing, shaping and making patterns in wood. A hand held router is also one of the most dangerous bits of equipment in the wood workers tool cabinet. If used incorrectly it can strip flesh from bone in microseconds. Most routers spin at approximately 12 - 16000 revolutions per minute. That is fast. You can immediately tell when a router is being used by the whine of the motor. No other piece of equipment has the same pitch.

Mounted in a Router Bench your router is more stable

Your Router mounted in a router bench becomes a stable piece of equipment. Rather than having to manipulate the router, the workpiece can be moved closer or further from the cutter as needed. A flaw in the timber no longer causes the router to jump and destroy the stock. The stock is a lot easier to handle because it is not moving. If the router kicks the wood worker will have better control.

With the right accessories and jigs far more can be done with a router bench mounted router

Other than the safety aspects a mounted router can be used with bigger router cutting bits, Style and rail cutting is easy with the right router bench accessories and router cutting bits. Jobs that cannot be done with a hand held router that were the preserve of work shops with spindle moulders can now be done with a router.

Five jobs that a router bench will allow you to do

1. Raised Panel doors. It is impossible to cut style and rails with a hand held router. It is theoretically possible to cut raised panels but because you need to cut them in two or more passes of the timber a hand held router will make this a much more difficult process. In a production run of doors you take your panels and run them through the router at the first setting

before resetting the router and completing the job. Hand held you would need to clamp down the piece, clamp on the edge guide, shape the one side, then move the redo for the second side. With a bench you can do 20 panels in the time you would do two without it.

2. Jointing or laminating wood. Assuming you have the correct fence you could adjust the fence and set up the router as a jointing plane. Even if you dont have a split fence, take a piece of 1/8 masonite attach it to one side of your fence and you have an offset fence to use as a plane. After doing that use an F Joint router cutting bit and cut your joints on the lengths of the planks. Ensure that you setup the router exactly correctly and you can join the planks without the need to plane them.

3. Perfect edges on your work pieces. A router cuts without ripping or splintering on most timber. There are exception to this rule like 25 year old oregon pine planks. In effect you would be planing your edges to a flat smooth finish. A light sanding and the piece will be ready for varnishing.

4. Quick setup for small production runs. Imagine you are making a small production run of doors for a bedroom or bathroom. You are planning to use MDF and paint to finish. You want a decorative cove about 2 inches from the edge. Setup your router bench fence, grab the panels and cut. No need to check every time you do another door that your jig is in the correct position.

5. Picture frame mouldings. Picture framing come at outrageous cost. I had a picture framed recently and I worked the material cost to about 5% of the quote for the frame. With your router bench and three cutters you can create your own frames. A little glass, a little masonite and a few mitre cuts and the picture is framed not with plastic coated mdf but with a little piece of Oak or Maple.

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