How to Router a Woodworking Project

Many projects built out of wood require corners to be rounded, the edges of holes to be finished and the leveling of surfaces. A router accomplishes most of these tasks. A router is a motor driven spindle that will accept various cutting bits. The variety of cutting bits available range from straight cutters to sculpted baseboard and trim cutters.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Choose the router bit to perform the job you want. There are many types of router bits available. Some bit designs cut a decorative design in pieces of wood molding used as stripping on the ceiling or as baseboard. There are also bits that will serve as cutoff bits used for squaring a joint of two pieces of wood. Still others carve letters in wooden signs.

2. Set the depth of the bit against the piece of wood. You don't want to let the bit dig too deeply into the wood unless you are trying to cut a hole in the center of a piece of wood. For cutoff or squaring work, make sure the bit is set deep enough to cover the area that you are squaring.

3. Clamp the piece of word firmly for free hand work. You will also want to set up guides that will keep you in the area that you need to work and not let the router drift into other areas of the work piece. For routing molding used as decoration in the house, mount the router to a router table and run the stripping along a guide to form uniform molding.