Is wood crafting your hobby or you are a professional woodworker? If yes, you probably know that you need a large variety of tools to get the best, one of them being a wood router. This amazing tool is equipped to help you in completing all the woodcraft projects you undertake to express yourself in wood.
To know more about the applications of wood routers and their place in the world of woodcraft, read on.
What is a wood router?
A wood router refers to a tool that helps woodworkers cut, shape or trim all kinds of materials in wood. However, it’s important to note that there are several types of routers available apart from a wood router, for instance power routers.
Besides, there are those routers that are meant to cut, trim and shape plastic, metal and other materials. With woodcraft as your hobby, you will choose to use a wood router to give a piece of wood a particular shape so that it can be joined to another piece of wood which can be added on to another, pretty much like a jigsaw puzzle. By this means, you do away with using brackets or adhesives in joining two pieces of wood. So, to make a chest of drawers, you can use a tongue and groove joint.
What does a wood router comprise?
A wood router comprises a router unit, a cutting tool (bit) and a guide template.
Uses of wood routers:
Wood routers are used to make tables, chairs, shelves and staircases and for making any other kinds of wooden fixtures.
Types of wood routers:
Wood routers are of two kinds, and are widely used in the construction and carpentry industries:
- A large wood router placed on a table: Here, a large wooden hand plane and a slim blade peep out of the plane. It is helpful in making all kinds of patterns and wooden cuts for creating fixtures and furniture.
- A hand-held router or router plane: This device is smaller than its table-set counterpart and more versatile. It can be used to cut large slabs of wood to make furniture and fixtures, and trim the edges of finished furniture so that you can add an elegant trim design to lift your wooden creation. You can also use this device much like the table-mounted routers in joining two pieces of wood without the use of nails, brackets or adhesive.
- Spindle router: This type of router has a vertically set electric motor and a collet or holding device on its shaft. The user uses this device by holding tight to its handles.
The spindle has two sub-types:
- Plunge-base wood router
- Fixed-base wood router
It’s easy to find wood routers in most hardware stores. Initially, they may appear to be expensive, but if you consider its ease of use and extreme versatility, you’ll see that it’s really good value for money, particularly if you’re keen to take your hobby for woodcraft just a little further. Power wood routers are just right for professional woodworkers and are available everywhere.
Here’s a video on how to use a wood router:
