Changes

===General Procedure===

===General Procedure===

The material you are cutting needs to be free from nails or foreign objects.

Long and narrow stock is easily machined on a router table. Featherboards make it even easier; they hold the stock tight against the surface of the fence and table and let you can concentrate on a steady, even feed rate. In general, a router table will help you work with stock of dimensions that don't lend themselves to handheld router work. Long, narrow stock, such as that used to make moldings and trim are nearly impossible to work with a handheld router. Edge profiling a few hundred feet of a particular door or base molding could probably be done with handheld router and the aid of special shop-built rigging, but dong so would be an extremely inefficient choice, when a router table makes long runs of narrow stock routine. Small pieces of stock are also a challenge to work with a handheld router. Handheld work on small parts often involves a difficult balancing act. You have to keep the router perfectly upright on stock that doesn't do a good job of supporting the router base. To compound the problem, you have to have a way of holding the stock itself in place while you work. A router table leaves both of your hands free to hold on to small parts while the table surface provides a sturdy, flat support for the entire surface of the workpiece.

 

 

If you are shaping end grain with a router table, use a square push block behind your workpiece to support the trailing edge and prevent tearout.

If you are shaping end grain with a router table, use a square push block behind your workpiece to support the trailing edge and prevent tearout.