SAFETY

Router Woodworking

You all know about safety and I'm sure you've been bored silly with topics like long sleeves, long hair, long extension cords, and working long hours. Well so have I and I'd like to offer a different take.

Routing, like any distinct woodworking process, has certain problems and risks that are peculiar to it. Router table risks are somewhat different than those of the hand router and you should know about both. Climb cutting, for example, can be a relatively low risk practice with the hand router but catastrophic on the router table.

I've spent a lot of time with the router and I've encountered (I hope) most of the hazards apt to happen with them. Strangely, very few of the dangers I'll refer to have been written about and they're not in any of the owners manuals I've read either. They are in my book however. Allow me to list a few.

• Slow Speed Routing. Variable speed tools (EVS) are essential from time to time, especially with suspicious tools (prototype, very large, or long cutters). Slow speed routing is indeed safe but since you are doing more of the work you'll need to push harder and your fences, clamps, and lock-ups will have to be more secure than usual. Kickback is more likely at slow RPM's as well.
• Lock up (clamping). While hand routing at least 2-clamps should be on the work and on the template if one is used. Usually a template is clamped right on the work but sometimes a second clamp on it makes it impossible to rout the work. An extension of the template can often be made for a more remote clamp so the routers' path is clear to attack the work. (See pg. 57 of "Getting The Very Best From Your Router".)
• Depth of cut (waste). Wasting too much wood can wreck your router, tool bit, and make a mess out of your work. You could break the cutter or start a fire under severe circumstances. A reasonable depth of cut threshold is 3/8" x 3/8" in a single pass with a new tool and 1.5 H.P. wasting is not additive. A 1/2" x 1/2" rabbet for example is not 4 times bigger than an 1/8" x 1/8" rabbet, it's 16 times! So if you're having fun making rabbets 3/16" x 3/16" expect surprises if you jump to routing 3/8" x 3/8". Take small steps up, not giant leaps.
• Full thickness router table cuts. Any cutter (without a bearing) longer than the workpiece is thick can obviously waste the full thickness of the work. If you do set the cutter height to achieve such a cut without an adjustable outfeed fence you'll lose the part, kick it back or at the very least, ruin it. Full thickness cuts not only expose a lot of cutter, require a ton of power, but, put you at risk. Instead, do your best to leave 1/16" - 3/32"; of material untouched by the cutter to slide and guide along your fence. You could use a template too. Fasten it to the work so most of its edge is uncut or see pg. 137 of "Getting The Very Best From Your Router".