hey Jonathan here at the Colfax high woodshop today I'm going to talk about
handheld routers the difference between a plunge router and a regular router
I'll have a battery operated router safe procedures so we're going to learn all
about handheld routers before we go over the router table and the CNC router so
stay tuned for video on hand-held routers
talk about handheld routers today it's a really cool tool a lot of applications
and all the CNC equipment in the shop is really just a handheld router mounted on
a gantry so this is primarily two different types of routers this is a standard
router here this is a fixed base router
and the reason why it's called a fixed base is that you set the cutter height
right here how deep it comes through the base and you set it it as fixed and it
doesn't move at all so this is a fixed router a fixed base router Porter cables
one of the larger router manufacturers a really high quality and then this right
here it's called a plunge router and it is not a fixed base and the reason why
you use a plunge router is so that you can put it on top of a board and then
you could loosen this up and then plunge down into the wood so this is a plunge
router that's a fixed base router they're almost always corded and then
it's a really high speed motor the motors probably spinning at 20,000 rpms
and usually there's some sort of variable speed on the motor or a speed
setting on the motor so besides them being courted they do they just started
making battery-operated routers as well so this is kind of like a little mini
router and you can see the speed settings on the side right here and then
as far as router bits go I mean there's an unbelievable assortment of cutters
you could use or bits I have two different blocks right here these are
all for a quarter inch collet so they have a quarter inch diameter and these
are all non bearing bits so you have to either freehand it or use the feds or
some sort of guide to move the router with these kinds of bits and just I'll
go over some of these this is a quarter inch - flute flat end mill this is a
half inch - flute flat end mill this is a little quarter-inch ball end
mil cloud end mill these are t cutters right here so you can cut like they call
it a keyhole slot so you plunge into the wood and run and you could hang a screw
on that or use it as a track this is the dovetail flat end mill this is a V
cutter so these V cutters come to a sharp point and the number of cutters on
there the number of actual blades on there are the number of leaves so you
can see here this is a two flute bit and that's a four flute bit so these are
everyone on this block is a quarter inch diameter shaft and these are all non
bearing router bits lexy okay versus this right here these
are also quarter-inch router bits but these are bearing so this bearing on top
the material runs on that bearing so this is a flush trim router bit so that
pulls yet flushed either a template that you have more like when we use the CNC
and we clean up that little lip we used in that flush trim bit again this is two
flute these are decorative bits this is like a Roman ogee bit this Cove cutter
this is a t slot cutter with the bearing so I mean there's whatever design you
want you can find the bit for it so these are all bearing cutters these are
all non bearing cutters and all of them going to a quarter inch call it this
right here is your collet this is what is actually in the router and you
tighten this up you always use wrenches to tighten it never pliers and then it's
a compression fitting so you squeeze these things tighter and that's what
holds a cutter or the router bit in place okay so these are all a
quarter-inch and then right here this is a really nice set a half inch router
bits they're mostly dovetails and straight bits these are all brand
new but you can see how much thicker these shafts are syste - shaft use the
same router just a different collet and the advantage of a really thick shaft
like this is you get a lot less deflection in movement so you get a lot
more accurate cuts these are all these things are just coated right now with
the sealant as soon as you run on it this will come off these are all
dovetails these are five different dovetails and then
Ananse dovetail to you and then these are all flattened Mills and again that's
a - flute bit so like an average price quarter-inch router bit with the
bearings may be twenty thirty dollars but they go up to hundreds if not
thousands of dollars okay so out in the saw really all we have are these
handheld routers and then the the tabletop routers is just a handheld
router like this mounted underneath the table with the cutter coming up through
the tabletop and that way you hold a router or stable the routers held stable
in the table and you move your wood or the other way you could do it is you
could fix your board you can fix your board and move your router on the table
so in a router table the routers mounted up under the table the router is fixed
you're moving your material but the way you usually use a handheld router is a
the material is really well fastened down and then you're moving the router
they really have an unbelievable amount of torque so you really have to have a
good handhold on them you need corded routers you really want
to hold both hands on here really conscientious where you're running and
have a good hold don't let it get away from you this little battery operated
router here this is a quarter-inch T flute spiral bit flat I know my depth of
cut I'll loosen this up and then I bring that router bit just through the base
they said was just showing a little bit there's a little safety lock on this
battery operated one so you unlock it and then you turn it on here
so with that quarter inch flat end mill you can see it'll it'll pretty much cut
anything how fast is traveling on the board it's called the feed rate how fast
you travel down into the board is called the plunge rate there are two different
ways to cut with this well I guess there's a million different ways but
there are two primary ways one is called a climb cut and the other is a
conventional cut so a conventional cut is a cutter spinning this way and you're
feeding into the cutter the climb cuts the opposite you're feeding at the same
rate that is spinning so it wants to climb up the board any questions at all
on router so far so really kind of the first step in all of these things
there's a handheld router and using it on a fixed board like this on a
construction site you might have a handrail on a deck you put a round over
bit on it and run it and clean it up there's really an infinite number of
things you can do with the router from cutting to detailing to dovetails to
joinery to different joints then once you're really good with a handheld
router then you go to a tabletop router where the router is mounted under the
table and then kind of the third thing Russell is that there's a CNC router and
it's still only like a 200-dollar router held on a in a gantry and then the CNC
moves it around for you but all of the ideas of Rao during are the same whether
using a CNC a tabletop or using it as a handheld router with your wood texture
here's a short safety sheet here make sure you check with me before you use a
router make sure your stock is always firmly attached make adjustments when
the electric cord is disconnected don't touch any of those cutters unless you
have a double lockout so on these of course disconnected the battery one the
battery's pulled out before you reach in and change the cutter
tighten all bits and cutters with the proper wrenches ask me for help with
setup be sure the switch is in the off
position and it's unplugged when you're finished with it pull that thing firmly
as you turn it up and engage the wood it's going to want to run so you need to
have a really good firm hold on it keep your fingers far from those cutters
and then when you're done unplugging it clean it up and put it away
usually I recessed the cutter back up into the base plate so that you could
put it down this way if not you could put it down sideways but you're not you
don't want to rest it on the cutter and again this is a collet use a wrench to
loosen it right if I'm going to stick my hands in there to loosen the collet I'm
gonna pull the battery out we're gonna plug it and then on this collet this one
has a shaft lock so you can see right here you push this button in and that
way you only need one wrench to loosen this up you can't finger tighten this
you actually have to use a wrench make sure you have enough torque on it a big
idea on router ngey idea on cutting any wood materials is heat dissipation and
the way you remove heat from your project when you're cutting is you
transfer that heat to the chip and then that chip takes the heat away so if you
if you actually go way too slow and you're not removing enough dust then
you're gonna get too hot you're gonna burn your wood and burn your bit you can
see on this bit why it's so doll is possess been burned okay so really go
slow make sure you have your safety glasses on that's just a quick overview
on routers any questions at all okay