(routers buzzing)
- Now look, any power tool that screams like a banshee,
spits out copious amounts of sawdust,
I prefer to call it, "man glitter."
And has a razor sharp blade that spins
at a terrifying 10 to 24,000 revs per minute,
which can be a little scary for the novice,
beginner woodworker or handyman and for a very good reason.
Because if not used correctly,
they could inflict a nasty injury
which is the last thing that we want.
(router whirring)
(Uncle Nick munching)
Good day folks.
Uncle Nick is here
and in today's Confidence Building Beginner's tutorial,
we'll be looking at one of the handiest tools
in the workshop, the handheld router.
Now, before we get too excited and start using the router,
I think a quick router anatomy lesson might be in order.
As you can see, we have two types of router.
Now this little fella is an absolute ripper.
I love it and I think it's the perfect choice
for the beginner or even the more experienced wood worker.
It's a lightweight, battery operated, laminate trimmer.
Now, as the name suggests,
this machine is designed for trimming laminates
like cleaning up the laminate edge on a kitchen counter top.
But it can also be used for smaller general routing work,
and it's a smaller, lighter version of the router, (grunts)
which is this beast here that does everything
that a laminate trimmer does, but has a larger,
more powerful motor capable of taking a larger shank bit
for bigger jobs that might require a bit more grunt.
Now, basically the router is a pretty simple tool.
Now, if I turn the machine over,
this is the base plate that sits nice
and flat on the piece of wood that you're working on.
And this, this is the business end.
This is where you'll find the cutter
or the router bit that spins extremely quickly
to cut the wood.
So to avoid a nasty accident,
make sure you keep your fingers well clear of that
at all times.
Remember the carrot?
And just be aware that whenever you're on a process
of changing a cutter or router bit,
to avoid a potential accident,
make sure the machine is not plugged in.
And if the router runs on batteries,
that the battery is removed.
Speaking about power cords,
is it just me or does everybody else
has somebody sneaking into their workshop late at night
and bending all the blades on their power cords?
Let me know down below.
Right on, moving right along,
if I take the baseplate off
which on my machine is as simple as doing that,
(object rasping)
love it?
We have the collet, which is a steel sleeve that holds
a router bit in the router.
Now, more on this later, as it's a very important part
and there's a couple of essential things
that you need to know about it.
Now, all routers, whether they're big or small,
have a feature called a depth gauge
which is this thing here
which allows you to alter the depth of your cut.
(bright upbeat music)
(router whirring)
Now like all machines,
You don't need to be a rocket scientist
to know that we have a start and a stop button.
But, there's one very important safety issue
you need to be aware of
before you turn one of these machines on.
Now, the stop-start mechanism on my laminate trimmer
is particularly good because it's a two-step process.
First of all, we need to unlock the machine
by pressing that button there
which will then activate the power button.
And that means that you can't accidentally start the machine
which is a really scary thing to do.
I can push that power button, that one there,
all day long till the cows come home
and nothing is going to happen.
Speaking about cows, did you hear the one
about the two cows grazing away in the paddock?
One cow turns to the other and he says,
"Have you heard about
this mad cow disease thing going around?
It's pretty scary stuff."
The other care nods his head, chews his cud thoughtfully
and he says, "Yeah, I heard somebody the other day talking
about mad cows disease.
It's pretty concerning, isn't it?
Good thing it doesn't affect us ducks."
(gentle music)
But once the machine is unlocked
by pressing that unlocking button,
the light comes on down below
and then all you need to do is to press
the start button, this one here, and you're good to go.
(router whirring)
Now, on the other hand,
if you have an older router like I have here,
most likely it'll come
with a stock standard, off-on switch.
And if that's the case, before you plug the machine in,
do a double check and make sure the switch is turned off
to avoid it starting while you're not fully in control.
(ambient music)
(router whirring)
Now, trust me, you don't want that to happen
but just in case it accidentally does,
put it this way, you might need a change of underwear.
(bright upbeat music)
Okay, having covered the basic anatomy of the router,
let's now have a look at one of the most common questions,
which is how to change a router bit?
Now with the smaller laminate trimmer,
the first thing we need to do for safety reasons
is remove that battery, like that,
we don't want any unnecessary accidents.
And then remove the base plate
for easier access to the locking nut and the collet.
Now, to insert or change your router bit,
you need to lock that shaft in place
and stop it from spinning.
And to help you do that,
all machines will come with a couple of spanners.
One will lock onto the shaft and hold it in place,
whilst the other one, by turning it anti-clockwise,
will loosen the nut, and by turning it clockwise,
it'll tighten the nut.
Now a really cool feature that some
of these smaller laminate trimmers have,
is that they have the ability to be able to lock that shaft
by simply engaging a lever on the side over here.
So if you watch this, when I press this button,
a lever comes out and hits up against the shaft.
So all you need to do is to line that hole up
with our lever, engage it.
That'll lock the shaft in place,
and then as simply with your wrench or spanner,
loosen or tighten that nut, and you're good to go.
And that will do away with the need for having two spanners.
How cool is that?
Now, to instal a router bit, it's really easy.
Just make sure that the locking nut is nice and loose,
like it is there and then insert
the router bit all the way in just like that,
and then bring it back about one eighth of an inch.
This allows the collet,
which is this cone shaped steel sleeve here
that has splits in it, to fully tighten around the bit.
And then as I showed you earlier,
lock off that shaft and then tighten
that locking nut with your hands and finish it off
with your wrench or spanner in a clockwise direction,
and you're done.
It's as simple as that.
And to remove the bit, do the same thing,
lock off that shaft and then loosen that nut
in an anti-clockwise direction, just like that,
remove the bit and Bob's your uncle.
Too easy.
Since we're talking about router bits and collets,
there's a couple of important things you need
to know before going out
and buying your brand spanking new router bit.
Now, as you can see here,
router bits come into different sizes.
Being quarter inch and half inch.
And that relates to the size of the diameter
of the shaft on the bit.
This one here is a quarter inch bit
and the larger one is a half inch bit.
Now, as we discussed earlier,
the router bit fits inside the collet just like that.
But you need to be aware
that different size routers have different size collets.
Now the smaller laminate type trimmers
have a quarter inch collet,
so they take a quarter inch bit.
While the larger, more powerful machines
have a half inch collet, so they take a half bit.
But they can also accept a quarter-inch bit
by inserting a quarter inch collet,
which just slides in like that,
followed by the quarter inch bit
which makes the machine a little more versatile.
When it finally comes time to actually use the router,
it's important to know which direction to operate it.
Do you push it or do you drag it?
Well, basically we have two options.
With the first one being the push cut
which is perfect for the beginner
as you have more control over your router.
Now just imagine the cutter spinning
in a clockwise rotation,
we want to move the router against that
so we push it in that direction.
Now the second one is the climb cut
and this is for the more experienced wood worker.
And once again, imagine the cutter spinning
in a clockwise rotation,
we want to move the router with that rotation.
Now, with this method you have less control over your router
but you can potentially end up with a smoother finish.
Now, because this is a beginner's tutorial,
we'll be using the push cut method
and if you follow this simple principle,
you'll be cutting like a pro in no time.
Remember this when using the push cut method
and you'll be as good as gold.
Whenever you're cutting an outside perimeter
like the outside edge of a picture frame,
move the router in an anti-clockwise direction.
And then when you move to the inside,
move the router in a clockwise direction.
Now, if you do that, you'll have more control
over your router and you'll end up with a better finish.
Now I can hear you all say, well, that's great information,
but how do you actually start a cut?
Good question.
But one very important safety tip first.
Hearing and eye protection is a must
when using these machines,
so play at your own peril if you ignore that warning.
Just sayin'.
So when making your cut,
what you want to do is to have the router bit
or the cutter clear of the wood.
And then start the router,
wait till it hits top speed
and then slowly enter into the cut
and then move at a steady, consistent pace.
Don't race or you'll lose control of the router
and don't go too slow as it will tend
to leave a burn mark on the wood
especially if you use cheaper bits which I tend to do.
(bright upbeat music)
(router buzzing)
And remember when you finish the cut,
wait till the bit stops spinning completely
before you lay it back on the bench.
Now, just very quickly,
I have to mention how good this non-slip matting is
for doing routing work, as it stops your project
from moving around during the routing process.
Great tip knackers.
Now, if you want to see more videos like that one,
make sure you check out
more Power Tools for Beginners playlist
which should be popping up over there anytime soon.
Hope to see you there shortly.
Alrighty. After all that, I'm off for a cup of tea.
So until next time, be good, be safe,
and I'm out of here.
Cheers.