Class Red Equipment
High risk of injury
See Workshop Safety
Training is required to use this tool
"Assume that all power tools are trying to kill you, and all hand tools are blood-seeking opportunists" Mike T. 2023
This machine uses a powerful motor to spin an exposed cutter. Router tables are capable of causing life-changing injuries which occur in a fraction of a second. You are responsible for ensuring your own safety; do not operate this machine if you do not feel capable of doing so safely. Trainers will always be happy to assist you if you need it, and would much rather be involved before problems occur, than after.
- Only those who have been trained by the room lead, and have signed a usage agreement, are permitted to operate the machine.
- Keep your hands well away from the cutter.
- Remove or tuck-in any loose items of clothing, so that they do not catch the cutter.
- Always wear safety glasses and hearing protection while operating the machine.
- Never cut anything without using the ripping fence or the crosscut table. This is a major kickback risk.
- Always be vigilant about your balance and the position of your limbs while the cutter is spinning.
- Always use the dust-extractor when using this machine.
- This machine is intended for cutting wood and soft plastics only.
- Motor:
- 2000w (2.5hp)
- No-load cutter speed: 8,000 - 20,000 RPM
- Cutters:
- Max cutter diameter: ?mm
- 1/2" collet
- 6mm, 8mm and 1/4" collet adaptors available
- Capacity:
- Main table size: 784mm x 560mm
- The cutter will continue spinning for a significant amount of time after the machine has been switched off.
- As a rough guide, cuts should be limited to a depth of no more than the diameter of the cutter, for best tool life.
- When routing using a bearing guide, the cutter can catch the workpiece, throwing it away and pulling your hands into the cutter. Always keep a secure grip of the workpiece, as far from the cutter as is practical.
Before any cut, run through the movement of pushing the material over the saw with the cutter fully retracted. This will alert you to any difficult movements, or lack of space for the material.
Straight cuts can be made on a router table by using the fence, or the sliding carriage. These can be used to create edge profiles, or channels in the surface of a board.
- Set the fence at the desired position, taking the diameter of the cutter into account.
- Gently push the board through the cutter. This router is very powerful, so it will have no trouble cutting through most timber species.
- When the board is between you and the cutter, always push the board from right to left, across the cutter. This will prevent the cutter from catching the workpiece and pulling it into the cut.
- As a general rule, the cutter should be moving clockwise around the outside of a piece, and anti-clockwise around the inside of a piece.
- Use a push-stick to push the last part of the board through the cut, or reach over to the other side of the cutter to pull the board through.
Many router cutters have a bearing attached above or below the cutting edges. These can be used to create a profile on the edge of a board, or to trace a shape onto a board using a template. These cuts are more dangerous than straight cuts because changing the position of the board as is passes through the cutter cause the cutter to catch the material and throw it away, pulling your hand in towards the cutter.
- Push the fence back from the cutter.
- Enter the cut as gently as possible, preferable at a position away from a sharp corner. Corners are very likely to cause the cutter to catch the workpiece and pull it out of your hands.
- As a general rule, the cutter should be moving clockwise around the outside of a piece, and anti-clockwise around the inside of a piece.
- Keep a firm grip of the workpiece, but keep your hands as far from the cutter as is practical.
- For small pieces, consider temporarily sticking them to a larger board, so that you can keep a goo grip far enough away from the cutter.