Choosing a Router Base: Flat vs Round Side
George VondriskaThere are lots of aspects of woodworking that are intuitive. Some, not so much. This is an example of not so much.
Routers and Fences
One way to guide a router through a cut is to attach a fence to the router, allowing the fence to ride along the edge of your work. An alternative approach is to attach a fence to your work, allowing the base of the router to ride along the fence. This shop-made approach is handy, since it doesn’t require you to go out and buy any router accessories. But you’ve got to make sure you’re handling this the right way.
Flat or Round?
Router bases, universally, are mostly round. Many of them have one flat portion. When you’re clamping a fence, a straight edge, to your work so you can follow it with your router, your intuition will probably tell you to let the flat portion of the router base ride along the straight edge of the fence. It seems to make perfect sense. But in practice, this is a bad idea. The video shows you why. So, why are the flat sides to router bases? It’s a mystery to me.
An Incredibly Versatile Tool
There are SO many things you can do with a router. To name just a few: joinery, decorative edges, and inlay. The router is a versatile tool, but you also need to understand how to use a router to make sure you’re using it correctly and safely.
Shop-made Jigs Help, Too
A router fence is great. Clamping a straight edge to your project works, too. But sometimes you need a slightly more specialized jig, like when you’re cutting dados with a router.
Here is a router related tip for you that maybe is gonna be completely counterintuitive to what one might think. Here's the thing. And a lot of router basis, there's a flat side, as a round side. So, it's not uncommon to get into a scenario where we want to make a day-to Daddy-O. So, you put a fence on your work, and then we're gonna follow.
We're gonna trace that fence, with the base of the router, in order to cut the data. So, you might say to yourself I says, since the fence is a straight line, I wanna put the flat part of the router base, against the fence and follow it. That is actually not the best way to do this. Here's the problem we can run into. And I'm gonna show this to you in just a second.
Is that, as I'm coming along with that flat side, if this twist just a little bit and it changes the relationship between the flat base and the fence, if it twists, it's also leveraging the bit away from the fence. So as a result, as we come along, if that walks a little, we're gonna end up with a data that isn't straight looking kind of like I'm about to show you. That's a pretty ugly data. And, you know in all honesty, as I was doing this and I was intentionally racking it off the fence a little, but I don't think that that end came off more than a 16th of an inch or so. And look at the crazy change we got in the data.
So instead, what one should do, is, use the round side. The reason for that, is that, if that pivots just a little bit, it's conceivable that the router isn't perfectly centered in that round side of the base, but the change is gonna be so negligible. You're not gonna feel it or see it. So I'll do the same thing. I'm gonna intentionally roll off of my contact point and then we'll have a look at that data.
Now on that one, I think I was actually moving more than I was on the first one, but, net-net I bet we could put a board on that data. You're never gonna get a board on that data. So when you do this, go against your intuition. Keep the round side of the router, up against the fence. And your results are gonna way more better.
Paul, you totally nailed it (or routed it)! I don't know why they made the plunge base on my PC router like that. With the center of gravity so high, it's hard enough keeping the router flat and not tipping it even slightly. The larger the base diameter (and its contact with the work piece), the more stable the router will be.
Great tip! Who doesn't want 'way more better' results!
When would you use the straight side of the router base?
Yep. Someone had this very question- perhaps embedded in another thread. Thanks for verifying. I’ll add that on longer/bigger pieces where body mechanics/positioning is sometimes challenged the advantage of recommended approach become amplified.
I plead guilty!!!. I just never trusted to round side, I should have tested it.
A great tip, but do the manufacturers make the flat side for this purpose and just is not the best method??