Narrow work
surface for versatile
clamping.
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Alan Holtham shows you
how to make a custom made
workbench for routing.
P
rolonged routing sessions have been
taking a serious toll on my ageing back.
The problem is that a conventional
woodworking bench is at the wrong height for
most routing work, as you usually need to get
down lower to check the action at the cutting
edge. This obviously necessitates a lot of bending
with the router extended at arms length, not the
ideal situation from an ergonomic point of view.
There is also the difficulty of holding the work
Router bench
shown in use. Note
the improved
stance and visibility
at this high level.
The top is joined up from two pieces to
increase the stability. Even if you have
a single piece that is wide enough, it is
worth splitting it down into two or three
pieces and re-jointing it to minimize the
risk of it warping later on.
To join the pieces a simple butt joint will
suffice, but reinforce it with four or five
biscuits using a bearing guided biscuit
cutter.
Provided you work from the face-side on
each board you do not have to be too
fussy about positioning the cutter dead on
centre.
I also find it helpful to elongate the slot
slightly to give a bit of play at the assembly
stage.
Glue up the top using the sash cramps to
hold the boards together rather than to
close up any gaps. Excessive pressure also
runs the risk of distorting the top, so take
your time in the first place to produce
decent fitting joints.
Set the top aside to dry and start work
jointing the uprights into the feet.
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securely on a conventional bench, which often has a
deep fronted apron and is also very wide, making it
difficult to get clamps to hold in the right place. So
you always seem to end up clamping and re-clamping
the work several times just to make a single cut.
I resolved to make a dedicated routing bench,
incorporating a range of features deigned specifically
for use with the router. For a start it needed to be
very much taller so that I could always be working
at elbow height. Secondly, it needed to be long and
narrow with plenty of overhang on the top to allow
easy clamping anywhere along the surface. This was
further enhanced by the addition of a tail vice and
rows of holes that would take standard straight or
adjustable dogs, or even a hold down.
Any timber will do for the construction, but a dense
hardwood will obviously be sturdier than softwood,
so I settled on using up some Iroko boards left over
from a garden bench making project. You don’t need
a lot of material and I made the majority of it out of
one inch thick board, with just a small amount of two
inch for the feet.
C:MI
HI:E
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continue this Routing
Bench project and
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ore
These are mortised and tenoned together
for maximum strength, the mortise being
marked out to be slightly less than the
width of the tenon. It is cut out using a
long reach 1/2 inch diameter two flute bit.
For an accurately centred mortise use
the side-fence to guide the cutter, and
then turn the work round running the
side-fence down the opposite side.
Alternatively you can use the new Trend
Self Centering Mortise Base. See page 21.
With the mortise cut you can now size the
Tenon to suit, a much better option than
doing it the other way round. There are
numerous ways of cutting tenons, but for
large wide ones like this I use the router,
again guided by the side-fence.
www.trend-uk.com/bench
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