Which router please?

[Steve]

Hi Folks New to the group and wondered if anyone could offer advice regarding which type(?) of router I need. I will shortly be fixing some solid oak worktops with a Belfast sink and I need to make some draining grooves in the worktops for either side of the sink. I gather a router is the tool I need but will any type do as I think I will need to `plunge` it into the worktop for a gradual fall towards the sink?. Never used a router before so any guidance gratefully received. Cheers Steve

[EricP]

What you are seeking to do would require a fair amount of skill and familiarity with the tool. Something that you may not have.

Considering the quality of the work you propose, perhaps a professional might be a sensible thing? The regulars here will recommend fairly expensive tools anyway, where a Lidl/Aldi/Netto £25 package would be quite satisfactory for the work proposed.

I have these tools and having and using are different worlds,believe me! :((

At least get some quotes for the work.

[Palindr☻me]

Almost any router will do the job - but for solid oak you really need to buy a good quality bit of the size required. The cheap sets of bits simply aren't up to it.

You need to practice and practice a lot before you go anywhere near the real job.

I would suggest asking how much a local carpenter/cabinet maker would charge to do the job. It will take a lot of practice to control the router well enough to get near-perfect results for this application.

Preparation is the key - guides both sides of the router, end stops, making sure the depth setter is set and locked, keeping the router moving at a steady speed, etc..Far from being the easiest first project.

If you make the slightest twitch or mistake, the router will do lots of damage. Hopefully just to the wood. It will tend to go off course, given the slightest opportunity. The blades or the cutter are spinning at one heck of a rate and will continue to spin for some time after you switch the power off - so it has to be kept very firmly under control at all times.

[Steve]

Thanks for the reply Eric. Point taken about the skills etc. I do feel fairly confident about doing it as I am quite experienced with things `wooden` having made my own windows plus lots of other stuff in the past but never had the need for a router before though. I would obviously practice first on waste until I`m confident but I didn`t want to waste money buying an expensive model if all of them have the facility I need. No doubt the choice of cutter required is also one I need to check. Thanks again Steve

[EricP]

Any old router should fit your needs just fine then, but Sues comment about the bit is very valid. I use a £5 box of Aldi bits which cut pine and MDF fine. Oak may be worth a decent bit.

If you have made windows then you have my respect, I am thinking about a door, requiring a very non standard size. You would appear to have tool control and the router should not be a problem, provided you use guides religiously.

Best of luck.

[Steve]

Yes thanks for the info Sue. Have you any idea what sort of cutter I would need for this job. My other half just wants `grooves` for draining but I get the feeling there might be all sorts of weird and wonderful cutters nowadays giving any sort of cross sectional shape you want. I suppose a shallow, wide (0.5",0.75"?) curved groove might look best and what make of bits might be ok for oak?. Thanks again Steve

[Palindr☻me]

I would have though a standard round nose radius bit of whatever width you fancy.

You only need buy a 1/4" router - so go for one of these cutters where s=1/4":

Personally, I would go for wide and shallow rather than narrow and deep

- easier to do and easier to clean. But that doesn't mean going for a big cutter:

You can make a wider, flat bottomed, cut using several passes of a smaller cutter. Provided you use guides to keep the router under control, these are a lot easier and come out far better than you would imagine. Small cutters (but not tiny cutters) are generally easier to work with than big ones and more tolerant of feed variations. A big cutter can "grab" a huge chunk of wood and spin the router (and you) around instead of the cutter, so best used with the router fixed to a router table and moving the wood instead..

A quality cutter like this will quite possibly outlive you - if looked after, not run into nails, overheated, etc.

A key thing is to keep the non-cutting surfaces clean and clear of any resin, etc. There isn't a lot of clearance and, if stuff, even a tiny bit of stuff, does build up on the non-cutting parts, you turn it from a cutter to a wood-burner..

Have fun - but be very careful, a router is quite unlike any other common power tool in how much instant mayhem it can cause..

-- Sue

[kitchenman]

Hi,

All the advice above is good.

If the tops are rounded rather than square edged you will need to do a masons mitre, if you have a corner, just like on a laminated top, then you will need the jig about £100, & a decent 1/2 in router of around 1800 watts, mine cost £250 then a 50mm long 12.5mm cutter, about £25.

BEWARE with solid wood at around £400 a lump you could make some expensive firewood

I use a 6mm 1/4 inch router for the grooves, so it is light & easy to use.

Have a look at my site & you will see drainer grooves I did last year for an undermounted sink. I made the jig on site from 6mm mdf to suit clients requirements, note the grooves are not parallell, but fan out, clients requiement

I think the cutter was 10mm dia, with 5mm radius in a 6mm collett,

If you want a quote & are anywhere near me, email me. I have van will travel

[Ken]

But won't the grooves need a fall so the water drains off? If so you need to go from shallow to deep with your cuts and I can't see you doing that just by plunging by hand. You would need to make a jig which has a slope and run the router down that. Or am I missing some-thing?

ken

[Antony]

I think what the OP is looking for is this:

"Drainer Jig Simple and accurate way to route drainer grooves into solid wood worktops. Incorporates a special attachment to produce a gentle drainage slope. "

It's =A3100, so probably better to hire, if you can.

-Antony

[Palindr☻me]

I was just wondering if the "special attachment" was a pencil you stick under one end....

[Steve]

Thanks for the help and advice guys. A wee bit more to this `grooving` than I originally thought, looks like a bit of homework/planning/cursing/nail biting etc before I start ;-). Thanks again Steve

[James]

For router bits try

, you can search online from 5000 different router bits so you should be able to find what you are after and do a postcode search and find your local stockist!

Jon

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