New Online Course – Router Basics with Colin Knecht

Posted April 29, 2014

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Many newcomers to woodworking consider routers scary and confusing tools. No wonder – there is so much to know about wood routing. Not only is there a wide variety of routers and router tables, but also a large range of bits, jigs and accessories. Even for experienced woodworkers this can be daunting. The “scary” part for some woodworkers is installing a bit in their router and turning it on – the high speed alone can be intimidating.

Where does someone new to woodworking start with router basics? Well, the best way to get into wood routing safely is to have someone explain the features and workings of a router, and how best to use it. Just like anything else in life, when someone gives you some knowledge, the whole experience turns from one of fear to one of confidence. With routers, I have seen this transformation time after time.

I have worked at various woodworking shows over the years. I have seen people revisiting a woodworking show for a second year and telling me they had purchased a router and router table the previous year, and haven’t even used it. The reason? After they turned it on once, they feared for their own safety – so the tool has sat, collecting dust.

Like everything else woodworking, the place to start in routing is knowing and understanding the safety issues with your tool. This alone will dispel much of the fear because when you are comfortable in your workshop, you tend to take you time and think things through better. This results in safer operation and higher quality results.

I’ll be going over all the above – and more – in my one-hour web seminar, “Router Basics,” on May 14th. Join us for the event!

Getting started in wood routing will open up a whole new world of projects and abilities other tools simply cannot do easily if at all. It will expand and stimulate your creative woodworking ideas for new and exciting projects.

–Colin Knecht

Product Recommendations

Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.

Colin Knecht

Colin has been a woodworker all his life; even from an early age, he enjoyed the creativity of working with wood. His first formal instruction came in high school when he was fortunate to be taught by a master woodworker. The teacher believed woodworking was more than making sanding blocks and door stops by coaching the students to make actual furniture. During the 3 years of furniture making, Colin also took one year of boat building where they built 2 boats a 14-foot runabout and a 16-foot sailboat. During this time he also took house construction where they built a 2-bedroom, 1,000 square foot house. This high level of early instruction formed the backbone of his lifelong knowledge and woodworking understanding. Throughout his career, Colin has also worked for years in the photography industry and spent many years in the high technology industry and all the while has spent his lifetime doing public speaking, training and presenting. These skills and knowledge are all now being brought together in his partnership business of woodworkweb.com and the associated YouTube channel to help and share knowledge with other new woodworkers and experienced woodworkers.