I just received the 1400 router for a birthday present and I am looking forward to using it. I have been searching but where can I find information on the bits to buy for what I want to use the router for? To start I’d lie to carve out channels in hardwood to make a river table with epoxy. Looking forward to some good advice! Thanks
Router 1400
- Thread starter Pixie
- Start date
Hi Pixie. Not looking to rain on your.... eh... river, but....
River tables are made using a space between two live edge boards, typically. I don't think I've ever seen one made using channels which were routed into a hardwood top.
Now that may be because I don't look at them any more than I have to because I think they're already a dated look, a fad, something most people will look at the same way we look at 1970's melamine kitchens and linoleum floor tiles.
Best advice? Pick up a copy of Complete Routing by Alan Holtham to get a good understanding of what else you can do with that fantastic tool you now have at your disposal. Then buy the individual bits you need to do the things you decide to do. A router is an incredibly versatile tool once you have a good understanding of how it works and what you can do with it. Read that book and it will really open up possibilities for you.
Best of luck and before I forget, Happy Birthday and welcome to FOG.
River tables are made using a space between two live edge boards, typically. I don't think I've ever seen one made using channels which were routed into a hardwood top.
Now that may be because I don't look at them any more than I have to because I think they're already a dated look, a fad, something most people will look at the same way we look at 1970's melamine kitchens and linoleum floor tiles.
Best advice? Pick up a copy of Complete Routing by Alan Holtham to get a good understanding of what else you can do with that fantastic tool you now have at your disposal. Then buy the individual bits you need to do the things you decide to do. A router is an incredibly versatile tool once you have a good understanding of how it works and what you can do with it. Read that book and it will really open up possibilities for you.
Best of luck and before I forget, Happy Birthday and welcome to FOG.
woodferret
Member
Gratz on the birthday present. For river tables, the primary use of the router will be as a slab flattening jig. Ideally, a bottom clearing bit in 8mm shank, but 1/4 will do if you're in NA. Size will just be smaller and clearing passes more just to avoid shank deflection.
The following YouTube video might be useful to understand what is required. Typically though as Paul mentioned, river tables are constructed differently than the video which is uses the router to fake the live edge. Given that most RTs are pretty opaque, this might be an option if you don't care to see depth.
Welcome and enjoy.
Edit: appendix - for plunging and hogging out the river, a spiral upcut might be useful to clear the copious amounts of chips. You can get away with a cheaper straight plunge bit, the difference being the start will be slower but once the channel is made, not much. In case you're new to routers, avoid straight bits that aren't plunge rated as you can only start from the outside and cost saving isn't much.
The following YouTube video might be useful to understand what is required. Typically though as Paul mentioned, river tables are constructed differently than the video which is uses the router to fake the live edge. Given that most RTs are pretty opaque, this might be an option if you don't care to see depth.
Welcome and enjoy.
Edit: appendix - for plunging and hogging out the river, a spiral upcut might be useful to clear the copious amounts of chips. You can get away with a cheaper straight plunge bit, the difference being the start will be slower but once the channel is made, not much. In case you're new to routers, avoid straight bits that aren't plunge rated as you can only start from the outside and cost saving isn't much.
Crazyraceguy
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2015
- Messages
- 5,068
woodferret said:
In North America (US at least) the OF1400 comes with a 1/2" collet. That would be my choice for most, if not all, of the cuts I do with this mid-sized router.
woodferret
Member
Thanks for the correction. I've got the 1010 on the brain 
I really appreciate the advice. What I want to do is create a channel for a river table on a single slab. I do not want to put two separate slabs together and epoxy in between. I kind of agree with Paul on the “fad” comment. Im a newbie in routing. My goal is to make channels as I mentioned before and to flatten slabs, as I don’t have a planer or a jointer.
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