I am a newbie to woodworking and especially to the router. I have been watching many videos on use and safety. This is absolutely one of the very best.
I managed to dent my dads garage door the first time I used a router table, my inexperience and putting the wood the wrong side of the cutter, flinging it into the garage door. Lucky it was only a dent. It could have been so much worse. Great video as usual Peter. 👍🏻
Superb tuition for all and so wonderfully British. Keeping these skills alive in hearts and minds is so important to ensure each generation passes on the joys of trade and hobby skills on to the next. Well done Peter, thanks so much, very inspiring. I’ll be watching the back catalogue now. 👌🏼
Many Thanks Peter, This video is the one that most beginners should view FIRST when working with the router! Keep going my friend, so helpful!!!!!!!!!!
Well..I've been using my routers for 2 years ..i couldn't work out why it was so hard to get a decent cut.. all i can say is fantastic video with great info....you have revitalized my routing..which I'd virtually given up on.. thanks again
Like all your videos Peter this one is great. I especially liked the demo tools you created as they really let people see why it happens when you go the wrong way with the router. I personally have found my carelessness starts when I have turned the router off and set down without paying close attention. You quickly find out that cutter is still spinning. Have a Great Day!
Hi Glenn, I have thought about this several times but the overheads (mainly insurance) are quite high and the daily charge would end up being more than I think should be reasonable. Cheers. Peter
Never heard a lengthy discussion of which way to feed wood into a router. Usually this is discussed quickly and then move on to other things. A lot of good stuff here and informative, really have to think about what you are doing around these tools. Thanks.
Peter. Absolutely fantastic video. So well demonstrated and incredibly useful. I have a 1400 router that I haven’t really used yet and wouldn’t have known about this. Thanks so much. Regards to you and your family.
I usually make notes on times of highlight in videos, and this video has the most highlights ever. The explanation of widening an existing trench at 14:30 was superb. Thank you Peter - you have the gift of clarifying and explaining new concepts, as all this router training represents an entirely new field of learning. For me, this is far better than Sudoko in keeping my little grey cells ticking over
Many thanks for this - I wrote a computer program that generated Suduko games and provided hints, if needed, to solving the puzzles. Needless to say it did not sell ! Take care. Peter
Great tips and information as always Peter! For handheld router I found these instructions from my manual very useful: the best way to route is to order your body then the router bit then the edge of the wood and then push from left to right.
👆is a great tip I saw on festool live. With your right hand palm facing down, point your thumb towards the material you’re routing. Extend your pointer finger and that’s the direction you move the router. If it’s in a table I flip my palm up. Awesome videos, Peter! Thanks as always for sharing.
Great video and great use of the drill prop to illustrate the concepts; I hope people with a new router find it before rushing out to play! I also wish those Festool CMS router table inserts were still available. I have the circular saw insert and always planned to get the router one, but they stopped selling them before I realised.
Excellent and timely video. I have a Bosch 1400 that I have used a few times but I am considering adding a Festool 1010 as it seems quite easy to use (I have arthritic joints!). However, my current Router use would not justify the cost, but your video has inspired me to do more. incidentally, my profession is functional safety engineering so I really appreciate and support the safety focus.
Hi Derek, If you can stretch to buying the OF1010 you will not be disappointed. I use it a lot and it can do 90% of the jobs that I need in the workshop. Cheers. Peter
Thank you as always, very useful and very helpful for a new router user like myself! It's a scary little machine to handle, but oh so brilliant at the same time.
Hi Peter, Thank you for a well presented lesson in router safety. I understood that you should never have the workpiece between the cutter and the fence on a router table. Wouldn't it have been safer to turn the workpiece and cut the outer side of the groove in the " usual" direction ie right to left so the workpiece was not trapped between the cutter and the fence? It would have avoided your " bite" out of the groove as well.
Hi Mike, I did explain that it would be best to do that but I wanted to describe the situation when it might not be possible. For example, if the other side of the work piece was an irregular shape and unsuitable to go against the fence. Peter
You should never route from right to left on a router table, except on a horizontal router table, and trapping the wood between the back of the cutter and the fence in the process is asking for trouble.
Thank you Peter this is magnificent. I am involved in induction of new members in a woodwork club (Men’s Shed in Australia), and have made copious notes with timings. I see new members charge in and betray their shortcomings with their first supervised use, and yet these members seem resistant to learning. Your videos are easily accepted, so we use them for instruction and induction. Tactfully dealing with situation is a challenge, yet the responsibility lies with me to ensure members operate these dangerous tools with a full understanding of the possible hazards. Observing members general attitude to safety is interesting - refusal to wear hearing protection might be an indication of ingrained bad habits, and a resistance to learning correct techniques. I am a bit tentative and uncertain in this role as there is a big element of the “blind leading the blind”, and referring to your videos a big win for everyone. Thank you for your very thorough explanations and training. Please stay safe in these times of COVID, and I hope that your vaccination is on the horizon. We Australians send our best wishes to everyone in the UK, where some generation ago our families lived. Sorry no convicts in our family. Decades ago that black stain was hushed up, but now families proudly proclaim their convict forbears.
I wish you and your fellow club members the very best with your woodwork. I also appreciate all your kind words and wish everyone in Australia a safe passage through this dreadful Covid crisis. Our vaccination programme is going well thanks to us gaining independence prior to its arrival. Peter
Hello Peter I’ve been following along your RU-vid channel for many years now and It’s some very good content that you create I’ve got a question but it’s a little off topic to this video It’s regarding the Parf guide system mk2 I would be nice to see you show how to use the system to make smaller grids of the 20mm holes also if it’s less then the rulers allow Keep up the good work Kind Regards Anton Schroeder
Peter. did I hear right? Did you say that Festool is discontinuing the router CMS table? It appears to be still available on US websites. Thanks for your videos.
In all the years I have viewed this channel, I have bragged on "our" Mr Peter Parfitt; because he deserves it. With NO disrespect at all, I must say that I am having a problem in some of the cuts that "our" genius is showing us in this video. IE: If you are cutting a groove in a piece of stock; and the router bit is the same size as the groove, it does not matter which way you cut the groove with a router. Because the forces cancel each other out. However, IF, you are going to widen a groove that is "a horse of another color"!. Be careful of this cut. Also, if you move the stock from the left to right in a router table; and the router bit is trapping the stock (between the fence and the router); this can be a VERY dangerous situation. IE: please never feed from the left; even though there are some cuts this way, that are safe... ...because there are other times it can be very dangerous. And our brains sometimes can make the wrong step. Thus, and again, please never move from left to right when using a router table. Rather, follow the old adage: "When in doubt, err' on the side of caution!". A dear friend of mine did not "err' on the side of caution"; and his finger got caught in the router; and the rest is history. EEEUUUWEE! He will live with a horrible ugly finger 'til death. Sad indeed. Again, I have NO disrespect atoll towards "our" Mr Peter Parfitt. One of the most ardent "Cut" Above's for sure in the world. And we love him, and always will.
Ironic, seeing as I popped to A&E yesterday after using the parf guide and a finger to poke out MDF clogging up the bit. Pressed the trigger on the drill mistakenly when I lifted the drill out and my finger was in the jig! Stupid mistake and error of judgement, but that's how fingers are lost! lesson learned 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
@@NewBritWorkshop Asian country dont care about safety. This is a culture of ego. You can see here in my country sir. Here in my country Woodworker use modification bit like a circular saw blade for make a wood joint. Very dangerous but he still say "you need a pro to use this". I am asian. And i really care about safety. Thank you for useful knowledge. Always succes for you sir.
Unfortunately I found out the hard way about using a hand held router the wrong way, and have a large scar on my thumb. Luckily I still have my thumb. Always clamp the workpiece down.
Hi Peter, I met a chap at a woodworking show who had, the day before, done something similar and he was due to be off work for 2 weeks with no insurance or income. Glad you are okay. Peter
the more I watch these tools the more I wonder why are they so ill designed as per safety...? example: there can be an almost 100% safe router table system by simply providing a fence ABOVE the stock - so that even if your hands slids forwards this "upper fence" will stop the hand by smacking on the forearm. said upper fence can also be a good help to keep the stock in line.
Unfortunately, if I was teaching someone how to use a handheld router, I don't think this is the method I would use. I was taught to push the router from left to right of the workpiece, pushing away from the body. It's a more natural movement and you'll have a lot more control over the router. Whilst it's not wrong, nor dangerous, to pull a router, I think using a machine like at full stretch is not good working practice and looks clumsy. Whilst I enjoy the content of your videos Peter, I would urge keen amateur woodworkers, to look at other router methods ad seeing which works best them.
Hi Ian, As you might expect, I do disagree with you because the push motion is harder to stop in a runaway situation than a pull one. Also, by pulling you are less likely to fall into the area of the working router. Cheers. Peter
