writes:

I am routering fishing lures that are 7-8 inches in length, 1.5 inches
tall from back to belly and made from 3/4" hard maple.
[snip]
I have done thousands in this way without a mishap but the
router scares me every single time!

I don't blame you! With items as small as these, you need a good
method to keep your fingers 12+ inches away from the spinning bit.

Perhaps your method of holding the wood could be improved? In some
factories, they have foot-activated compressed air holddown jigs to
hold small parts in place. I don't know of a source for that, but
I've seen cam-action jig clamps that could be used:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1578


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