wrote in message

Thanks for all the responses, but I would like to admit that I'm
absolutely clueless and have never used a router (rather I'm evaluating
whether to get one b/c the number of tasks for which I need one is
growing).

Can you point to a reference that talks about how templates work?

You can gain a great deal of knowledge reading Aaron, but I strongly suggest
you take a few woodworking classes first. At a bare minimum, get a
woodworking friend to mentor you a bit. There's a number of things you're
going to have to experience first hand that reading or viewing just doesn't
teach you, especially in regards to safety. A router will be very
intimidating at first and can be relatively dangerous if you haven't used
one before.

To be honest, I'd recommend you become familiar with a number of hand tools
first, like the use of a chisel in this case. It sounds like you're trying
to jump into the deep end without going through some of the basics first. No
offence intended. I'd sooner you start a little slower now than lament the
loss of a few fingers down the road.