Upscale wrote:
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.




Amen to that, Upscale. I read this thread a bit, and wondered about
saying something about chisels.

I was clueless about chisels when I started too, but that's all I had. A
router was something I worked myself into. But I took a couple of
classes and discovered how easy it can be to use a chisel, and just as
importantly, how to keep one blindingly sharp. Which may be the issue
here. Once a chisel is sharp, the cuts you're talking about making for
the hinges become dead simple.

I'm a great adherent of power tools. They can simplify and speed up a
lot of jobs. But at some point, hand tools are gonna come up and have to
be used. The squaring off of the router cuts is as good an example as
any. And hand tools are not nearly as intimidating as they seem. Not
once you have a feel for them. But that comes with a bit of practice.

Tanus

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