Important Of Router For Mortise, Tenon, and Other Joinery

Posted by Kathleen Allen on March 17th, 2016

A woodworker would know how difficult a task it is to create mortise and tenon joinery. Having said that, if you have the right router jig and milling tools at your disposal, making mortise and tenon joints becomes a simpler job. Woodworkers are no less than artists; carving wood into beautiful and alluring designs, and making it useful for people all across the globe. They are a rare breed that needs to be given support through machines and tools to carry their ability to a new level. A good router with an appropriate jig does this job pretty efficiently. It provides a wand in the hands of these artists, which they can wave to create magic.

When you are working with wood, you know what support from tools can help you produce. And you can neither compromise with precision nor with quality. The final product needs to be of the highest quality, meeting the specifications furnished by the customer. When you can’t go wrong even by an inch, you need tools that can help you achieve accuracy and efficiency that people expect.

If we consider joinery operations like mortise joints with router, the versatility of the router is as important as its ability to deliver precise cuts. As a woodworker, you can’t compromise on quality for the other; you need to search for a tool that combines all these qualities in one. Also, you still need to have complete control of the router as well as the wood you are working. You lose control, the entire design gets jeopardized. The smoothness and preciseness of the cuts would depend on how easily are you able to maneuver the wood through the router. And this isn’t just your skill; it is also a quality that the router should possess.  

Many woodworkers have suffered injury due to the inability of the router to protect them from being too close to the cutting bit. Though you need to be at a visible distance when the cuts are happening, you should go for a machine that keeps you at a safe distance from the actual action. Another disadvantage found in common milling tools is that they do nothing for dust extraction. This creates a lot of mess and leaves you rubbing your eyes for clear vision. The best tools, however, would make sure that nothing of this sort happens.

Before buying any such product, you should make sure that it works for the following woodworking applications:

Tenons
Grooving
Raising panels
Mortises
Edge profiles
Dovetails, and other joinery

Author’s Bio: The author is a blogger. This article is about dovetail joinery with a router.