The router is the most versatile and resourceful power tool in the woodworking shop, capable of shaping profiles, making duplicate copies, flush-trimming, and cutting nearly every joint used to build cabinets and furniture. Add a router table to the mix, and you can do all these tasks with precision and ease. But wait—there’s still one other critical tool necessary to be armed and ready to take on any project: Routers & Router Tables.

In this all-new collection of 20 great articles from America’s premier woodworking magazine, Routers & Router Tables gathers the most up-to-date information on routers and router tables, bits and jigs, tips and techniques for router joinery, and much more. Whether your focus is precision, space savers, versatility, or all of the above, this guide will show woodworkers the smartest route to routers for accomplishing their best work.

Preview a sample of this book below

Routers and Bits
How Many Routers Does Your Shop Need?
Trim Routers 
Heavy-Duty Plunge Routers 
Ten Essential Router Bits 
Upgrade Your Router with Shop-Built Bases

Router Tables
Router-Table Basics 
A Versatile Router Table 
Space-Saving Router Table 
Rock-Solid Router Table 

Router Jigs and Techniques
Handheld Routing 
Essential Jigs for the Router Table 
Five Smart Router Jigs
Versatile Mortising Jig 
Templates Guide the Way 
A Guide to Guide Bushings 
Climb Cutting: Don’t Believe the Naysayers 
Eight Tips for Flawless Moldings 
Taper Your Sliding Dovetails for Easier Assembly 
Level Big Slabs in No Time Flat 

At its heart a router is just a handheld motor that spins a cutting bit, with no built-in way to guide its path. The simplest solution is to use bearing-guided bits, and a lot of woodworkers stop there, making a few moldings and secretly wondering what all the fuss is about. This comprehensive guide will show you why so many woodworkers rave about the router. The secret is controlling its motion. Do that and there is next to nothing the tool can’t do. You’ll find all of the best approaches here, from the basic edge guide to template guides, smart fences, and the king of all router jigs: the router table. Armed with these, you’ll be able to cut perfect joints of all kinds, crank out stacks of matching multiples from a single pattern, level big slabs, and do too many other things to list.

There are lots of ways to make router jigs, and plenty of ink has been spilled on the subject. But this collection of articles is different. All are culled from Fine Woodworking magazine, whose editors travel throughout North America to find the most talented and efficient craftsman out there, people who do incredible work but won’t waste their own time or yours building ultimate super-jigs that never pay off. Almost all of these jigs and fixtures are elegantly simple, costing you nothing more than a trip to your scrap pile and an hour or less of time.

You’ll get the basics first—how to choose wisely from the dizzying array of routers and bits—before diving into a host of tips and techniques. Plus you’ll get four plans for shopmade router tables, helping you find just the right one for your shop. Master this versatile tool and you’ll be doing better work in no time, conquering tasks you didn’t think were possible, and becoming yet another router fanatic.

—Asa Christiana
Editor, Fine Woodworking