Router alternatives

[Brian Kent]

I just posted a question on the general woodworking forum about controlling router noise.

Since I am a galloot wanabe trainee, what can I use as alternatives to routers?

I am guessing that before electricity woodworkers didn't just hold a router bit next to the wood and turn in circles.

[Roy McQuay]

Planes and chisels. My shaper doesn't make near as much noise as any of my routers and it has a much lower pitch.

[Brian Kent]

What kind of shaper do you use?

[Gerry Musson]

There are all kinds of specialty planes that can be used as an option to an electrical router. Planes like the Stanely #79 adjustable rabbit plane, hand routers such as the Stanley #71, and wooden moulding planes. There are also repo's of these being made by LV, LN and others.

A lot of these items can be aquired at a reasonable cost at antique shops, or on-line auctions. Watch the Classified section of SMC for bargains.

But watch it, as they say its a slippery slope.

[Mike K Wenzloff]

Hi Brian,

I make most of my moldings for furniture with molding planes. Some larger moldings I make are with a combination of plow planes and hollows & rounds.

Joinery such as rabbets are quicker for me to cut with a moving fillister plane than setting up my shaper.

Planes are task specific, like router bits themselves. So one can gather a few in the course of doing the work of furniture making. Saving grace is there are quite a few vintage ones on the market and always will be.

However, if all you want to do is cut noise, a shaper is definite progress. Now, it is the noise of the machine which is what is quiter. The cutting of the wood is still on the noisy side. That one cannot escape from.

I had a couple shapers. When I closed my shop, I kept the baby one, the small Jet. It's a capable machine. Relatively inexpensive and is as capable as any router table.

Take care, Mike

[Roy McQuay]

I have a Jet JWS-22CS. It is a small shaper with 1 1/2 hp. I have had it about 4 years and have had no problems. When I bought it I started out looking for a router table. I thought that would save me money. I found that a complete set up with the router table was way more than this shaper and the shaper can also take router bits. The router table price wasn't including a router either. For me, it was a no brainer. My shaper has a small table but with stands and side tables, that isn't a problem. And I am sure the shaper motor will outlast any router motor, IMHO

[Brian Kent]

Where does the straight line accuracy come from with a #71 router plane? Do you use some kind of guide or just follow a line freehand?

[Dan Forman]

The Lee Valley version has a fence, but generally a router plane is used to clean up the bottom of a groove after the main hogging out is done, as it doesn't have anything along the sides to cut the wood fibers vertically. I can't remember the term for that, but rabbet planes usually have a small vertical cutter in addition to the normal blade. I think it's called a spur or a nicker.

So for making grooves or dados, generally a saw is used for the vertical cuts, and the waste removed with a chisel, then the router plane comes in and smoothes things out.

Dan

[James Mittlefehldt]

Where does the straight line accuracy come from with a #71 router plane? Do you use some kind of guide or just follow a line freehand?

The Stanley 71 had an attachment that was fastened to the base with small bolts, and had a ridge that rode in a track which held it firm. That is the fence and it works fairly well, as I used mine on a few occasions as a plough plane.

One side is straight, one has a radius on it, I presume to work around curved shapes though I never used that side so cannot say for sure.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I use both machinery, and hand tools in my workshop.

( Is this the point where I say " Hi, my name is Rod, and I use **GASP** MACHINERY)?:D

I have a 3HP General International shaper, and is very much quieter than a router, as well as having all the other shaper benefits.

I also have an EC Emmerich wooden router plane, which I use for cleaning dadoes, grooves etc.

You can make grooves with a backsaw, a chisel and a router plane, however I find it easier to use hand tools to perfect what the machine makes.

Same with planing and jointing, a jointer and planer take the grunt work out, allowing me to surface the material with a hand plane or a cabinet scraper.

I make some mouldings with handplanes, some with the shaper.

I guess I'm just lazy, and find a combination of hand tool and machinery to be just right for me.

Regards, Rod.

[Brian Kent]

Either I'm too agreeable or too much a novice, but I agree with you, and I pretty much agree with what the other people said. I am using a combination of power tools and hand tools in most that I do. I usually opt for the hand tools when I can use them accurately.

The only thing that doesn't make sense so far is a $2,000 shaper for a hobbyist on a budget. I would have to save up for a $1,000 shaper like the 3 hp Grizzley or a $500-$600 shaper like the Grizzley G1035 (1-1/2 hp).

[Bill Houghton]

A scratch stock, chisels, handplanes - there are lots of techniques possible. Slower, in production settings, but with more texture.

[Brian Kent]

Scratch Stock - I had to look that up. Is that the same as a beading tool?

I've been looking at plow planes and router planes. The plow planes are like a little bit of 19th century science fiction - fascinating.

The router planes look like something I'd like to try now.

I can either buy a Lee Valley Router Plane in about a month or go for on old Stanley tool on e-bay today. I can't tell which Stanley is most useful, so I'll put the question to the experts again -

Any recommendations on the best old stanley user router plane? (… or wait and get the new improved model by Lee Valley)?

[Mike K Wenzloff]

A month isn't really very long...I personally would wait the month.

I've had vintage ones. They all work good. The LV blades will fit the Stanley, so if you end up with a vintage one without blades, you can use those from LV. Which sorta depreciates the difference in cost.

Did someone saw plow planes? Here's a nice Greenslade I have...

http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/plow/plow_0004.jpg

And for small grooves, it's hard to beat a little Record 043, which I don't have a picture of mine. This one is a Russian remake:

http://www.wenzloffandsons.com/temp/r_043_0001.jpg

Take care, Mike

[David Marcus Brown]

To best answer your question, what sort of work are you doing? How far away from an edge are you wanting to rout?

I use a Record 043 & 044 for cutting grooves and rabbets close to the edge of panels. If I'm cutting a long dado, I'll use a hand plane in combination with chisels and a router plane.

[David Marcus Brown]

Don't you have a record 050? How is that working out for you?

[Bill Houghton]

There are several books on hand tool use, which will get into scratch stocks (yes, some people call them beading tools, but you can make your own too) and the other ways that people shape wood without electrons. Best to read everything you can get your hands on - your local library can probably help, at no charge (thank you, Ben Franklin!).

[Brian Kent]

This week I am fitting tool-chest drawers on wooden slides. My bigger question has to do with everything I would otherwise do with a router.

[David Marcus Brown]

Since discovering the joy of hand tools, I do everything in my power to avoid using power tools -- the loud ones. I don't mind using my drill press or band saw but my router, random orbit sander, table saw and miter saw, those are the ones I avoid like the plague. ;)

For fitting tool chest drawer slides, I'd use a backsaw and clean out w/ a chisel and/or a router plane.