8 of the Most Useful Router Accessories for Woodworking
8 of the Most Useful Router Accessories
These are the most useful accessories you’ll ever buy for your woodworking router. It doesn’t matter if you’re using a router table, a trim router, a plunge router, or a fixed-base router. These will make your life so much easier.
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#1 –Rockler Bench Cookies – I like these because they have a grippy bottom, and these are perfect for elevating your workpiece while you rout and keeps it from sliding around. I use these near daily when I’m out here routing small pieces. They’re also fairly inexpensive.
#2 – Setup Bars – I use the Kreg setup bars all the time for setting the height of my bit. I also use them to set the height of my table saw blade or the fence on my table saw.
Let’s say I need to cut a 1/2” groove with my router. The notch under the 1/2” setup bar is exactly 1/2”. The Kreg set goes from 1/8” all the way to 1/2” in 1/16” increments. These allow you to set that bit depth accurately and quickly every single time.
They come in a nice case, so you don’t lose them. There are Yellowhammer setup blocks that are identical with only a few exceptions. The color is obviously different. The size of each bar is exactly the same. However, the Yellowhammer is less expensive and has measurements printed on both sides. On the Kreg, especially on the 1/4”, the marking is starting to rub off. I haven’t noticed that yet with the Yellowhammer, although I haven’t used them as much. I’ve worked with Yellowhammer for a while now, and they’re a good company.
The Kreg bars do come in a better case. The Yellowhammer box is just a plastic box with foam inserts inside, whereas the Kreg box has individual cutouts for each of the blocks.
#3 – Radius Guide – I bought this Kreg Radius guide a few months ago, and I love having this. It makes it easier to create a radius or a chamfer on the edge of your work. I used it on the handrails on my outdoor bench that I recently built. This is basically just a pattern that you’ll use a pattern bit with. It’s very easy to use and has a nice handhold to keep your hands out of the way of the bit. The different patterns are easily swappable. They just pop right in and out.
If the plastic Kreg radius jig isn’t your speed, there are aluminum models that are a lot more robust. They’ll last much longer, but your fingers are much closer to the spinning bit. It has ledges that lock onto the edge of the board. I’ve used these for a while. I do prefer the Kreg just for the safety aspect, but if you’re looking for something that might last a little longer, the aluminum jobs may be your best bet.
#4 – Router Bit Vice – Infinity makes this router bit vise that is handy for tightening and loosening the bearing on an edge profile bit. You put the bit through one side to tighten and in the other side to loosen the bearing. It has openings for 1/2”, 1/4", and 8mm bit shank sizes. It’s a really nice tool to have.
#5 – Organization Tray – I made this one myself, and if you want you can pick one up from our store at www.731woodworks.com/store. This router bit tray has places for ¼” bits, ½” bits, wrenches, a caliper, a pencil, and even your router table pin. It’s a nice compact tray, and it’s made out of walnut.
#6 – Brass Setup Blocks – These brass setup blocks come 5 to a set and range from 1/8” wide up to ½” wide. As well as using them to gauge the height of your router bit, you can stack them to come up with a wide combination of heights. For example, stack the 1/2” block and the 3/16” block and you’ve now got 11/16”. Lined up against the bit, you can tell by feel when you’re at the exact right height. My favorite ones are the ones from Taytools because the measurements are stamped into the blocks. A lot of brass setup blocks don’t have that; they’re just printed on there.
#7 – Rockler Setup Gauge – This is a really handy gauge to keep if you have a router table. It can be used with a regular router, but it really shines on the router table. It has two slots, one for bits with a 1/2" shank and one for a 1/4" shank. It allows you to set up your fence exactly center to that bit. If you’re cutting slots or things like that, this an easier way to set it up. It also has a depth gauge that you can use with both the router table and the regular router. If you’re not in America using Freedom Units, it does have millimeters on it as well.
#8 – Edge Guides - If your router didn’t come with an edge guide, there is a 99.9% chance that there is one available for it. Buy it today. These are one of the most used accessories for a hand-held router in my opinion. I love using mine for cutting grooves, dados, or dovetails. It’s one of the main things I love about having a router. For example, when cutting the slots to put on the tabletop fasteners. I’ll set the edge guide to the depth of that cut.
Typically, the edge guide you get with your trim router or a budget model router are just going to be a plain, un-adjustable guide that adjusts just by sliding the bars in and out of your router base. One thing I like about the DeWALT edge guide that I bought with the DeWALT router is that is has a fine adjustment knob on the back of it. I can get close to the measurement by sliding the edge guide into the router, then I can dial it in perfectly using that fine adjustment knob. That’s why I recommend the DeWALT fixed/plunge base model as one of the first routers you should buy.
*Other Tools shown in this post
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