Routing itself entails several techniques, and one of the most prominent ones is to know how to cut a round table top with a router. With this skill, you’d be able to protract your skills over to some other aspects.
See, when it comes to woodworking, routing is the best approach to making intricate cuts. Indeed, doing that with your mere tools can be difficult and time-consuming. However, using a plunge router and other accessories would aid you in rapidly circle cutting precisions.
Howbeit, what we’d advise you to be mindful of is the components that made up routers. Having mastered the manner of assembling the router, you’d need to use the manual to know how to use the parts, too, before you continue with the reading of this article.
This act would aid you in having an apt understanding of what we’ll be insinuating here. Once you’re done, then you can consider using the seven tips that we’d be listing for making précised holes in your woods.
They would definitely be of immense help to you, trust me.
7 Things to Consider about How to Cut a Round Table Top with a Router:
1. Materials
Plywood: Get rough plywood to make layouts. Indeed, that’s why you need to get the measuring materials so that you can make the layout explicitly.
Router Bits: You’d need router bit of ½” and ¾” to carve out cut circles in the designated points on your tabletop. If you haven’t learned how to assemble and adjust router bits before now, then this is time you do it.
Pencils: You’d definitely need a pencil for the marking of precisions. At least, this would aid you in having a glimpse of whether you’re making accurate precisions while working.
Measuring Tools: Get a ruler or any measuring material that you can use to make proper markings. Nonetheless, make sure that you mark from the radius of the spots you’re about to cut circles.
Glue: Indeed, you’d definitely need glue in the later part of this exercise. So, it’s expedient that you make it available.
Saving Materials: Trays or table are the viable ones in saving your tools. You can save the screws and the needful accessories with them. This would aid you to access and assess your work quickly.
2. Marking & Cutting of Circular Holes
- Having marked the spots, use the ruler and pencil to draw a straight line from the top to the downward part of the ply.
- Nonetheless, provided you’re making the holes on a linear form, then make sure you draw from the radius.
- Fix your bit and ignite the power on your router and begin to rout.
- Set the estimated depth of the ply before adjusting the height of the bit on your workpiece.
- Make sure that there is an increase in the estimated marks that you’ve made so that the circle cutting won’t affect estimation by the end of the exercise.
- After that, you can rout the designated points judiciously.
3. Routing
This is synonymous with drilling. It’s expedient that you start the routing right from the middle of the holes marked than other parts. This would aid you in gaining maximum visibility with the work while you’re routing.
Also, the direction of the fence is an excellent determinant of the routing. Provided the fence system is facing the left side, which is proportional to the rails, then you might need to start the routing at the closest part of the ply to you.
Nonetheless, the inverse is the case if the fence is facing a right side direction (yet, proportional to the rail).
4. Using other alternatives
- Please keep checking your accuracy as you route the protruded part off from the workpieces.
- You can use a hammer to countersink petite holes on the linear part of the ply.
- You can insert a metal with precise size so that you can achieve the right dimension when you’re done.
- There might be a need for you to file the drilled parts with a chisel so that you can get them smooth and aligned.
- Nonetheless, you’d still need to make sure that you’re not filing off the marks on the spots.
5. Sanding & Glue Application
In cases where you don’t have a chisel available, then you can consider sanding it. This could even be the best option if the holes are small.
In other words, getting the two is synonymous with being on the safer side. It’s after you had done that, you can apply glue.
And, whenever you’re applying the glue, make sure that the type of glue you’re using works significantly with woods.
Once you’ve applied your glue, then you might need to put the attachment also so that the two can become firmly attached.
You would even need to keep it in an open space so that they can remain joined permanently.
6. Crucial Points to Consider
- It’s paramount that the size of the router base plate is the same with the size of the carved out ply (the holes are expected to be correlated in dimension, too).
- Use the right router bit for the right hole you’re about to dent.
- Clamp the ply onto the router table so that you won’t mess up your work.
- Rout with precautions and not with frivolous approach.
- You can use whether to use a tabletop for the exercise or not.
7. Repetition
Once you’ve been able to do that successfully, you can try it once again so that you can master the whole process. And, you can choose to try out some other techniques once you’re done learning this.
Final Verdict
That’s how to cut a round table top with a router. You can practice this with and without the tabletop. The whole approach is rational, and you can carry them out without issues.
All you have to do is remain critical about the entire thing.
