My hobby isn't guns. It's woodworking. And I am shocked, shocked by how few Kossacks understand the differences between routers.
The "router" was originally an unpowered hand plane with a special blade that would create curved patterns in the wood being planed. Today's router resembles a drill more than a plane: it holds a profiled bit in a vertical housing, and spins the bit fast enough to allow the user to push the router through the wood, cutting easily as s/he proceeds.
For many routing operations, a guide of some sort is necessary. There are three common guides used in freehanded routing:
- Guides clamped to the workpiece (the wood being cut) that the router base moves along
- Guides attached to the router base that provide a "fence" that rides along the workpiece edge
- Guides that are part of the spinning bit itself: for example, a ball-bearing sleeve at the bottom of the bit that limits the penetration of the cutting surface.
The router is capable of much more precise work when it is not used free hand, but is rather mounted upside down in a "router table." Rather than push the router bit through the workpiece, the table lets the craftsman push the workpiece through the bit. This allows for a greater variety of guides and stops: most router tables will have a fence that can be easily repositioned to keep the workpiece edge a set number of inches from the bit, and "stops" mounted to the fence that limit workpiece travel, allowing the craftsman to make "interior cuts" such as a groove that cannot be seen from either edge.
There is a very active market in third party accessories for routers and router tables. One of my favorites is the "router lift," available in several designs from several manufacturers. This device allows the user to raise and lower the router bit from above the table. Normally this adjustment would require either removing the router from the table, or ducking into the table itself and finding the knobs that are intended for free hand use. The router lift is a great aid in terms of convenience, precision, and safety.
I'm telling all of you all this because, of course, you are all obligated to become completely informed about all the details of my own personal hobby.