Router - Tools For Woodworking

A router is a tool that's used along with a router bit to create decorative shapes or edges for your stair treads. Routers can also be used to cut slots into stair stringer for treads and risers.


Router Safety Tips

If you're planning on using a router, make sure that you have read the user's manual and understand how to operate it safely. Anyone who purchases a router and uses it without understanding anything about it, should have their head examined.

About 30 years ago, when I first started working in construction, one of my father's apprentices was routering out some slots in a stair stringer, when it happened. The router, got away from him and cut the tip of his finger.

While he was routering, he took one hand off of the router to rub his eye. At that moment, the router hit something that it didn't like and the young man wasn't strong enough to hold onto it, with just one hand. Like most accidents, he didn't have time to think and the damage was done, within a matter of seconds.

It wasn't a large cut and he recovered, but it got me thinking and whenever I use a router, I hold onto it with both hands and rarely set it down in an unsafe position. Safety was always my priority, especially whenever I needed to use a 3 1/2 horsepower router.


Stairs / Stair Glossary

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