Router Table - How to Make Your Own

A Router Table quiets a router, helps control wood dust, and adds a little extra safety to routing. It provides a stable platform to do intricate shaping, as well as precise edging. A router table can handle 80% of your routing. It makes good practical sense to have a router table.

You can purchase one through various vendors/catalogs. You will learn more about woodworking if you make your own. Making your own will evolve over time.

Most commercial Router Tables have unused space below the Top. Does it make sense to use this space for your Router Accessories?

If the answer is yes, you can make your own Unique Router Table. Let's discuss some features you may want.

Features of Your Custom Router Table:

• Router bit storage for 36-48 various size router bits.
  
• A Router Lift to adjust the Router easily.
  
• The on/off switch is easily accessible.
  
• Two drawers for wrenches and accessories.
  
• Amble storage for your portable router and accessories.
  
• A drop down window for easy access to your fixed base router (the PC 7518).
  
• Has casters to move easily.
  
• Hardly any dust gets into the cabinet.
  

What more could you ask?

Router Table Fence

What to look for in a router table fence:

• Repeatability
  
• Zero-deflection
  
• Straightness
  
• Ability to square it up to the table top
  
• Chip/dust collection
  
• Easily clamps to table and adjust
  

Router Table Top

The Top should be flat and stable to do quality work. I prefer a high-pressure laminate top on both sides. It seems better to me than melamine or other types. It makes sense to have a clean top no miter channel. Those things weaken the top and just collect sawdust. You rarely need them. To use a miter channel, it must be square to the fence. Is it worth the trouble?

It is not hard to make a Top. Or you can find quality tops at a fair price without all the bells and whistles. Try to find one around 24" wide x 32" long. If you put the router insert plate towards the back, it will provide more work room for wider boards.

Router Table Insert Plate

There are many router plates available. The snap-out rings for many are not easy. I broke a couple of snap-out rings when trying to take them out. From a user-friendly standpoint, they are difficult. Some of these insert plates tend to sag over time. That will not give you an accurate cut.

You may skimp on this item, but I think you will be sorry in the end. It seems prudent to get a 3/8" solid aluminum one with inserts that are easy to change. They remain flat, and are easy to exchange the inserts. It is best to have an insert that accepts PC guide bushings. A couple of different size inserts are good for larger router bits. Woodpecker makes a top quality one. Once in awhile you can find them on sale.

You can make your own template to mount a router plate. Put 2-sided sticky tape on the insert plate, and mounted it to " tempered hardboard. Then use an inlay bearing kit in reverse. Now you have a template to make a template.

Tape or clamp the template to " plywood or MDF. Put the bearing on the inlay kit. Then router the " Plywood (MDF). You have an exact copy of your insert plate. You can put the insert plate anywhere that you want. By using a different template guide, you can cut the 1/2" ledge to support the insert plate. Simple!

If you want to know how to do this, visit Router Insert Plate Template

For more information on Building Your Own Router Table, including pictures and tips, please visit Router Table Plan

Jim is a woodworker with over 36 years of experience. He helps many woodworkers increase their skills with techniques, tips, plans, and jigs. Helping woodworkers is Jim's expertise. Visit his specialty site at http://www.provenwoodworking.com

Why You Need A Personalized Rubber Stamp For Personalized Crafts, Gifts, and More

What can I do with a Personalized Rubber Stamp? Answer: anything you want, once its yours. That is being flippant, of course, but it gives you some idea of the versatility of a personalized rubber stamp. They come in all different sizes, shapes and guises too.

The personalized rubber stamp that most people will immediately think of is the hand-made by.. where you develop the blank version that is so commonly seen these days by having your name added. This is especially useful if you are going into business and you are going to be producing lots of things which you want to stamp your name upon; after all, you want people to know it was you who made these things dont you?

The name of your choice can be added in various styles and sizes and if you purchase a stamps with words similar to this belongs to and you have it personalized with the correct name then a personalized rubber stamp is also really useful for stamping onto childrens belongings so they are more easily traced when they inevitably get lost. There are so many different stamping inks available today that you can produce a permanent image on a whole host of different materials and fabrics. Thats much quicker than sewing name tags isnt it!

Of course, businesses are now commonly using customized stamps with their address and account details on, to save time writing them out again and again.

If you are artistic and you have an idea for a stamp which you want but cant find, sketch or draw it and enlist the help of a personalized rubber stamp service run by many of the top rubber stamp manufacturers. They will modify and clean up your sketch if necessary, and produce it in rubber stamp form for you. There will never be another rubber stamp like it anywhere in the world! How proud would you be then, knowing you were the one that designed it!

Those things are simple but personalized rubber stamps have now entered a new generation. You can even have something as sophisticated as a photograph transformed into a really detailed and beautiful rubber stamp. Imagine how special that could be, with wedding and baby photos now made into a stamp for you to produce all manner of mementoes and keepsakes. Bet results are to be had with a close-up photo of a small area such as faces, rather than a group shot. But the results can be breath-taking and many rubber stamp companies are now offering a personalized rubber stamp service at prices within the reach of most people.

So now you know the possibilities for personalized rubber stamps never have to write your address or lose a lunchbox or clothes again; always have people know you made their card and dig out those precious photographs and use your personalized rubber stamps to make something truly unique and utterly special something to be treasured and handed on down the generations all with a personalized rubber stamp.

Amy Wells writes about effective rubber stamping tips and techniques. Looking for discount stamping supplies? Find discounted, high quality rubber stamps and supplies at: http://www.BuyRubberStamp.com

Workplace Violence: A Growing Concern

Workplace violence has become one of the biggest concerns for managers, corporate executives and Human Resource Departments in the past several years. In fact, the shear number of incidents of workplace violence is staggering.

A report issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after an extensive study, showed that "homicide is the second leading cause of fatal occupational injury in the United States. The report stated that almost 1,000 workers are murdered, and 1.5 million - about 1-in-4 - employees are assaulted in the workplace each year. According to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), in 1998 alone, there were 709 workplace homicides which accounted for 12% of the over six thousand fatal work injuries in the United States that year."

A Global Concern

This issue is not limited to the United States, as some might assume. It seems that every country is showing a marked increase in the number, frequency, and severity of workplace violence incidents every year.

Duncan Chappell and Vittorio Di Martino, in their work entitled: "Violence in the Workplace," say that a 1996 European Union Survey showed that during the prior year, four percent of workers (about 6 million) were subjected to physical violence while at work or on duty. They also say that, "workplace violence - be it physical or psychological - has gone global, crossing borders, work settings, and occupational groups.

Who is at Risk?

Statistics show that, although no single occupation is immune from violence, violence in the workplace can definitely be seen to be clustered in certain occupations. Occupations having many, if not all, of the following characteristics also show the highest rate of incidents:

• Contact with the public
• Exchange of money
• Delivery of passengers, goods, or services
• Having a mobile workplace such as a taxicab or police cruiser
• Working with unstable or volatile persons in health cards.newspicy.info/airline-miles-credit-card-no-annual-fee">care, social service, or criminal justice settings
• Working alone or in small numbers
• Working late at night or during early morning hours
• Working in high-crime areas
• Guarding valuable property or possessions
• Working in community-based settings

Depending on the area, taxi drivers had, by far, the highest incident rates. But, again, this is not to be seen as a national or international thing, but something that is dependent on the region where the assaults occur. The number one occupational group suffering the greatest number of assaults is not police and security officers as is often believed. No, the occupation shown to be most at risk are retail sales people, including but not limited to, convenience store personnel. This group is followed closely by those in the service industries like administrative personnel, teachers, and medical professionals. In fact, a report on incidents in one of the "calmest" countries - Sweden - shows medical professionals to be the highest occupation victimized by assault and other workplace violence. And, contrary to popular belief as reported by the media, the greatest threat comes, not from within a company's ranks but from outside.

The most difficult part of getting to the truth of the matter, as with all statistical data, is the fact that the numbers are probably far lower than what is actually occurring. Just as Human Resource managers and the companies that they represent are concerned about legal action in regards to giving reference information about past employees, most are also fearful of their public image should word spread about assaults against their employees.

Prevention and Countermeasures The growing trend for dealing with the problem of workplace violence is in teaching employees, supervisors, and executive management how to spot trouble signs before they occur. This is an excellent place to start to build a sound program. As with anything involving danger, the more information and awareness that can be developed, the more effective we can be in preventing the danger from ever occurring.

However, no program can be considered complete without including employee training for effectively handling, escaping, and surviving actual physical assaults. The fact is, that no amount of understanding and preventative measures will stop certain assailants from attacking. At that point, all that remains is for effective action that will ensure the physical safety and survival of the intended victims.

Remember: Workplace violence is real. It can happen to any employee, in any company, at any time. And, it can happen to you or someone you care about.

Jeffrey M. Miller is the founder and director of Warrior Concepts International, a company which focuses on teaching effective self-protection and personal development techniques to individuals, groups and companies. He is the author of the "Foundations of Self-Defense Mastery" eCourse and can be reached through his website: http://www.wcinternational.com. For information about how he can help you protect your company and employees from the violence, damage, and potential loss from workplace violence, contact him.