Are router edge guides useful?

[Michael Gramm]

I'm about to buy my first router, and I was wondering if someone could explain why an edge guide base attachment would be desirable.

I can't see what an edge guide can do that a router table or clamping a straight edge to the workpiece wouldn't. To me, it seems like an extraneous accessory.

[Lee Schierer]

Sometimes a piece is too large or awkward to put on a router table or the bit does not have a pilot bearing. In those instances an edge guide is useful.

Added thought: If you forget or need to add a routed edge to something like the top of a dresser, it would be a little hard to do with the dresser on a router table. The edge guide will let you do the job.

[Michael Gramm]

Sometimes a piece is too large or awkward to put on a router table or the bit does not have a pilot bearing. In those instances an edge guide is useful.

Under those circumstances, I would think clamping a straight edge to the piece would be sufficient.

[Cary Falk]

You have a chance to not get the board clamped perfectly parallel to the edge. If your bit is not centered in the baseplate end the baseplate is round, there is a chance you can rotate the router during the cut and the final result being a little off. My edge guide for my DW618 has a micro adjust which is great. It also has a vacuum hookup that gets 90% of the chips before they hit the floor. Just a few things that come to mind. A lot of them are minor. The old edge guide I had on my PC sucked at best.

[Dave Wagner]

I ordered one for my newer router to do long grooves, etc....and if the board is narrow or something and the router doesn't sit properly.

I guess it depends on your creativity and how you want to router the boards.

[Doug Shepard]

This one is extremely useful
http://microfence.com/edgeguide-p-43.html

[Vince Shriver]

You seem set not not getting an edge guide. Why not get one at a later time if you find the need. Personally, I find them invaluable for certain tasks and wouldn't be without them - but, hey, that's just me.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I haven't used mine since I got my all in one clamp guide and router base (Rockler 23269). If I needed to bury the bit in the fence it might be useful, though, like if you only wanted to use part of a roundover profile and didn't have the right diameter guide bearing.

Its something you can fabricate yourself as needed, so unless you get a really good deal on one I wouldn't bother to order one.

[Michael Gramm]

You seem set not not getting an edge guide. Why not get one at a later time if you find the need. Personally, I find them invaluable for certain tasks and wouldn't be without them - but, hey, that's just me.

It's not that I'm set on not getting one. But I don't understand why someone would bother with it, and I'm trying to learn before deciding for certain.

I've heard people talk about how it *could* be used. But I haven't heard anything regarding why it *should* be used over the other methods.


Dave mentioned narrow boards, but that would seem to be ideally suited for a router table. Cary mentioned if the straight edge isn't set parallel - but it's a given that it has to be set up properly. By the same token, if the edge isn't properly flat, the edge guide won't work properly either. He did mention a good point about if the bit isn't centered in a round base, but that comes under proper set up to me.

All in all, everything I've heard so far seems to confirm my initial feelings on the matter, which is that edge guides don't really do anything special that you can't achieve with a table and straight edge.

[Cary Falk]

There is more than one way to skin a cat. Some are easier than others. Edge guied is quicker and more accurate for me. YMMV.

[Michael Gramm]

I understand. Well, if we've covered the essentials, then I will forgo the purchase.

Thanks, everyone!

[Bob Carreiro]

Hello Michael,

I'm like you - a tool must prove its value, either in time saved, quality improved, safety enhanced or material saved before I'm sold. If these benefits do not exit, ownership is not for me. For many, ownership is a choice driven by WANT (for varied reasons, as below). This is why you haven't been satified by the answers provided to you. It is because there IS no value (or little) to edge guide use beyond what can be done by other tools/methods, and for the most part, with substancially greater accuracy, repeatabilty, ease of use, etc., than with the edge guide!

I recently participated in a "heated" discussion on using (PC type) brass collar guides in a router table. It seems some people are "determined" to make use of them there. But nothing that is done with them in the table cannot be done using other methods AND with the ADDED benefits expressed above. Now back to edge guides.

So should you buy and use one? If you choose, but they aren't necessary. After much use, you may begin to favor it (and swear by it, though it doesn't change it's value) or find it a rediculous dust gatherer. But as you and I know, there are better, more effecient ways to skin a cat. Many woodworkers like using a variety of tools for the tools' sake (some are woodworkers to collect the tools - "the more tools, the better the woodworker", as if the bigger the fishing pole, the bigger the fish!), others view many tools as an expanse of their skill-set. Me? I am for the efficient and effective ways.


happy woodworking,
Bob

[Jeff Bratt]

Under those circumstances, I would think clamping a straight edge to the piece would be sufficient.

That works if the edge is straight. If it is curved at all, or you just want to reference your cut to the actual edge of the piece, then an edge guide works better. They also work better than pilot bearings, because the contact area of the bearing is small, and the bit will follow any little indentation or bump in the edge. A guide will contact the workpiece over a larger area (like a fence) and produce a smoother cut.

Now, I don't recommend buying an edge guide, I found the suggestions in Bill Hylton's book Router Magic better than the add-on-to-your-router-purchase edge guides from the router manufacturers. You can make your own jigs, from simple L or T squares, circle cutters, dado jigs, to more complex fixtures.

[Brian Muecke]

an edge-guided plunge router is my primary method for cutting mortices. It is very useful in this regard.

[Bill White]

I use mine when it is not possible to work on the table.
Bill