Basic Router Questions

[Ron Paris]

Hi,
I'm trying to get myself up to speed on the router so I can move from those 'butt joints' that I had used earlier.
I've bought one of Bill Hylton's books and have the one on the router table on order.
Questions:
1. Bill says to buy a 8' 1X10 piece of 'white wood' to use for my practice runs as I learn how to use the router. What exactly is 'white wood'?
2. The router I will use in my router table is a Milwaukee 5625-20. When I mount it to the router table plate, is this done with or without the clear plastic sub plate attached?
3. I have the counter sunk holes drilled in the aluminum plate for my table so that I can mount the router. I need another hole as this router comes with a wrench that permits adjustments from above the table. What sort of bit should I use to drill this hole in the aluminum plate? Can I do this with a hand drill or should I use a drill press?
I realize these may be basic questions but I'd just as soon do this correctly and so figured I should ask some experts.
Thanks
Ron

[Jim Becker]

1) "White Wood" is just a piece of common 1-by lumber from the box store

2) You generally remove a sub-based when mounting a router in a table

3) Standard twist drill and a drill press is highly recommended...be sure you clamp down the workpiece and mark the center of the hole location with a punch to insure the hole starts in exactly the correct spot. Put a piece of scrap wood under the plate, too, so that the exit hole will be clean

[Dustin Cranford]

Hi,
I'm trying to get myself up to speed on the router so I can move from those 'butt joints' that I had used earlier.
I've bought one of Bill Hylton's books and have the one on the router table on order.
Questions:
1. Bill says to buy a 8' 1X10 piece of 'white wood' to use for my practice runs as I learn how to use the router. What exactly is 'white wood'?
2. The router I will use in my router table is a Milwaukee 5625-20. When I mount it to the router table plate, is this done with or without the clear plastic sub plate attached?
3. I have the counter sunk holes drilled in the aluminum plate for my table so that I can mount the router. I need another hole as this router comes with a wrench that permits adjustments from above the table. What sort of bit should I use to drill this hole in the aluminum plate? Can I do this with a hand drill or should I use a drill press?
I realize these may be basic questions but I'd just as soon do this correctly and so figured I should ask some experts.
Thanks
Ron

Can't help on all the others, but whitewood even though I don't what it is can be found at any lowes or home depot and is really inexpensive. Cheaper then the pine they have.

[Joe Scharle]

For the adjusting wrench hole, either make it overly large or countersink the underside so that the rubber dust shield fingers don't jam the wrench head when you pull it out.

[Pat Monahan]

Welcome to the Creek, Ron. White wood is another name for poplar at Home Depot. If you want cheap wood to practice on, Home Depot has 1 x 10 x 8 pine shelving for about $8, which is about 2/3 the price of knotty pine. The shelving is usually pretty straight and free of defects, maybe one or two knots the size of a pencil. Sure beats paying for clear pine. Of course if you have a planer and rough sawn wood, $8 a board may be a bit expensive, but that's a different deal.

[Brian Tymchak]

Hi Ron,

I believe that whitewood can be several species and is whatever is available for dimensional construction lumber in your region. In our neck of the woods, it seems to most often be a pine of some sort, possibly spruce since it really is white compared to SYP (Southern Yellow Pine). It is pretty soft compared to SYP as well and cheaper. Seems to warp and cup in a heart beat. However, the recommendation to use it for practice is a good one. I've done that before a lot. So go pick up a whitewood 2x4. Probably only a couple bucks.

Brian

[gary butcher]

i get pieces of generic poplar/whatever 1"x4"x5ft at the local Lowes. It's cheap, pretty well finished, smooth and straight and makes good practice boards. Problem is, I'm usually too busy to practice

[Jim Rimmer]

I get a couple of 1"x8"x8' pine boards at HD and keep them around for setting up cuts and routing. The 1" is really 3/4" so it works great for setting up my dovetail jig and making trial cuts on my router table and it's cheap.