If there’s one router table operation that gives me the willies, it’s shaping raised panels. The thought of my fingers accidentally slipping into a monster cutter spinning at upwards of 10,000 rpm prompted me to cobble together this L-shaped wooden guard. What’s unusual about it is that it allows use of an overhead featherboard, which ensures clean cuts and a panel edge of consistent thickness.
The guard’s notch, which “wraps around” my 3⁄8"-thick featherboard, consists of a 3⁄8"-thick cutter cover glued to a 1⁄2"-thick mounting board that clamps to the router table fence. To use the setup, first clamp the featherboard to the fence, applying pressure to the workpiece to be routed. Then clamp the guard to the fence with the cutter cover sitting just slightly above the work.
Paul Anthony, senior editor
