Rout lines, pictures and letters using the router – with the right tool and a steady hand, it’s as easy as can be. Using a simple pattern, this illustrated guide explains how you can rout letters and engrave pictures into wood and demonstrates how versatile a router can be. In just a few movements, you can create stylish decorative elements or embellish existing items of furniture with the perfect router and routing depth.
Routers are easy to use for producing creative, artistic wooden surfaces. To do this, the router is guided freehand without any stops. Lines and pictures are drawn on the wooden surface either based on your own draft or with the use of templates. Then, the user carefully traces the lines in order to rout the pictures into the wood. This relies on the user’s skill and how steady they can keep the router. The tool has to be guided with great care and very high precision. Wood with distinct rings of early and late wood require the tool to be guided particularly precisely as the cutter will try to follow the rings of hard late wood. To make the design easier to see, the wood is stained a dark colour before being routed.
First a few examples:
- Engraving: Plant motif cut with a script cutter. Can be used for decorations or for wood engraving.
- Presentation of symbols as a decorative element
- Orientation symbol, e.g. on a toilet door in a bar
- Decorations can be used with an animal motif, e.g. for children’s furniture
- Routing signs with letters