Router Table Starter Pin Makes Routing Smoother

 

Start with a starter pin

Functioning much like a fulcrum, this router table accessory is as valuable as it is simple. Used in combination with earing-piloted router bits, a starter pin lets you brace your workpiece for more precise and controlled freehand edgework.

You can buy metal and plastic starter pins, such as a brass version from Eagle America ($4.99; eagle-america.com), but it's easy to make one from a dowel or a piece of steel rod. Pins should snugly fit the starter pin hole in the router table and need only reach about an inch above the table surface.

Starter pins are best mounted less than 2" from the outside edge of your bit. If you're using a homemade router table that's not predrilled for a starter pin, drill the pin hole slightly in front and to the right of the bit on the infeed side.