Best Router & Router Table Projects for Beginners

April 13, 2022

As you kickstart your woodworking career, you don’t need to indulge yourself immediately in challenging projects to build up your woodworking resume. Instead, it will be best to start with less challenging tasks. The reason is that you are just building your confidence as a woodworker. Thus, you need to move from less challenging to more challenging woodworking tasks incrementally.

One exciting power tool to use as a beginner is the router. A router is a versatile device that allows you to create awesome projects. Yet, as a beginner, you need to learn the basics of its usage. So, engage in projects that are best suited for beginners for using router. Otherwise, if you indulge in challenging routing tasks, you might get frustrated if you don’t get the desired results and eventually lose enthusiasm for woodworking.

The Most Recommended Router and Router Table Projects for Beginners

You can’t simply leapfrog the stages in the development of a woodworker from being a beginner to an expert. Sometimes, it will be best to undergo an apprenticeship to learn the basics of router usage. So, if you are intent on mastering the router, it will help if you become cognizant of the following most recommended routing projects for beginners:

1) Cutting Boards

A straightforward project that you can create using the router is a cutting board. A cutting board, of course, is a necessity in every household, especially in the kitchen. As a beginner, it will be best to learn how to make one for your kitchen. If you can make one, I guess your wife or your mother will be very proud of you. 

Of course, a cutting board is a trendy item, and there is a strong demand for a good cutting board. It may seem easy to make a cutting board, but you will become proud of yourself if you can do it well. 

Cutting boards come in different styles and shapes. If your mind gets fueled with creativity, you can indeed create the best cutting board in the world. And you can undoubtedly monetize this project if you do well with it. 

Furthermore, the router is the perfect tool for fashioning the best cutting board in the world. So, what are you waiting for? You can now indulge yourself in this creative project to jumpstart your woodworking career.

2) Picture Frame

Another excellent routing project for beginners is the picture frame. A photo frame, of course, is also an in-demand item, just like the cutting board. You can use your router to fashion out a remarkable picture frame by cutting beveled edges onto the wood. 

Afterward, you can glue the wood pieces together. You can also use the router to shape the outer corners and front of the frame. Besides, you can use a variety of router bits to make unique styles for your picture frame. 

You can create straightforward and complex profiles that could wow those who will see your picture frame creation. Moreover, you can make curved cuts, complicated edges, and straight cuts using various router bits.

3) Clay Pot Hangers

Another excellent project to kickstart your router use is the clay pot hanger. You can make the most astonishing clay pot hangers ever created by woodworkers if you’re creative enough. The clay pot hangers, of course, can help tree lovers organize their outdoor and indoor plants. 

If you make a vertical clay pot hanger, you can hang at least a maximum of ten clay plots. Besides, you can build clay pot hangers of various sizes and capacities. If your wife loves to plant, she will surely be very grateful to you for this fantastic project.

4) Window Shutters and Louvered Doors 

Using the router, you can make window shutters and louvered doors, and these projects are perfect for beginners. These projects would allow enough airflow along an opening while providing the utmost privacy. 

Such projects aren’t difficult to make if you got the necessary jigs for fashioning out notches in the stiles. With these projects, you can get the hang of building the required jigs for the router. Afterward, you can begin building louvered using those jigs. 

5) Wooden Stools

Another worthwhile project is the wooden stool. You can make simple stools using your router. You can also create more complicated stools if you’re brimming with creativity. You can use a jigsaw for the stool seat. 

Afterward, you can utilize the router in shaping the edges well. You can always begin with this project if you intend to master furniture making.

6) Shelves and Book Stands

You can practice your routing skills by creating book stands and shelves. Shelves and bookstands, of course, come in handy when organizing your books and periodicals vertically. The design of your book stands and shelves will depend on your creativity. 

Yet, doing these projects allows you to practice making simple joineries. However, nicely built bookshelves can enhance the appearance of a room and add value to it.

7) Wooden Rings

Another way to express your creativity while practicing using a router is by making wooden rings. You can make wooden rings in the same way you will make wooden bangles. Of course, it may seem easy to make rings, and many people like to wear wooden rings. Yet, making wooden rings is a challenge, given the smaller sizes of rings. 

8) Knickknack Shelf

Another project to engage in using the router is the knickknack shelf. Knickknack shelf will allow you to organize your trophies, key chains, tiny photos, souvenirs, and other small items you like to display. You don’t need to store them in your attic; you can display them if you can make an excellent knickknack shelf. 

9) Bowl

Bowl, of course, is essential to a household. Yet, making a bowl is like a ritual passage for a woodworker who uses a router. It is easy to make, and you can create various sizes and styles of bowls. It is not a complex project, and you can use the router to make functional bowls for your household.

10) Wooden Tablet and Phone Dock

The router is such a versatile tool, and the sky’s the limit when it comes to the projects you can create. So, if your mind is fueled with creativity, you can do much with the router and monetize your routing skills. 

One such project you can indulge in is the wooden phone and tablet dock. You can make, for example, an iPod Dock to hold your device in place. You can also make a phone dock made of wood.

Conclusion

The router allows for unlimited possibilities in the hands of a creative mind. So, a routing skill, complemented by creativity, will surely be a sure hit in woodworking. As a beginner in router use, it is not advisable to aim for complicated projects that could only frustrate you if you don’t get the expected results. 

Hence, it will be best to start with the less complex tasks to build your confidence. Afterward, you can transition to more complicated projects to raise your level of routing skills a notch higher. In this way, you slowly pile up woodworking accomplishments to build your resume as a woodworker.