Lest you forget, we here at the Woodworker’s Journal eZine exist not only to serve you, our online readers. We also have a print magazine to put out — and the one that we’re working on now, our November/December 2005 issue, will have all sorts of cool stuff in it about routers. In fact, we’re calling it our “big router issue.”
Yeah, that’s right: November/December. We work pretty far ahead of “real time” on the print issue — which is one reason why we think it’s so great to have this eZine for communicating things that we just can’t wait to tell you about…like stuff that we hear about at the tool conferences we attend in the summer.
I just got back from one of those tool conferences, this one put on by Ryobi tools. They showed us several new tools that will be coming down the pike in the next few months — including some stuff that, coincidentally, dealt with routers and routing.
Most specifically, for this article: the Ryobi Starter Routing Kit. If you’re the sort of woodworker who’s ever wanted to get into routing, but just hasn’t the patience to figure out everything you’d need (or if you’re intimidated by the router and want someone else to do the handholding for you, at least at first) — then this kit is for you.
It comes with everything you need to rout (well, OK, except the router. But, trust me, there are plenty of those available).
What you get in this kit — Model A25RE02 — is 15 carbide router bits in a wooden storage box, a letter and number template kit, guide bushings and a non-skid mat. That’s the router accessories. Then, for the educational component, you also get a “routing made easy” DVD featuring home improvement expert Danny Lipford, plus a CD-ROM with project plans, tips and tricks, glossary of router-related terms, manuals and a chart showing what cuts each type of router bit makes. Plus, a carrying bag big enough to carry all this and a router comes with the kit.
Now, at the risk of sounding like Bob Barker (a risk that Ryobi’s tool presenters seem unflinchingly willing to take), how much would you expect to pay for all this? Well ladies and gentlemen, if purchased separately, all this would take your tally up to $275! But wait … the Ryobi Starter Routing Kit is priced at: under $90!
You can find it this fall at Home Depot, and you’ll find info about it then on www.ryobitools.com. In the meantime, you can keep reading about all the great woodworking info and tips — including those about routers — in the Woodworker’s Journal, both print and online.
