How To Router Letters Freehand


Routing letters is a fun and relaxing activity that can be picked up by anyone, anywhere. All you need to do is get the right equipment and practice consistently to get the best results.

To router letter freehand you will need to first trace the pattern onto the wood, then use different bits in different stages of the project starting from a low bit depth. If possible to adjust the speed, use half of the maximum speed as this will reduce the errors and still provide a clean result.

If you want to dedicate yourself to this art form, then this will be the perfect guide for you to start off. Here you will learn the basics of routing, the equipment required, and the proper procedures that need to be followed to router letters freehand.

7 Steps to Router Letters Freehand    

There are two common ways to route letters freehand. The first step is quite simple and as follows:

1.    First set up the router tool and have the design of the text that you want to carve stenciled or printed out. Based on design trace out a contour on the wooden surface you will be working on using a script cutter.

2.    Once the contour of the text has been carved on the wooden surface, time to bring out the router tool. At the beginning of the project, a low bit depth is more preferable as it minimized error margin.

To determine the right depth, you should make a few trial cuts on a sample wooden surface that has the same wood type as the main surface. The bit depth usually varies based on the quality of the wood surface.

3.    If your router has speed control then set the motor speed to half before commencing the routing.  

4.    Place one hand on the router’s grip and the other one on the base of the router in such a way that it touches the surface of the workpiece as well. By positioning your hands in such a manner you can ensure maximum stability.

Once your hands are in position, slowly trace the router along the contours already drawn on the work surface. Be a bit careful when doing cursive fonts as they require a minute and precise hand movements.

5.    Work on one letter at a time. Once you finish routing a letter, turn the router off before transferring to the next letter. Make sure that the locking system is released before adjusting the bit to the next letter.

6.    Before moving on to the next letter, make sure that you clean the previous letter. Each time you route a letter a lot of dust and wood residue will pile up around and inside the letter carvings. Have a piece of cloth on the work station for this purpose as you’ll be doing it frequently.

7.    Finish it off, by comparing how accurate the routing is with the design the contour for the text was drawn from. For training purposes, you should begin with block letters and then move on to cursive though it might seem tempting to try it first.  

If you don’t feel that you’re confident enough to trace the text properly if it is too complex, then you can also follow another process to get the job done. But the catch is that larger designs and surfaces are usually required for this in beginner stages. Also, it involves using a fixed-based router for routing the letters, which needs to be fixed with the workstation.

In this process, the base plate of the router is mounted under the table with the bit head protruding out from the top. This technique isn’t very effective for routing letters on signs but it’s excellent for routing letters on smaller o

Alternative Guide To Router Letters Freehand:

1.    In this process, the first thing that you need to do is paste is temporarily stick the design template on the work surface. You can use tape or weak glue/gum for this purpose. The purpose of doing so is to ensure that you can trace the design accurately by worrying about the micro-adjustments required for routing the letters, especially complex fonts.

2.    Cut the inner lines of the design first and then route the letters accordingly. This aligns the design and carving accurately.

3.    Since you will be tracing the template to carve the letters instead of moving the router head manually on the surface, you need to ensure that the router is moved in a slow and steady manner. Any sudden movements or jerks can ruin the surface and the design, so you need to be extra careful.

4.    Unlike the previous technique, you cannot compare it directly with the template as it will be destroyed in the process. However, you can easily bypass this problem by having a second copy of the template ready to compare.

Buying a router:

Routers for woodwork come in many shapes and functions. Some are used for heavy-duty woodwork while others are used for lighter tasks like routing letters and designs on signs and wooden surfaces. So you need to know which type of router you need to buy for engraving purposes.

Routers for woodwork engravings come in two variations: plunge and fixed. A plunge based router is a bit like a sewing machine- the base is placed on the surface of the engraving and the bit head is a bit raised when the device is not in use. All you need to do to use it is turn on the device and the bit head will come down and drill.

The fixed-based routers are a bit different as it is fixed on the workstation, meaning the work surface itself has to be moved around while the bit stays constant. As a result, fewer adjustments have to be made to the bit, unlike plunge-based routers. This is mainly useful for artistic designs, but usually difficult to use when carving letters.    

For learning how to router letters freehand, plunge-based routers are the way to go as it’s more convenient, portable, and to engrave letters with.  

Setting up your router:

Now that you know the things you need to keep in mind, time to learn how to set up your router. The first thing you want to do is choose the bit size of the router before anything else. While fixing the bit to the router, make sure the router cable is unplugged. You should develop the habit of setting up power tools and such before any kind of work, not just woodworking. Push it deep into the router’s collet than pull it back an inch before securing its position by tightening the screw.

Once the bit is fixed, you need to set the bit depth location by using the plunge locking lever (position differs according to the manufacturer). This determines how deep the carving will be across the board. After the bit depth is adjusted, you will also have to adjust the depth pin and turrent adjustments as well in the same specs.

Check the adjustments one last time before plugging the power cable. For the first couple of times, the process might seem a bit slow but once you get accustomed to it you can finish the setup in a few minutes. With all that said and done, lets now move on to how to router letters freehand step-by-step.

Things to Consider:

Before you begin to learn how to router letters freehand, there are a couple of things that you need to keep in mind. 

  •   Dimensions Matter: Routing letters on wood is a matter of precision and accuracy, which is why you need to consider the size of the letters and the dimensions of the routing surface beforehand. If the number of characters in your design is high, then the dimensions of the woodwork surface will have to be determined accordingly. The font size and style are also important when considering the surface dimensions.

A handy tip is to buy a large carving surface and then reduce its dimensions accordingly. Once the carving is done the rough ends need to be planed, sanded, and trimmed properly.

  • ·  Router size matters: Routers are a lot like power drill machines for walls and concretes- they have different edges in varying sizes the same way power drills have different drill heads. Depending on the router that you will buy, some designs will be possible while others won’t.

You should do some research beforehand and buy a woodwork power tool that will accommodate the fonts and styles you have in mind.

  • Pre-plan The Design: As mentioned above, precision is highly important in routing letters freehand. This is why you need to draw out the design beforehand on paper. You can type out the words using different computer software and printing them out. Alternatively, you can also stencil them manually by hand.
  • Buy the right equipment: If you think that you can jump straight into routing letters freehand as soon as you get your router power tool, you would be wrong. There are a few more necessary accessories that you need to buy to practice routing letters freehand. First and foremost is a stationary or semi-stationary working table. The dimensions of the table depend on your requirements, but usually routing letters and designs on signs or small wooden surfaces don’t require a large table.

Aside from the table you also need some high-quality clamps to keep the carving surface still as the slightest movement can ruin your alignment. To make minute router adjustments you also need v-groove cutters, script cutters, and flute cutters.

  • Safety gear: Routing letters and designs on wood might seem safe at a glance, but it’s not. You can get knicks and cuts anytime from the sharp edges of the wooden surface or the router itself.

Then there’s always the chance for a random fleck of wood flying right into your eyes as you’re working.

You don’t need much in terms of safety gear for woodwork- a pair of industrial-strength gloves and safety goggles are more than enough to keep you protected when woodworking.

A Few Things To Remember:

·         Do your research beforehand: Doing your research beforehand is important due to the numerous types of routers and bit sizes available in the market. Luckily there are a lot of beginner-friendly router packages that you can find at your local hardware store or online.

·         Never hurry when routing letters or designs freehand. Patience is the key to making beautiful woodwork engravings.

·         If you are using a plunge router, always keep an eye on the temperature.

Best Of Luck!

This was our complete guide on how to rounter letters freehand. We hope you found it useful and that you will create some beatiful woodpieces very soon.

Martin Swizz

Hi! This is Martin, I like to research, experiment, and learn new things related to wood carving and other kinds of woodworking.

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