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Rating: 
Summary: Good Luck
Review: As I beginner I was anxious to read and do everything in this book from front to back. She's obviously a skilled craftsperson and her jigs are well built and thought out. I however became discourged quickly with the complexity of them. I found that the materials she suggests for the projects are hard to find, ie, baltic birch plywood, acrylic over 1/4", HDPE plastic,veneer screws, and adhesive backed sandpaper. My local hardware stores and lumber yards did not have these materials. Wait until you see the vacuum clamping system she recommends! If you enjoy scavenger hunts this book is for you.If you start by building "her" router table the jigs work better, but I already have a nice router table and don't care to make the invasive modifications she recommends when other plans and jigs are available elsewhere that adapt well to what I have. Of couse if some of the jigs and parts are too difficult for you, you can find them prebuilt and available for a price at her own website!
Rating:
Summary: Good Luck
Review: As I beginner I was anxious to read and do everything in this book from front to back. She's obviously a skilled craftsperson and her jigs are well built and thought out. I however became discourged quickly with the complexity of them. I found that the materials she suggests for the projects are hard to find, ie, baltic birch plywood, acrylic over 1/4", HDPE plastic,veneer screws, and adhesive backed sandpaper. My local hardware stores and lumber yards did not have these materials. Wait until you see the vacuum clamping system she recommends! If you enjoy scavenger hunts this book is for you. If you start by building "her" router table the jigs work better, but I already have a nice router table and don't care to make the invasive modifications she recommends when other plans and jigs are available elsewhere that adapt well to what I have. Of couse if some of the jigs and parts are too difficult for you, you can find them prebuilt and available for a price at her own website!
Rating: 
Summary: Best of the Lot
Review: I have many books on using routers, but I think this is the best. If you are beginner in regard to routers, this is the book to get. If you are experienced in the use of routers, you will still find much useful information. Many books on routers are usually just compendiums of jigs, and most repeat the same types of jigs as the other books. While this book also presents a number of useful jigs, jigs are not the focus. The emphasis is on actually using the router in many commonly encountered situations. Procedures are described in careful, step-by-step detail. There is a wealth of full color photos, and line drawings are clear and carefully labeled.
One review griped that supplies and materials used in jigs and projects covered by the book were hard to obtain in his local hardware store. That is likely to be the case in regard to the jigs presented in almost any router book. There are many reputable sources for these items on the internet, and it isn't at all realistic to expect them to be available locally except in large cities. There are no hard-to-find items required. It is true that one of the topics covered is the use of a vacuum system to clamp work to a table while routing. This is usually considered the best way to hold down work so that the router is unimpeded by clamps and other contrivances. The vacuum clamp is actually quite simple to make (the drawings and directions for the system are quite clear in this book - far more so than in other books I've seen) and the most exotic part of the system is a vacuum pump, easily purchased used off ebay for a fraction of the cost of a new pump.
There is much useful information about the basics in regard to buying routers, bits, and useful tools helpful in setting up your router and maintaining it. In fact, the book contains a lot of extremely useful basic information not found in other books. However, as mentioned before, there is much information helpful to the experienced router user as well. So many books leave the impression that the authors simply generated jigs and `helpful' fixtures just for their books, and careful study of the material in these books often shows possible flaws and complicated features that serve little purpose. Not so with this book. Ms. Reed has clearly used and refined the various jigs and fixtures in her book. The result cuts out the chaff and leaves us with truly top notch information.
Rating:
Summary: WoodWorking Student
Review: I have taken several of the hands on classes that the author offers on the use of routers. She is a great teacher. The book does a super job of covering the materials from the classes. The photographs and illustrations are clear and easy to understand. If you follow the instructions in the book there is a much better chance that will be able to use your router without getting hurt and you will enjoy using it all that much more. The jigs, shown in the book are very useful and practical. They are simple and you wonder why you never thought of them. They make using your router much safer and user friendly. Just the tips on how to setup a dovetail jig are worth the price of the book. Check out the author's website http://www.routerlady.com for more information about the tools she markets and her classes.
Rating:
Summary: WoodWorking Student
Review: I have taken several of the hands on classes that the author offers on the use of routers. She is a great teacher. The book does a super job of covering the materials from the classes. The photographs and illustrations are clear and easy to understand. If you follow the instructions in the book there is a much better chance that will be able to use your router without getting hurt and you will enjoy using it all that much more. The jigs, shown in the book are very useful and practical. They are simple and you wonder why you never thought of them. They make using your router much safer and user friendly. Just the tips on how to setup a dovetail jig are worth the price of the book. Check out the author's website http://www.routerlady.com for more information about the tools she markets and her classes.
Rating:
Summary: I was pleasantly surprised!
Review: To tell you the truth, I got this book when I forgot to return a woodworking book club card in time. When the package came, I thought about writing "return" on it, but was curious as to which title was inside. It was this one! As a visual person, I was immediately impressed with the copious number of photographs and illustrations. The pictures are well balanced with the text which is clearly written and to the point. A LOT of ground is covered in only 172 pages. The book has four main sections: Section One: "Tools, Jigs and Techniques" covers the basics: Choosing a Router, Router Bits, Jiggery (9 different ones), Special Holding Systems, and Basic Router Techniques. (First 76 pages) Section Two: "The Joints" covers Rabbets, Dadoes, Grooves and Slots, Box Joint, Mortises and Tenons, Dovetails, and Special Joints with Special Bits
Special Stuff (Next 49 pages) Section Three: "Special Stuff" covers Routing with Templates (including inlays)
(10 pages) Section Four: "Practice Projects" contains 5 project plans, the most complicated of which is a gorgeous Router Bit Cabinet with router bit trays (which also includes practice making a frame and panel door and a dovetailed drawer.
(16 pages) The remainder of the book is a Glossary, Sources, etc. I did not know anything about Carol Reed's reputation before cracking this book, but it is clear from both the text and the pictures that she knows of what she speaks! If you are looking for a good first book on using a router for something besides putting pretty edges on boards, this book is highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: I was pleasantly surprised!
Review: To tell you the truth, I got this book when I forgot to return a woodworking book club card in time. When the package came, I thought about writing "return" on it, but was curious as to which title was inside. It was this one! As a visual person, I was immediately impressed with the copious number of photographs and illustrations. The pictures are well balanced with the text which is clearly written and to the point. A LOT of ground is covered in only 172 pages. The book has four main sections: Section One: "Tools, Jigs and Techniques" covers the basics: Choosing a Router, Router Bits, Jiggery (9 different ones), Special Holding Systems, and Basic Router Techniques. (First 76 pages) Section Two: "The Joints" covers Rabbets, Dadoes, Grooves and Slots, Box Joint, Mortises and Tenons, Dovetails, and Special Joints with Special Bits
Special Stuff (Next 49 pages) Section Three: "Special Stuff" covers Routing with Templates (including inlays)
(10 pages) Section Four: "Practice Projects" contains 5 project plans, the most complicated of which is a gorgeous Router Bit Cabinet with router bit trays (which also includes practice making a frame and panel door and a dovetailed drawer.
(16 pages) The remainder of the book is a Glossary, Sources, etc. I did not know anything about Carol Reed's reputation before cracking this book, but it is clear from both the text and the pictures that she knows of what she speaks! If you are looking for a good first book on using a router for something besides putting pretty edges on boards, this book is highly recommended!
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