Synopsis: Simple and versatile, the router is an invaluable woodworking tool. But it can be made even more versatile if you add shopmade sub-bases. The simple bases outlined in this article can help with a variety of tasks: They stabilize the router for otherwise risky cuts, quickly and cleanly trim furniture components flush, and make mortising easier. Using just a few scraps from your wood bin, you’ll soon be cutting better edge profiles, trimming edge-banding, dovetails, plugs, and tenons, and mortising like a champ.

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A router is a very simple woodworking machine; at its most basic, it’s a device that spins a cutting tool. This simplicity is a virtue, however, and is the reason the router is so incredibly versatile.

But the router needs some help to unleash its full power. One way is with custom bases. Once you realize you can attach your own sub-base to a…