Making Thinner Slices on the Router Table

Back |

Posted:  Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 02:24 PM
Categories: Router

Until recently, whenever I used my router to cut a shape or joint into a piece of wood, I always took the full cut in one pass on the router. This approach works but is a bad idea for several reasons:

1. Its really hard on the router bit, especially when working with harder woods.
2. The router bit gets hotter the more material you cut with the bit, and therefore will likely burn the wood.
3. If you make a mistake and the board you're pushing past the router bit kicks, its going to have a much bigger kick because the bit's taking such a large chunk out of the wood.

When you should do is cut multiple thin slices out of the material, making multiple passes instead of one big one. This saves wear and tear on the router bit and makes the cut safer.

I developed a process for this using a chamfer bit, which I hope to write about soon.

Before I explain how to do this, its important to note that I didn't come up with this idea on my own, I learned about it while learning how to use the .

If you've already started thinking of how to do this, you probably think you have to do multiple setups for your router table fence in order to make the thinner cuts. That isn't the right approach.

What you should do is setup your router table and fence for the full cut, then tape a stack of thin pieces of wood against the fence. As you complete each pass, remove two slices, one on either side of the router bit, then make the next cut. The thickness of the shim pieces determines the thickness of the slice taken from the material being cut.

Here's how I did it.

I decided to use 1/8 inch MDF for this for several reasons. First of all, I had some lying around in my shop, which was good. Most importantly, I selected MDF because it generally doesn't warp with moisture; it stays flat over time.

I measured the height and width of my router table fence segments (in my case 15" x 3") then cut multiple MDF strips to those dimensions as shown in the following figure. For my setup, I cut 8 pieces, giving me the ability to use 4 on either side of the router bit for a total of 1/2 inches in depth. If I take one off after each cut, then that gives me space for 5 (all but the first one 1/8 inches) passes against the router bit.

Image 1: MDF strips

To use them, place a long piece of woodworkers tape on the back of each one, remove the paper backing, and attach one on each side of the router table fence (in pairs) until you get the depth you need.

Note: For woodworkers tape, I use XFasten Double Sided Woodworking Tape 1 Inch.

Image 2: Woodworkers tape on the MDF strips

And here's one of them in place on my router table and the paired piece ready to attach to the left side fence.

Image 3: MDF Strip attached to my router table fence

With paired stacks of MDF in place, make your first pass at the router bit, then remove one of the pieces of wood (or MDF in my case) from both sides of the router table fence. Repeat through multiple passes until you removed all the pairs of wood to make your final cut using the original router table fence face.

Its kind of a pain to set this up for every new cut, but the results are amazing. Lightweight cuts, no burning, and a safer process.

---

Next Post: Getting Chamfers Right

Previous Post: Storing Rockler Snap-Lock Insert Rings