Heather and I headed up to Woodcraft in Plano for the first day of a two day router basics class. No, not the networking ones, the woodworking ones. We’ve got some projects around the house that really do need one and we decided that it’d be better to know what we’re doing before we buy an expensive and dangerous power tool.

The shop is well designed, with separate workbenches for everyone and lots of room to maneuver. Our instructor is great, he’s patient, funny, and doesn’t pander to the females in the class, instead treating them just like the guys. We’re building a kleenex box, with rabbet joints, dados, chamfers, and some rounding over to make things pretty. It’s all hands-on, with each of us doing every part of the build. So far we’ve got the rabbets and dadoes done, as well as the hole in the lid. In between hands-on work, we’re learning about the different types of routers and bits, as well as safety and what to look for when shopping.