Thread: Why are there three depth stops?

Originally Posted by CT

Both my routers have a turret with three depth stops. I've only ever used one of them, generally the middle one. I can't see why there are three especially as you can adjust the height of them anyway. Can someone explain to me why you'd need three depth stops?
Thanks.

When you can't do a routing job in one go, you can preset one depth stop for about half the depth, rout to that depth, then flick to the next one and do the final routing.

Have used this on all my kitchen doors where I routed a decorative pattern in them but couldn't do the full depth in one go.

Must admit I have never used all 3 stops.

If you were routing a really deep trough in some tough wood, then you may want three passes and use all three stops.

Have to admit, I've never used more than two either.

Has anyone ever used all three on one job?

Tex

I recently built a verandah out of recycled hardwood for someone and had to rout a housing on the underneath of the hand rail. I could have used four depth stops. Actually I use all three quite often, if you don't hurry the cut I think you get a cleaner cut.

When going handheld I often use all 3 - as has already been stated, on occasion I could have used more.

First stop is usually a "reasonable bite", second gets me within 1 to 0.5mm of final depth and stop 3 is just a very light cleanup cut. Try it, you'll be surprised how easy it is especially if you have a heap of cuts to do - measure and set up once instead of every time.

Regards,
Bob

I would suggest that all three stops should be used which will give a better finish to your work and put less strain on the router. I have one with six stops which I use especially when using smaller cutters and working with hardwood (Jarrah)
Tom

They can also be used with the same cutter but you want different depths for a decorative finnish

Or you could use them if you need 3 different depths.

When I do deep mortises in hardwood I use all three stops so that I don't put too much strain on the router.