On the ball (literally)

It’s not a good idea to leave a bit chucked up in your router table all the time. Not a terrible idea, just not a good one. Leave a bit in for weeks or months on end and you can strain the collet, and if your shop is in a high-humidity area it could seize up or even rust in place. 

Still, I have a habit of doing just that. Not for extended periods, but if I know I’m going to work with the same bit soon (I use a straight bit more than any other), I’ll just lower it into the table and leave it there. As long as it’s not too long a period of time, I’ve never had an issue. 

But there are times when I’ve finished the routing portion of a project, lowered the bit for safety, moved on to something else and then forgot about it — only to come back a week or two later to find that bit still rigidly in place. 

So I came up with a simple trick that keeps that from ever happening. We live on a golf course and stray golf balls regularly bounce onto the patio behind my shop. I toss them into a box by the door and have gotten into the habit of placing one in the router table opening whenever I'm done for the day. At a glance, I know that I still have a bit in there.   

If I know I’m doing a project where I’ll need that straight bit again soon, the golf ball reminds me that my router is locked and loaded. As a bonus, that ball helps prevent knocking things into the opening where they could potentially damage the bit. 

Sometimes, the simplest shop accessory is one you’ll never find in a tool catalog. This one announced itself with a solid thunk! against my shop door.