Bill Johnson
Managing Director
As a woodworker for many years and having a background in training and risk management, Bill Johnson took the decision to design a safe routing system.
By steering clear of the recognised methods, he created a workstation that was capable of carrying out most router actions in a fast, convenient and extremely safe way.
Design And Development
Creating the RS800 Workstation
First and foremost, attention was paid to eliminating the system of passing a work piece across a cutter with the risk to one's fingers. To achieve this the work piece is firmly clamped to a multi-positional framework and the router allowed to pass overhead. This makes the workstation an ideal machine for the teaching environment where Health and Safety issues are paramount.
In order to facilitate particularly large work pieces to be machined, the front table has a locking rise and fall system. Supports are also fitted as standard that allow large items such as doors to be secured enabling edge routing without the need for templates or guide bushes to cut, for example 'hinge housings'.
The next phase was to design the workstation to machine in practically any direction and angle. In order to be able to attach fitments to carry out these operations, the choice of build materials was very high on the agenda. Industrial quality aluminium extrusion with standardised tracks was chosen. This not only produced a workstation capable of standing up to the rigors of a busy professional workshop but also gave maximum flexibility with practically every part of the machine being adjustable by a single hex key. The strength of the frame also allows for an engineers vice to be very easily bolted on. With a suitable cutter fitted, aluminium can be secured in the vice and routed safely.