SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/wood-router-outside

When routing an outside edge by hand, which way do you move the router around the work?

Counterclockwise on outside cuts.

Start playing free

  1. Clockwise
  2. Whichever feels easier
  3. Counterclockwise ✔

Why: The bit spins clockwise when viewed from above, so you feed against that spin. For an outside edge, that means moving counterclockwise around the workpiece, which keeps the bit biting into the wood and gives control.

Huh, didn't know that: Woodcraft says to move a handheld router right to left along an outside edge.

The dad joke
What's big, grey and falls from trees in Autumn? Eleafant.
Like this card?
Play the game

References

Answer: Counterclockwise. The bit spins clockwise when viewed from above, so you feed against that spin. For an outside edge, that means moving counterclockwise around the workpiece, which keeps the bit biting into the wood and gives control.

  1. DeWalt DW616 Router Instruction Manual assets.dewalt.com/GLOBALBOM/QU/DW616PK/1/Instruction_Manual/EN/N384518_DW616.pdf
    move the router in a counterclockwise direction on an outside cut
    Checked 2026-10-10.

Think this answer is wrong? Tap "Challenge this answer" on the card in the game and tell us why.

Test yourself in the game

Trades & ShopWhen routing an inside cut such as a cutout, which way do you move a handheld router?Trades & ShopWhat is the danger of climb cutting with a router?Trades & ShopOn a router table, which way should the workpiece be fed relative to the bit's rotation?

That's stuff everyone should know.