There can be two types of blade fixation in a homemade router or trenching plane. The first (shown left) has the blade intersecting the work surface in the same manner as a normal wooden plane and is held in place with a wooden wedge. The blade is sharpened at the same bevel as a conventional plane blade. The second type (shown right) uses a blade with a bend in the base, which will give a more consistent cut and allow for a better view; this version sometimes has the blade held by a metal locking collar. Manufacturers of almost all metal-bodied routers have copied this second style. Since all woodworkers have their own interpretation of what the correct angle for a cut should be, there is no set rule for the bed angle of the blade.

This tool has always been called an OWT or Old Woman's Tooth, a dated convention that persists in modern nomenclature. "Old Hag's Tooth", an alternative and somewhat offensive name that persisted for many years, has now been discarded by most sensible people who have occasion to identify this tool.

D.S. Orr

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