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Let's start with the depth stop on the No. 71. What, you didn't know the No. 71 sported a depth stop? Well it does, but it's a lame one in my book. The No. 71's depth stop is incorporated into the little metal shoe at the front of the tool. This shoe (and the metal rod attached to it) are supposed to close up the throat of the router for the instances when you need a bearing surface right in front of the tool – such as when making hinge mortises on the edge of a passageway door. If you take this shoe out and install it upside down so the shoe is above the tool (yes, it looks ridiculous) then you can use the shoe's metal rod like a depth stop.
The photo above shows this operation better than words can. The downside to this Rube Goldberg set-up is that the tool doesn't actually stop cutting when you reach your final depth – it's more of a depth "suggester." And then there's the small problem of the rod getting hung up on waste in your mortise. And sometimes the rod bangs into the good part of your work and makes a nice little rounded dent. Thanks Stanley. The VERITAS solution to this problem is elegant – and taken from the modern drill press. On the threaded post that controls the iron's projection there are two threaded brass collars. Jam them against one another on any point on the threaded post and you can limit the depth of adjustment. There are even small holes provided in the collars so you could put a small metal bar or nail in there if you really wanted to torque the two collars against one another. I've never found this necessary, however. They stay put.
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