Thread: Router not cutting clean (first time user)

How deep are u cutting in one pass it's a bit hard to gauge from your pic
Also ultra router bits are they the one from Bunnings
With a router weather it's table mounted or hand held
You should only be taking 2/3 mm cuts at a time
Don't expect it to hog out massive cuts in one go


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Hi Simplicity,
The depth was 7mm. I did it in two passes (roughly 3.5mm each pass). It was hand held, I clamped a piece of wood as a "fence". The second pass did nothing to the unclean part. I went from Left to Right.
Yes "ultra" is from bunnings.

Hi,

You could try placing a strip of masking tape over where the edges of the trench will be.
The tape will reduce the chipping along the edges of the cut.
You only need about 2mm of tape into where the trench will be, this way the router bit does not get to clogged up as you cut through the tape, and you end up with a nice clean cut.

Steve.

With diferent timbers you may get a cleaner cut,just sand the surface not the edge,you will find that those furry bits come off.
I have that sometimes on pine.

Mate you have done anything wrong!
Effectively you are "cross cutting" pine. The result is "just the way it goes". If you were grooving with the grain you would have a clean cut. Its characteristic of pine. To clean the whiskers up, wrap some abrasive paper, say 180# - 240#, around a cork block and gently rub the whiskers off but not taking too much off that will be high lighted when you put your shelf in the groove for assembly. Also try not to scratch the pine face while you are rubbing across the grain.
As has been said...only take 2-3mm at a time until you arrive at the required depth. You will feel the router pull in against your fence, that tells you that it is happy going in that direction. If the router puts up some protest you are probably trying to do a "climb cut". The router will fight you all the way if you persevere.
Routers are a great tool and do a marvelous job BUT they are a powerful beast and need full concentration during use.

As has been said its a charcteristic of pine (many timbers will do this across the grain) and there is no need to do it in 2 passes. The machine, cutter and timber are/should all be capable of a 6-7mm depth single (finished) cut pass.

A downshear type of bit can significantly control the fuzzies.

Carba-Tec Spiral Downcut Bits : CARBA-TEC

Thanks guys for your responses. A few things to try out...