Thread: Basic question about routing !!!

George, you want to be running the router so the direction of rotation pulls the router against whatever is guiding it.

So in your case I assume you will have a straightedge or something clamped to the workpiece at an angle for the groove? Turning your drawing upside down, the straightedge would be on the timber close to you, and you would move the router right to left, ie. anticlockwise "around" the straightedge.


Cheers..............Sean

Originally Posted by scooter

George, you want to be running the router so the direction of rotation pulls the router against whatever is guiding it.

So in your case I assume you will have a straightedge or something clamped to the workpiece at an angle for the groove? Turning your drawing upside down, the straightedge would be on the timber close to you, and you would move the router right to left, ie. anticlockwise "around" the straightedge.


Cheers..............Sean

hi scooter

i am a bit confused when it comes to when the router pulls towards sowewhere according to rotation... i will of course make some practise cut on rubbish wood to test if i got it right !!!

in my case i will have the router mounted on a table i made... i made up a 'jig'from aluminium sections which acts asa scissor and i will clamp my wood on it... i made a 'stupid'picture to show how it all works(i made some practise cuts on rubbish wood some time ago and the thing works perfectly, even though i dont know if i was cutting the right way !!!) with red dotted lines you can see teh required cut !!) .i also want to make the same cut on the other side of the wood (the top side of the wood as shown in the pic) and for this i can flip the whole jig+wood to the other guide on the top and perform my cuts...although im VERY confused about the right direction !!!!

any thoughts on this setup !!! ????


Thanks,

George

Be careful making practice cuts, if you do it incorrectly the timber might fly if not held down securely.

Originally Posted by jow104

Be careful making practice cuts, if you do it incorrectly the timber might fly if not held down securely.

ok...im always trying to be as careful as i can when doing things like this...

can someone though suggest fedding direction according to my second drawing showing hte table guides , jig, wood and cutter....

it seems that when cutting on the table using a guide, the direction of feed should be not against the rotation but 'with'the rotation so that the wood is pushed against the guide !!!! am i correct ???

Please people...shed some light here !!!!!


Thanks,

George

If on a router table, never pass the timber between the fence and blade, it will centainly fly forward out of your control.

Originally Posted by jow104

If on a router table, never pass the timber between the fence and blade, it will centainly fly forward out of your control.

Hi All...

you must hate me by now...i am now even more consused by the quoted message........
can you give me some info according to my second drawing...where should the wood+jig be placed and what feed direction !!!!

Sory to bother you with 'stupid'questions .....


George

George, if rounting on a table.

As stated above, but that applies to the whole piece of timber. If machining between the two outside faces of timber it does not apply.

Originally Posted by jow104

George, if rounting on a table.

As stated above, but that applies to the whole piece of timber. If machining between the two outside faces of timber it does not apply.

Hi Jow

i think i get it now....

on all router tables i see the guide has a hole so that the cutter sinks into it (or hides in it) ...so i n most of your cuts on the table, the cutter is in the guide and you pass the wood edge to be trimmed rubbing on the guide !!! RIGHT ????

the way i made my table, cause i needed it mostly to do the shaft guides on speargun, i placed two guides, on either side of the cutter, and i would use the timber in between the guides( and i just push teh wood along..it does not move left or right as its held there by the two guides, over the cutter to make myself the shaft guide in the middle of the timber...

So... my anorthodox usage of the router table gave me all my problems trying to understand what you tell me !!!!





my next projec tis to make the holes on the guides so that i can make some more cuts using the fences properly !!!!!

Thanks all for the replies.... im off for some testing in the afternoons !!!!





george

Trying to follow what you are doing here...

In general, as the guys have been saying, is you don't want to be feeding the timber in the same direction as the router bit is rotating. This is climb cutting, and often will result in the timber being grabbed by the bit, and dragged into the cutter (and then often thrown)

When you are routing a channel (for example a dado) in the middle of the board, then direction isn't dictated by the bit pulling the workpiece, but instead is whether the bit is pushing the workpiece into the fence, or away from it. In any case, feeding from the right to the left is still the correct direction.

At this point, I am not clear on exactly what your drawing is showing, so here are 2 answers.....

IF! what you are showing is a plan view, and the red line depicts the path that the bit will follow underneath the timber (and is not full depth - ie is a channel, then):
In the first example you show, as woody was pointing out, if you proceeded to cut it from right to left, you will first contact the cutter with the workpiece between the bit and the fence, and it would be a climb cut (grab and throw scenario).

To do it, I would start with the piece rotated 180 degrees from how you have drawn it, plunge the piece into the bit, then feed it in the standard, right to left direction. When the bit breaks through the edge, it would end up on the edge, being fed in the correct direction, and not with the timber trapped between bit and fence.

If what you are showing is the actual channel itself, once you have turned the piece over, then it is an easier answer. You will still feed right to left, but now the cut will start at the edge, then become the channel.

In either case, you will need to present the workpiece to the router bit at the desired angle, so you won't be using the router fence to support the workpiece directly, but instead will use a sliding protractor that either travels along a t slot, or runs along the fence, carrying the workpiece at the required angle.

Now I'm starting to confuse myself........ too late at night to think clearly. Anyone see a problem with what I've tried to describe here?

Originally Posted by Stuart

Now I'm starting to confuse myself........ too late at night to think clearly. Anyone see a problem with what I've tried to describe here?

I think you have just about covered it, sounds right to me.

Originally Posted by Stuart

IF! what you are showing is a plan view, and the red line depicts the path that the bit will follow underneath the timber (and is not full depth - ie is a channel, then):
In the first example you show, as woody was pointing out, if you proceeded to cut it from right to left, you will first contact the cutter with the workpiece between the bit and the fence, and it would be a climb cut (grab and throw scenario).

To do it, I would start with the piece rotated 180 degrees from how you have drawn it, plunge the piece into the bit, then feed it in the standard, right to left direction. When the bit breaks through the edge, it would end up on the edge, being fed in the correct direction, and not with the timber trapped between bit and fence.

Hi Stuart...

This is indeed the scenrario i want to do !!!

what i show with dotted lines is the cut ( not on the top , but under the wood)

Once i have done that groove, i want to recreate it on the other side (the top side that is shown in the photo)

the paths must be identical (not opposite to each other...what i mean is if you bring the two surfaces together (the ones with the paths) then the pahs must not form an X pattern but to fall on top of each other !!!!


i made some practise cuts last night, but i did them the WRONG way from what you tell me !!!!

yes...the wood has been grabbed a couple of times making some small indents on myh otherwise 'perfect' diagonal path !!!!!

Hopefully your directions will give me a safer clean cut !!!!

Thanks all !!!!



George

The attached pic shows what every one has been saying. Assumes router in overhead use. The opposite for table.

Compare it to using a circular saw. As you push on the saw it naturally wants to go the other way, the way the blade is spinning (like a wheel)

The same as when you route the outside edge, you go againt the natrual "wheel" direction.

To experiment: If you have a piece of flat scrap put a straight edge on and set a router bit to a small depth. Using hand held, try and route a trench in the WRONG direction, as you go along you should feel the router wanting to pull away from the fence. If you allow the router to pull a bit, you won't get a smooth cut. The side opposite the fence will be wobbly. Then try the RIGHT direction. As you cut you will find that the router will hold itself to the fence and all you are doing is pushing it along the fence.

There is ONE time that fedding the wrong way is good. When routing end grain on timber. You route in the correct direction and stop about a cm or so from the end. If you continue you get tear out, where the bit rips off splinters at the end. By stopping short then coming from the other side solves this problem, but you must do it slow and carefully, as the router will want to take off.

The other thing that wasn't mentioned was say you want to cut 15 mm deep. make several passes, say 5, 10 then 15 mm deep, so you don't overwork the router bit. Even better is 5, 10, 14, then 15. The last pass is then little more than a cleaning pass, giving a neat finish

thanks bpj...


George