A scarey incident at the store.

rrich · 26th August 2006, 04:20 PM

Nah, nothing threatening...

This guy comes in lugging a router. (Plunge, 1-3/4 HP with a one inch round over bit installed. Over 2" in diameter?)

He's complaining that our (Store Brand) router bit is bent. (You don't bend a 1/2" shank router bit. Break it, yes but bend it, no.) I look at it and say, "Yes it looks as if it isn't straight. Do you have the wrenches?" He goes out to the truck and gets the wrenches and I remove the bit.

I also remove the Porter Cable style collet. The bit is as straight as can be. While I'm looking at the bit and collet the guy uses his fingers and removes the mating piece of the collet. (YES! WITH HIS FINGERS!) This router has a threadded shaft on the motor and the collet assembly is screwed on to the motor shaft.

About now my eyes and the Assistant Manager's eyes are about as big as the router bit. I ask the guy how do I tighten the collet assembly onto the motor shaft? He just sort of shrugs and offers that this is the fourth router from the other store. He has perviously taken three back for similar problems and each time they just give him a new router.

We didn't see any locking mechanism on the shaft. The guy had two (different sizes) wrenches that OBVIOUSLY came with the router.

The guy showed me the log benches that he was trying to make for the client. (He had them in the back of the truck.) There was a cut of about 14 inches that showed severe chatter and chopping. So the router was running AND the collet wasn't tight on the motor shaft. One would think that it would tighten up like a lathe chuck or the arbor nut on a table saw.

Our consensus was that we wouldn't plug the router in. The guy says that he is going to take this router back too, for a refund.

Answering the unasked questions...
$40 US.
Chicago Electric. (Sold by Harbor Freight in the US)
China

The guy still had all ten and was walking without a limp.

The guy is an electrician (Sparky) and building some "Log Benches" for a client. He doesn't need a router so he went cheap just for this job.

**Greg Q** · 27th August 2006, 04:07 PM

Man, I wouldn't trust a cheapo router on any bit larger than about 1/2". Isn't a 1 inch roundover for table use only? Was this guy trying to take the cut in one pass?

Apart from all the other issues, what's this guy's hourly rate I wonder? Taking a POS tool back four times, and the gas each way has to be more than just buying a good tool in the first place.

rrich · 28th August 2006, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by gregoryq

Isn't a 1 inch roundover for table use only?

I think so. I wouldn't use the bit hand held. The bit is 2-1/2" in diameter.

Originally Posted by gregoryq

Was this guy trying to take the cut in one pass?

As insane as it sounds, yes. AND he was running the bearing along the bark of the log. (Let's not even go THERE.)

**AlexS** · 28th August 2006, 05:39 PM

Originally Posted by rrich

I think so. I wouldn't use the bit hand held. The bit is 2-1/2" in diameter.

As insane as it sounds, yes. AND he was running the bearing along the bark of the log. (Let's not even go THERE.)

Hmmm. Seems like this guy had a tenuous grasp on reality and no great desire to go on living.

**Ianab** · 28th August 2006, 06:14 PM

Thats pretty scary alright.

I run a 2" bit in my Makita 3612C for planing down big slabs. The router is securely bolted down to the sawmill carriage, I double check the collet, and it's still a bit of a worry

Hand holding that in an elcheapo router with a dodgy collet... not without body armour :eek:

Ian

**John Saxton** · 28th August 2006, 09:02 PM

Unfortunately with some folk SAFETY isn't a factor that is relevant or even enters their heads:eek:

There are some out there that don't even look at the operating instructions or bother about the capacity or limitations of the implement/tools they're using.

ALAS can't help 'em they can't help themselve's.

Cheers

**Bluegum** · 29th August 2006, 01:33 PM

Sort of reminds me of an iccindent I heard a few years back. I was sitting with my first wife at a doctors surgery. A lady beside us got a call on her mobile from her husband. He had been changing bits on his router when the switch caught in his jumper turning it on. From what she said he had been holding the collet while doing it up when it started. She wasn't to concerned as she explained to us that the year before he fired a nail gun into his knuckle, up ito his hand. She reckoned her husband was the most accident prone chippie she had ever come across. I still shudder when I think about the router hitting human flesh though. I guess it shows that complacency will get hold of you in the end. :eek:

**MurrayD99** · 30th August 2006, 08:50 AM

[quote=gregoryq]. Isn't a 1 inch roundover for table use only? ]

I guess you could be OK handheld - but I thought you needed to reduce the speed and I don't think this router is variable speed. Which prompts the question: I have a Hitachi TR12 fixed speed in a table and I'd like to use bigger bits in it if it isn't a safety issue... Should the speed be reduced on bigger bits (30mm plus diameter) because they might fly apart at 22,000rpm or is it because they might burn? Appreciate advice on this - apologies for diverting the thread a little.

**Ianab** · 30th August 2006, 08:58 AM

Should the speed be reduced on bigger bits (30mm plus diameter) because they might fly apart at 22,000rpm or is it because they might burn? Appreciate advice on this

Yes.. I believe if you are using over about 25mm bits then you want to reduce the router speed. The idea is to keep the cutter tips speed about the same (in metres / sec) for any size bits. So large bits must be turned a lot slower.

Cheers

Ian

**Greg Q** · 30th August 2006, 09:39 AM

[QUOTE=MurrayD99
question: I have a Hitachi TR12 fixed speed in a table and I'd like to use bigger bits in it if it isn't a safety issue... Should the speed be reduced on bigger bits .[/QUOTE]

I have that same set-up, and on my list is to investigate a motor speed controler to build or buy for just this reason.

If there's nothing already in the archives I'll post my findings.

Greg

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