What did I do wrong (router kickback)??

[GaryA]

I was just trying to make a 20" long piece of red oak 3/4" by 3/8" to fit in my miter slot for a jig. I cut it down on my TS, then thought I'd use a cutting bit on my router table to take off enough material to get it down to 3/8" (probably not the best choice?). As I was feeding the piece (right to left) on my router table, it started getting pretty loud and taking pretty violent chunks out...in an instant the piece kicked back and took a nice cut on the top of my thumb with it....pretty scary. I know it's hard for anyone to say what I did wrong without knowing everything I did. I'm new to routing...have the Dewalt DW618 mounted in a Sears router table...I was using a 1/2" straight cutting bit. Maybe the speed was too high? Fed it too fast? I know I shouldn't have had my hand behind the end of the piece (lesson learned) , but I really wasn't anticipating kickback (so much for anti-kickback bits?). Any wisdom is greatly appreciated

[Black wallnut]

Were you by chance trapping the wprkpiece between the fence and the cutter?

[LCHIEN]

you didn't say how much you were trying to take off.
Too big a bite can do that.

[Black wallnut]

First router feed direction topic

Second router feed direction topic



Now for a better answer that took more time to research. These two archived topics have some really good information about proper feed direction.

One other thing that could have had an effect on what happened to you is grain direction on your work piece.

Hopefully something in these two topics can help ya out, if not let us know.

[GaryA]

I think I was indeed feeding the wrong direction now that I read this. And probably also too much material perhaps. Thanks so much for the links Mark. I don't know what I'd do without you guys. So, the bit should be spinning in the direction you are feeding, right??

[Black wallnut]

quote:Originally posted by GaryA

I think I was indeed feeding the wrong direction now that I read this. And probably also too much material perhaps. Thanks so much for the links Mark. I don't know what I'd do without you guys. So, the bit should be spinning in the direction you are feeding, right??

No In the pictures I posted in the second linked topic the bit is spinning in the opposite direction as the workpiece is fed. It may be easier to picture if you only think of the movement of the bit that is protruding from the router fence. So you should feel a slight resistance from the routerbit. If the bit seems to grab your work and pull it away from you then your feed direction is wrong.

[final_t]

Right to left should have been correct, *provided* that you're feeding the material into the rotation. I'm not totally clear on how you had it set up, but if you had the material between the bit and and the fence, feeding right-to-left, then that was wrong - but the wood would have pulled out of your hand, not kicked back.
It sounds to me like you were (a) feeding too much into the bit, (b) feeding the grain wrong, and (c) too slow a speed on the router.

[drumpriest]

I had a similar situation with routing the doors for my bathroom cabinet (recently posted in finished projects). I got some kickback. I also have the sears table, and at first I thought it was the table, as I've not had this happen before (could still be a contributing factor). I always take 1/8" at a time to 1/16" as I get close to the bearing when routing door panels, so I don't think it was too much material.

I came to the conclusion that it was the piece of wood, not my table setup or technique, as I did everything the same and it only kicked back on a couple of pieces (cut from the same source board). The finish of the routing was rough, and I had to sand the heck out of them. Then other pieces went through with no issue whatsoever. I also rounded over the outsides of these same boards without any issues at all. This was hard maple that I was cutting, but I suspect that the wood didn't have a consistant density.

I dunno if this helps. Scared the **** out of me though. It was just "chattering" as it went through.

[LarryG]

You say you were making a 3/4" x 3/8" runner for a miter slot. How big was the workpiece as you were feeding it into the router bit? I have the impression, from your description, that you cut it close to rough size on the TS and were just using the router to trim it to final size. If so, that means you had a long, whippy workpiece, and one with the toughness of red oak to boot ...

So what may have happened, especially if you were taking too big a bite as others have suggested, is that you were asking the bit to chew off part of a workpiece that had very little mass and was slender enough that it would be apt to bend or chatter rather than be cut.

If you weren't using featherboards, that may have been the problem. Rigging featherboards to hold a workpiece against the fence and down onto the table is always a good idea, but is especially critical when the workpiece is small and hard to hang onto.

[RickLab]

Gary,

I don't see that you've answered whether you think you were trapping the work piece or not. That was the first thing that I thought of - that you have the fence set away from the router bit and have the work piece between it and the bit. That is how you would normally do it on a table saw but is not recommended on a router table.

[GaryA]

Hey guys...sorry...havent had a chance to reply....and wanted to grab a couple of pics that may demonstrate my screw-up....anyways, I read your posts and thought about what I did more. (disregard my previous reply)...I do believe that I was feeding it in the correct direction (right to left)....although I am not 100% clear on what is meant by feeding the grain wrong (the grain runs with the length of the board (not a cross-cut piece)). I'm not certain if I was taking too much off or not...I believe it was 1/8 - 3/16". I'm not sure if it was the actual wood...but in hindsight I do think Larry that maybe the piece was too small. Still learning the do's & don'ts around the router. I wasn't using featherboards...but I really want them now (off topic: this table seems to have non-standard sized miter slot on it...must buy Craftsmen featherboards?). When you guys mention "get the piece trapped between the fence and the bit"....do you literally mean did it get jammed in the gap between the 2 (like I was routing the end of the piece cross-grain)? If so, then, no. I was running it along the fence lengthwise, right to left, and it kicked back to the right (into a box of stored wine glasses and surprisingly non broke!). As far as the speed goes...my router goes up to 6, and it was on 4.5. Anyways, took a couple pics of what the piece looked like after it was kicked back...and you can see what was happening to the wood. Also took one of the piece I ultimately got to through hand planing and sanding (and nursing my wound). Let me know your thoughts. Thanks again guys! [B)]

[LarryG]

AHA! I see the problem. Basically you were using your router like a jointer, to remove material off the entire height of the side closest to the bit. You can do that, but the fences need to be offset from each other so the workpiece will be supported on the outfeed side after it passes the bit. The infeed fence will be set back from the bit by the depth of your cut ... let's say 1/8". The outfeed fence should be set dead even with the outermost point on the bit. So the two fence halves would be 1/8" offset from each other.

The idea is that the workpiece must be continuously supported along the entire length of both fences -- not only the "thick" part that hasn't been cut (infeed side) but also the "thin" part that has been cut (outfeed side). Understand?

As new to routing as you say you are, I would like to gently suggest that you buy yourself a copy of Bill Hylton and Fred Matlack's router bible, "Woodworking With The Router," before you reach for the power switch again. Forgive me for being a little blunt, but you're really lucky you weren't seriously injured ...

[GaryA]

Funny you mention that...because that book is on its way from Amazon...(and the router is taking a break) ordered it last week. I took a class on routing, but there was no mention of this. No offense taken at all...it was a humbling experience, and I know I have a lot to learn...much of which is right here. What you say makes complete sense...support needed if I'm shaving off material from the entire side as opposed to using a profile bit that would still have part of that side supporting the piece as its fed through the bit, right? There was actually a jointing shim included with the table....now I know what it was for. Thanks much.. I really appreciate the input!

[LarryG]

quote:Originally posted by GaryA

support needed if I'm shaving off material from the entire side as opposed to using a profile bit that would still have part of that side supporting the piece as its fed through the bit, right?

That's exactly right. And you're most welcome.

You'll enjoy the Hylton/Matlack book. All manner of really, really, really good stuff in there.

[Fuzzy]

I am by no means an expert here but through experience and later reading the manual after my own screw up like that, LarryG is correct about that offset as you will see when your manual arrives. You were not giving the shaved piece any support, another way of supporting this would be to double stick tape a piece of laminate on the out feed side,, along with a feather board? without the support you would have the piece flopping around or if trying to put pressure on the out feed side you would be bending the piece around the bit and jamming it, all the other comments also need to be considered when doing such a job.