Routing a drawer finger pull?

[Scoly2803]

Plan to use a forstner bit or router to create a through slot in the front of a drawer. Would like to round the edges but am unsure of the direction to route in with my table. Edge closest to me left to right? What about the edge away from me. Really don't want to have this piece flying across the shop.
Is there a better way?
Thanks
Steve

[cabinetman]

This might be of some help.
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http://www.geoffswoodwork.co.uk/router%20cut.gif
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[LCHIEN]

cab man's illustrations only work when you are routing a rabbet.
You said you were wanting to rout a slot which is of course just a combination case of a through dado and a stopped dado.

I haven't really seen anyone give directions or illustrations when dealing with this but my take on it is that you set the bit away from the fence. It's not a trapped piece in the sense that the bit cuts on both sides so this balances the forces that want to take and fling the piece if you do a trapped cut. I drop the piece onto the bit and then feed to the left while holding the workpiece solidly against the fence.
As insurance, you can also place a second fence parallel to the main fence so that the piece can't move away from either fence, but that raises more problems than it solves.

Of course, the depth of each pass has to be considered depending upon the bit diameter, you will likely have to cut more than one pass. The shallower the pass the lower the forces wanting to take and fling the piece, among other benefits.

Hope that helps.

[RayintheUK]

Presumably, you intend to cut the through slot by drilling or plunging two holes, then "joining the dots" to complete the cut-out? I would recommend drilling the end holes with a Forstner bit of suitable size, then routing between them with a suitably small straight cutter. You could do this with a hand-held router run against a clamped straightedge, or use the table. On the table, I would lower the piece so that the bit enters through the left-hand hole, then move the drawer front to the right until the right-hand hole is met. The second (lower edge) cut is made in the same direction, but with the piece flipped over in both directions.

When rounding over the edges, use a bearing-guided cutter. This must be operated in a clockwise direction if routed hand-held. In a table, discard the fence and rotate the piece in an anti-clockwise direction, using the bearing guide.

Ray

[cabinetman]

cab man's illustrations only work when you are routing a rabbet.
You said you were wanting to rout a slot which is of course just a combination case of a through dado and a stopped dado.

I hate to disagree with you but I have to. You may not have understood the post. Here's my take. Ray's suggestion to make the slot is just fine. He wants to ease the edges of the slot. The drawings I posted show the direction of the feed of the cutting edge of the bit, when hand held and when in a router table.

That procedure applies to any and all edge profiling including a rabbet. The direction of the feed would always be with the cutting edge fed into the wood in the direction of movement.
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[Scoly2803]

Thanks for the help.
If I understand once the through dado is cut and I'm using a roundover I should
"rotate the piece in an anti-clockwise direction, using the bearing guide."
and just run the edge all the way around. Flip and do the same.
Thanks again.
Steve

[LCHIEN]

I misunderstood, yes.
I now understand you are routing the edge of a larger hole cut in a piece of wood.
It can be confusing to describe, depending upon the vantage point.
If using a router table, you should move the workpiece so that when the bit is at the bottom of the cutout, the wood is moving to the left, and when the bit is at the top of the cutout, the wood is moving to the right.

Another way of looking at it is the workpiece should be moving in a generally counterclockwise direction referenced to a point on the wood. And keeping one end up (e.g. not rotating the piece).

So your description is correct.

[RayintheUK]

It can be confusing to describe ...

Really?

Ray