1st Routing Experience

[PALefty]

Well.... I had my first experience with my router last weekend and it was certainly a memorable experience. I was using it in a router table and did everything I could think of to do things in a correct and safe manner. While there are no injuries to report... I must say I missed something somewhere. Lets see if I can detail what I did.. to find the error of my ways. I was attempting to route some floor molding using a 1/2'' edge beading/corner beading bit. I started with a test piece of wood, about 1.5' long to check to verify the proper height of my bit. I set the bit height the best I could visually with the unit off. This bit had a bearing on it... so I attempted to set the fence so that the bearing was riding on the wood snug without any additional pressure. I set the table's feather board to provide side pressure and hold the wood against the fence. Since the wood was 3.5'' high, I was unable to use the feather board on my fence to provide additional downward pressure. I wasn't happy about doing this.. but couldn't think of any way to avoid this without building a jig to make my fence higher. I did have the clear protective plate that goes over the bit area in place. I was moving the wood in the proper direction. About half way through the wood, it grabbed it and shot it across the room and smashed into some things sitting on a table. Yikes!!! That wasn't supposed to happen. When I inspected the wood, I could see the cut started off good (though the bit was lower than I wanted). As it progressed, I could see the routed cut becoming less and less.. ending up with some chatter like teeth marks. My conclusion was... that the outfeed side of the fence was back further than the infeed causing the wood to become loose as it reached a certain point. Is this an accurate analysis? How can I avoid this in the future? While I know this may not be perfect.. I was using the ruler marks on my router plate to try and align the fence correctly. Do I need an additional tool to perform this function more accurately?

Some other thoughts/comments/questions:

- perhaps I should have removed the bearing while using the bit in a table?
- other than trial & error, how do I know what height to set the bit? In this instance, I wanted to set it so that I was using the 'entire' bit...

[bigsteel15]

I'm not an expert, but this is my interpretation.
If the bit pulled the wood away from you when it "shot" it then you were feeding the wrong direction. It almost sounds like the wood was lifting as you went. Also make sure your bit was tight and didn't slip down.

[Copper]

Something that you didn't mention in your post - is the wood between the bit and the fence? Not to sound presumptuous, but it is something that new router users don't always realize (myself included). It is a BIG no no when using the router. The bit bearing should be flush with the fence (hence a cutout in the fence for the rest of the bit). Having the piece between the fence and the bit will cause the bit to grab and send it across the room. You need to hold the piece against the bit and move it against the rotation of the bit.

[PALefty]

I'm not an expert, but this is my interpretation.
If the bit pulled the wood away from you when it "shot" it then you were feeding the wrong direction. It almost sounds like the wood was lifting as you went. Also make sure your bit was tight and didn't slip down.

I was feeding from right to left as the arrows on my table point (as viewed while facing the table). There is no way for me to verify the tightness of the bit at this point (everything is put away), but I don't recall it being loose.

[PALefty]

Something that you didn't mention in your post - is the wood between the bit and the fence? Not to sound presumptuous, but it is something that new router users don't always realize (myself included). It is a BIG no no when using the router. The bit bearing should be flush with the fence (hence a cutout in the fence for the rest of the bit). Having the piece between the fence and the bit will cause the bit to grab and send it across the room. You need to hold the piece against the bit and move it against the rotation of the bit.

Yes, as a matter of fact the wood WAS between the bit and the fence.

[Thom2]

Yes, as a matter of fact the wood WAS between the bit and the fence.

that'll do it ..... just think "pitching machine"

[Copper]

A good book to pick up would be Woodworking with the Router by Bill Hylton. A revised version is due out June 1st. I've seen it recommended here several times.

[PALefty]

gotcha. That didn't ever occur to me. I understand the importance of blade rotation.. but assumed it was rotating as I needed if I fed the wood from the proper direction. Shows how green I am. Thankfully nobody was there but me... and I only broke one dish and some plastic drawers on a container that holds screws.

thanks!

[LCHIEN]

Yes, as a matter of fact the wood WAS between the bit and the fence.

Yowza! Big mistake.

The bit for this operation should be "buried" in the fence so that the bearing edge is exactly in line with the fence and the bearing itself behind the face of the fence.

Also you mentioned the piece was thick, like 3". if this is the case, then no part of the bit will be exposed while working except when the workpiece "clears" the bit. In this case rather than featherboards, use pushblocks (like are used for jointers) to hold the wood down and against the fence. You'd probably have to remove the bit guard for this but it will keep you hands away from the bit.

Your other question - e.g. how to set the height of the bit.
usually I bend down and look along the surface of the table to see where the features of the bit are set - e.g. for a roundover the tangent of the curve should kiss the table.
For a straigh groovong bit I use a height gage to set the depth of the cut.
Then, you make a make a test cut in a piece of scrap and adjust accordingly, until its right.

[LarryG]

Yes, as a matter of fact the wood WAS between the bit and the fence.

As has been mentioned, don't do that.

With the workpiece between the bit and fence, it is now effectively on the opposite side of the bit, which makes the feed direction wrong. IOW, the arrows on your table that indicate the proper, right-to-left feed assume the workpiece is forward of the bit; i.e., nearest the front edge of the table. When you put the workpiece behind the bit, you'd have to feed left-to-right to maintain the same relationship between the workpiece and the bit's rotation.

Which is not to suggest you should do this. The only time the fence should be set back from the bit is when doing non-through cuts like dados. For all other cuts, the bit should be buried within the fence.

[tfm37]

If the bit you are using has a bearing and is a roundover type bit, why are you using a fence? If you were not using a router table, would you use a fence? I have never used a fence with any bit that has a bearing on it.

[Thom2]

The only time the fence should be set back from the bit is when doing non-through cuts like dados.

To take this one step further, if the dado is wider than the bit and you need to make multiple passes. The first cut should always be made so that you have to move the fence AWAY from the bit for the subsequent passes.

I've nearly made this mistake on several occassions.

[PALefty]

Also you mentioned the piece was thick, like 3".

sorry.. it was the height, not width. It was standard baseboard width (1/4''?), but it was 3 1/2'' high.

[PALefty]

If the bit you are using has a bearing and is a roundover type bit, why are you using a fence? If you were not using a router table, would you use a fence? I have never used a fence with any bit that has a bearing on it.

It did seem redundant to me and I thought about taking it (the bearing) off...

[axio]

To take this one step further, if the dado is wider than the bit and you need to make multiple passes. The first cut should always be made so that you have to move the fence AWAY from the bit for the subsequent passes.

I've nearly made this mistake on several occassions.

Yeah, this is a very good point. I ripped open my finger a lost a piece of the fingertip last year when this happened. It launched out the wood, with the edge running along my finger and opening it up. Luckily, most of it grew back, although feeling is just so-so. Be careful!