Edging With Pilot Bits - Craftsman 315.275061 Owner's Manual

OPERATION
EDGE ROUTING
Place router on workplace, making sure the router bit does
not contact workpieea. Turn router on and let motor build to
its full speed. Begin your cut, gradually feeding cutter into
workpiece.
Upon completion of cut, turn motor off and let it come to a
complete stop before removing router from work surface.
EDGING WITH PILOT BITS
See Figure 20.
Rabbets and molded edges can be cut using piloted cutters.
The pilot extends below the cutter. Some pilots are solid
extensions of the cutter. Others are ball bearing guides that
are fastened to the and of the cutter. The pilots allow the
cutters to turn while the pilot follows the edge of the workpiece.
Arbor-type bits with pilots are excellent for quick, easy,, edge
shaping. They will follow workpieca edges that are either
straight or curved. The pilot prevents the bit from making too
deep a cut; and holding the pilot firmly in contact with the
workpiece edge throughout prevents the cut from becoming
too shallow.
Whenever the workpieca thickness together with the desired
depth of cut (as adjusted by router depth setting) are such that
only the top part of the edge is to be shaped (leaving at least
a 1/16 inch thick uncut portion at bottom), the pilot can ride
against the uncut portion, which will serve to guide it. See
Figure 20. However, if the workplace is too thin or the bit set
too low so that there will be no uncut edge to ride the pilot
against, an extra board to act as a guide must be placed under
the workpiece. This "guide" board must have exactly the
same contour--straight or curved--as the workpieea edge.
If it is positioned so that its edge is flush with the workpieee
edge, the bit will make a full cut (in as far as the bit radius). On
the other hand, if the guide is positioned as shown in Figure
20 (out from the workpieee edge), the bit will make less than
a full cut -- which will alter the shape of the finished edge.
NOTE: If desired, any of the piloted bits can be used without
a pilo t for edge shaping with guides, as preceding. Also, the
size (diameter) of the pilot that is used determines the
maximum cut width that can be made with the pilot against the
workpiece edge (the small pilot exposes all of the bit; the large
one reduces this amount by 1/16 inch).
When routing aII the edges of a panel or board, rout the end
grain first. Any splintering that occurs at the corners will then
be removed when routing the edge. Start each side 1/4" away
ROUTER
_LOT
TOP EDGE SHAPING
WHOLE EDGE SHAPING Fig,20
I" 6 I_
_ _-1/4"TO 1"
Fig. 21
#
from the end. Feed the cutter into the wood until the pilot
contacts the uncut edge. Then, slowly back the router to
shape the corner. Next, move the router forward to shape the
rest of the edge. Be careful to keep the pilot pressed against
the uncut edge. Repeat this procedure on each side of the
panel. Figure 21 shows the proper sequence of cuts to make
when edge routing four sides of a panel.
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