Craftsman 315.175170 Operator's Manual page 19

DIRECTION OF FEED AND THRUST
See Figures 18 - 19.
The router motor and cutter revolve in a clockwise direc-
tion. This gives the tool a slight tendency to twist in a
counterclockwise direction, especially when the motor
revs up.
Feed the router into the workpiece from left to right. When
fed from left to right, the rotation of the cutter pulls the
router against the workpiece. If fed in the opposite direc-
tion, the rotation of the spinning cutter will tend to throw
the router away from the workpiece causing kickback.
This could cause you to lose control of the router.
Because of the high speed of cutter rotation during a
proper feeding operation, there is very little kickback
under normal conditions. However, if the cutter strikes a
knot, hard grain, or foreign object that affects the normal
progress of the cutting action, there will be a slight kick-
back. The direction of kickback is always in the direction
opposite cutter rotation. This will affect the trueness of
your cut.
To guard against kickback, plan your setup and direc-
tion of feed so that you will always be thrusting the tool in
the same direction that the leading edge of the cutter is
moving. The thrust should be in a direction that keeps the
sharp edges of the cutter continuously biting straight into
new (uncut) wood.
NOTE: For best results, make sure to take enough time to
set up for cutting. While cutting, make sure to use the proper
rate of feed.
3
PROPER
4
CUTTING
SEQUENCE
7
OPERATION
6 5
1
8
When routing a groove, your travel should be in a direc-
tion that places the guide you are using at the right-hand
side. When the guide is positioned as shown in the "guide
inside" illustration, tool travel should be from left to right
and counterclockwise around curves. When the guide
is positioned as shown in the "guide outside" illustra-
tion, tool travel should be from right to left and clockwise
around curves. If there is a choice, the first setup is gener-
ally the easier to use. In either case, the sideways thrust
you use is against the guide.
2
Fig. 18
19
GUIDE INSIDE
ROTATION
GUIDE
ROTATION
FEED
GUIDE OUTSIDE
ROTATION
THRUST
ROTATION
FEED
THRUST
GUIDE
Fig. 19