Craftsman 320.2819 Product Manual page 28

FEEDING THE ROUTER (Fig. 16)
The secret to professional rout-
ing is in making a careful set-up
for the cut, selecting the proper
depth of cut, knowing how the
cutting bit reacts in your work
piece, and the rate and direc-
tion of feed of the router.
DIRECTION OF FEED - EX-
TERNAL CUTS (Fig. 16)
The router motor and cut-
ting bit rotate clockwise. This
requires the feed of the cutting
bit to be from left to right (see
Fig. 16). Feeding the bit from
Fig.16
Q
Rout
End
Gr'ains
First
Router Feed
Direction
®
I
I
®
Router Feed
Direction
left to right will cause the bit to pull the router towards
If you feed the router in the opposite direction (right to le
cutting bit will tend to throw the bit away from the work i:
control; this is called Climb-Cutting, which is cutting in tl-
proper feed direction. Climb Cutting increases the chanc
L;utting
Bit
up against) the work pfece
|), the rotating force of the
iece, making it hard to
e opposite direction of the
e for loss of control, pos-
sibly resulting in personal injury. When Climb Cutting is r_quired (backing around a
corner for example), exercise extreme caution to maintai? control of the router.
Because of the high speed of the cutting bit during a p_'oper feeding operation
(left to right), there is very little kickback under normal_onditionso However, if
the cutting bit strikes a knot, an area of hard grain in the wood work piece, or a
foreign object, the normal cutting action could be affe_ed and cause "Kickback.."
This Kickback may cause damage to your work piece,h_nd could cause you to
lose control of the router, causing possible personal injury. Kickback is always in
the opposite direction of the clockwise cutting bit rotation, or counterclockwise.
To guard against and help prevent Kickback, plan y_ur set-up and direction of
feed so you're always moving the router, keeping the sl_arp edges of the cutting
bit continuously biting straight into new (uncut) wood (v_ork piece). Also, always
inspect your work piece for knots, hard grain, and foreign objects that could
cause a kickback problem.
-f,
28590 Manual Revised_07_0409 Page 28