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OPERATION
PROPER FEEDING
The right feed is neither too fast nor too slow. It is
the rate at which the bit is being advanced firmly and
surely to produce uniform chips -- without hogging
Into the wood to make large individual chips or, on
the other hand, to create only sawdust.
If you are
making a small diameter, shallow groove in soft, dry
wood, the proper feed may be about as fast as you
can travel your router along your guide line. If the bit
_s a large one, the cut is deep, and/or the wood is
hard to cut, the proper feed may be a very slow one.
Then,. again, a cross-grain cut may require a slower
pace than an identical
with grain cut in the same
workplace.
Good judgement
with the proper use of the Elec-
tronic feature will give best results. You will learn by
experience ....
by listening
to the tool motor and by
feeling
the progress of each cut. If at all possible,
always test cut on a scrap of the workpieoe
wood,
beforehand.
DEPTH OF CUT
As previously mentiofled,
the depth
of cut is impor-
tant because it effects the rate of feed which, In turn,
affects the quality of a cut (and, also, the possibility
of damage
to your router motor and bit). A deep cut
requires a slower feed than a shallow one. A too
deep cut will cause you to slow the feed so much
that the bit will begin scraping instead of cutting.
Making a d'eep cut is never advisable.
The smaller
bits -- especially those only 1/16 inch in diameter
-- are easily broken off when subjected to too much
side thrust. A large enough bit may not be broken off,
but if the cut is too deep a rough cut will result
and it may be very difficult
to guide the bit
as
desired. For these reasons,
we recommend that you
do not exceed 1/8 inch depth of cut in a single pass,
regardless
of the bit size or the softness or condition
of the workpiece. See Fig. 8.
DIRECTION
OF FEED AND THRUST
The router motor and bit revolve in a clockwise dirac-
tion. This gives the tool a slight tendency to twist
(in your hands) in a counterclockwise
direction.
Because of the extremely high speed of bit rotation
during a "proper
feeding"
operation,
there is very lit-
tle kickback
to contend
with under
normal
condi-
tions.
However,
should the bit strike s knot, hard
grain, etc. that would
affect the normal
progress
of
the cutting
action,
there will be a slight kickback
--
sufficient
to spoil the trueness
of your cut if you are
not prepared.
Such a kickback
is always in the direc-
tion opposite
to the direction of bit rotation.
To guard against
such a kickback,
plan your set-up
and direction
of feed
so that you will always
be
thrusting the tool -- to hold it against whatever you
are using to guide the cut -- Jn the same direction
that the leading edge of the bit is moving. In short,
the thrust should
be in a direction that keeps the
sharp edges of the blt continuously
biting straight
into new (uncut) wood.
ROUTING
See Figure 10.
Whenever
you are routing a groove, your tool travel
should be In a direction that places whatever guide
you are using at the right-hand side. When the guide
is positioned as shown in the first part of Fig. 10, tool
travel should be left to right and counterclockwise
around curves.
When
the guide is positioned
as
shown
in the second
part of Fig. 10, tool travel
should be right to left and clockwise around curves.
If there is a choice, the first set-up is generally the
easiest to use. In either case, the sideways thrust
you see is against
the guide.
DEPTH
WIDTH
UT
pe-OF CUT
Fig. 8
To make deeper
cuts it is therefore
necessary
to
make as many successive passes as required, lower-
ing the bit 1/8 inch for each new pass. In order to
save time, do all the cutting
necessary at one depth
setting,
before
lowering the bit for the next pass.
This will also assure a uniform depth when the final
pass is completed.
See Fig. 9.
P_e8
_€_
1ST.
2N0. PASS
2ND. PA_'_'_
1ST. PASS
Fig. 9
It¢=T 8T=Uh
mOT_l tU_
Flg. 10
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