Craftsman 315.174710 Owner's Manual page 8

OPERATION
TOO SLOW FEEDING (Continued)
"Too.stow feeding" can also cause your routerto take off in a
wrong direction from the intended line of cut, Always grasp
and hold your router firmly with both hands when rout e
Ing.
You can detect "too-slow feeding" by the runawaytoo-highly
pitched sound of the motor; or by feeling the "wiggle" of the bit
in the cut
DEPTH OF CUT
As previously mentioned, the depth of cut is important be-
cause it affects the rate of feed which, in turn, affects the
quality of a cut (and, atso, the possibility of damage to your
router motor and bit) A deep cut requires a slower feed than
a shallow one, and a too deep cut will cause you to slow the
feed so much thai the bit is no longer cutting, it is scraping,
instead.
Making a deep cut is never advisable. The smaller bits--
especia}[y those only !/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 and
control 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 bif size or the softness or condition of the
workptece_ See Figure 9
To make deeper cuts it is therefore necessary to make as
many successive passes as required, lowering 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 forthe
next pass This wtllatso assure a uniform depth when the final
pass _scompleted. See Figure 10.
DIRECTION OF FEED AND THRUST
The routermotor and bff revolve in a clockwisedirection. This
gives the tool a slfght tendency to twist (tn your hands) in a
counterclockwise direction, especially when the motor revs
up (as at starting).
Because of the extremely high speed of bit rotation during a
"proper feeding" operation, there is very little kickback to
contend with under normal conditions. However, should the
bit strike a knot, hard grain, foreign object, etc. that would
affect the normal progress of the cuttingaction, 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
direction 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--
tohold it against whatever you are using to guide the cut--in
the same direction that the teadingedge of the bit is moving
In shod, the thrust should be in a direction that keeps the
sharp edges of the bit continuously biting straight into new
(uncut) wood.
DEPTH
OF_UT
,, ,,,
14--- WIDTH OF CUT
_" FfO,9
i ,H i ,,, i ,
2ND. PASS
I,.1_1 1ST. PASS
--_""---""-_'_'_ Fig. 10
1ST, PASS
,,,H,
GU,DE OUTS,DE
R_OTATIO._ N ('_,_
GUIDE"
j ......
ROTATION
THRUST FEED
GUIDE INSIDE Fig, 11
, ,, i i i
ROUTING
Whenever you are routing a groove, your travelshould be In
a direction that places whatever guide you are using at the
right-hand side. In short, when the guide is positioned as
shown in the first part of Figure 11, tool travel should be _eft
to right and counterclockwise around curves. When the guide
is positionedas shown in the second part of Figure 11 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 eithercase, the sideways thrust you use is against the
guide.
Page 8
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