Craftsman 315.268350 Operator's Manual page 16

EDGEROUTING
Race muter on workpiece, making sure the muter bit does
not contact workpiece. Turn muter on and let motor build to
its full speed. Begin your cut, gradually feeding cutter into
workpiece.
A
WARNING:
Keep a firm grip on router with
both hands at all times. Failure to do so could
result in loss of control leading to possible serious
injury.
Upon completion of cut, turn motor off and let it come to a
complete stop before removing router from work surface.
WARNING:
Never pull router out of work and
place upside down on work surface before the cutter
stops.
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 beadng
guides that are fastened to the end of the cutter. The pilots
allow the cutters to tum while the pilot follows the edge of
the workpiece.
Arbor-type bits with pilots are excellent for quick, easy,
edge shaping. They will follow workpiece 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 workpiece 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 dde against the uncut portion, which will serve
to guide it. See Figure 20. However, if the workpiece 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 workpiece edge. If it is positioned so that
its edge is flush with the workpiece 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
workpiece 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 pilot for edge shaping with guides, as preceding.
Also, the size (diameter) of the pilot that is used deter-
mines 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).
PILOT
TOP EDGE SHAPING
ROUTER
WORK
GUIDE
WHOLE EDGE SHAPING
Fig. 20
,. °
I-
6 rl
1/4 IN.TO 1IN.
"m'l
Fig. 21
When routing all the edges of a panel or board, rout the
end grain first. Any splintedng that occurs at the comers
will then be removed when routing the edge. Start each
side 1/4 in. away from the end. Feed the cutter into the
wood until the pilot contacts the uncut edge. Then, slowly
back the router to shape the comer. 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 muting four
sides of a panel.
Page 16