Roger Tulk
Member
- Messages
- 3,018
- Location
- St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
I needed to cut a 3/8" groove in some sassafras, and set up my router table to cut the groove 3/8" deep. As I pushed the board along, it made a lot of bumping noises, and after about 20" It wouldn't go any farther. I stopped the router, and had a look. There was smoke coming off the bit, and thegroove was clean on the forward side, but the rearward side looked like it had been cut with an axe. It was very rougn and bumpy. I couldn't touch the bit, as it was HOT. I pulled it with a pair of pliers, and it came out with a little difficulty. First lesson, I hadn't tightened the bit sufficiently. The bit was black and blue and the top of one of the carbide inserts was missing.
I put in another bit, tightened it until it screamed (I have not used a ¼" adapter before; it had turned blue at the top. ) and tried again. It was still a little rough, so I cut the speed of the router, made two passes at half depth and then at full depth, and finally got a nice cut.
This is with the Skil router I bought used over the winter. I never saw anything like this with my Mastercraft router in the table.I would not have thought that cutting a 3/8 x 3/8 groove would be a problem. Is there anything else I could have done wrong? I need to know if I missed anything so I can really screw it up next time.
I put in another bit, tightened it until it screamed (I have not used a ¼" adapter before; it had turned blue at the top. ) and tried again. It was still a little rough, so I cut the speed of the router, made two passes at half depth and then at full depth, and finally got a nice cut.
This is with the Skil router I bought used over the winter. I never saw anything like this with my Mastercraft router in the table.I would not have thought that cutting a 3/8 x 3/8 groove would be a problem. Is there anything else I could have done wrong? I need to know if I missed anything so I can really screw it up next time.