Routing a groove in the middle of a board

Tom Baugues

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I'm working on a project that requires a groove to be routed in the middle of the board with the grain of the board. I'm not sure if I want to try this with a hand held router or use my router table. Either way I go is there a "correct" way to feed the board. In other words if handheld...should I feed the router from left to right or the other way around. Same if I use my router table....right to left or????
 
It would seem to me that if you are routing a groove in the center of a board, going lengthwise with the grain, it wouldn't make any difference which direction you rout the groove.

If using a table router, then you could use the fence to centralize the router to the board & add end stops to control the 8" grove.

If using a plunge router, you can set up a side guide to position a plunge router centrally on the board, and then a stop for each end on top of a base fixture board, then you should be all set. Position the board into the fixture, clamp and/or dbl back tape the finish board in place. You could make a rough plunge cut followed with a deeper finish plunge cut.

Try a test piece to confirm your setup. Personally, for this application I would use the router table, less to set up & just drop the board on top of the router bit while holding it against the fence.
 
I guess the reason I was asking was that I read once that wood needed to be fed a certain direction due to the turning direction of the router bit. I just can't remember which way is correct.
 
Well, it does make a difference in control. You are right, Tom. Look at the rotation of the cutter and feed the wood into the cutting edge. If you feed the wood the opposite way, the cutter would have the effect of a power wheel propelling the wood, perhaps faster than you intended. Push the wood into the cutter, not with the cutter. Hope that helps.
 
Well, it does make a difference in control. You are right, Tom. Look at the rotation of the cutter and feed the wood into the cutting edge. If you feed the wood the opposite way, the cutter would have the effect of a power wheel propelling the wood, perhaps faster than you intended. Push the wood into the cutter, not with the cutter. Hope that helps.

But with a plunge cut in the middle of the board, does the direction matter? The cutting action is happening on three sides of the bit.


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But with a plunge cut in the middle of the board, does the direction matter? The cutting action is happening on three sides of the bit.


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Believe it or not Vaughn yes it does. Well it may not matter that much but I can feel the difference when cutting with or agents. Even if you have set the router up on a rail type jig so it can not move side to side. You will feel one way it seems out of control and the router wants to run away, the other way does not.
Now ya got to go out and try it just to see what I'm talking about. Don't ya?:thumb::rofl::rofl:
 
It does matter on the router table... and this is where i'd perform this operation.

What you want is so that the part of the bit that's cutting should be heading toward the fence - that way the wood is not trying to pull away from the fence while you're feeding. That is to say if you're facing the fence, with the bit in the center, you would be feeding from right to left. I don't think it's wise to try to remember "clockwise/counter clockwise" or "left to right, right to left" because it depends on the cut.

NOW ...

If you're cutting a slot in a single pass, the above advice is all you need. But if you're going to be taking it in multiple passes, you gotta pay attention! To widen the groove, be sure to move the fence AWAY from the bit and you can feed the same direction as before - right to left. If you move the fence CLOSER to the bit, you will still widen it, but then you will need to feed from the other direction otherwise the bit will be pinching and grabbing the wood and will be very grabby and try to over feed. And feeding the other direction isn't nearly as good because now the cutter is pulling AWAY from the fence, which could affect your cut quality (or require feather boards and other gizmos to keep it against the fence).

I am always careful to feed so that my control surfaces (fence, table, jig, pattern, etc) are not being pushed away by the cutting action - it's very difficult to control a cut when that's going on. It's all about restricting how many directions the wood/cutter can move.
 
Ditto what Chuck said. When I run material through my router table from right to left, the bit tends to pull it toward the fence. If I have to run it left to right for some reason, I have to apply more control to hold the piece to the fence or it will skew. From right to left, the first thing the material feels is the bit pulling it to the fence. Left to right, it feels the bit pushing away.
 
The only major blood letting I've had in my shop was from "climb cutting" on the router table. The rotation jerked the fingers on my left hand across the bit. When at all possible I go right to left on the router table and left to right free hand.
 
Believe it or not Vaughn yes it does. Well it may not matter that much but I can feel the difference when cutting with or agents. Even if you have set the router up on a rail type jig so it can not move side to side. You will feel one way it seems out of control and the router wants to run away, the other way does not.
Now ya got to go out and try it just to see what I'm talking about. Don't ya?:thumb::rofl::rofl:

Makes sensze after what Jason said about having the bit push the wood into the fence.

As far as trying it out myself, I'd love to, but the 1600 mile round trip to do it would be a pain.
 
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