Am I crazy to try to do this?

[Prashun Patel]

I need to do a small amount of power carving. Can I use a carbide carving burr in a trim router?
Assuming I can control the router with one hand, what's the downside here?

Will I burn out the motor of my router?

are the rpms too low (or too high) and will the burr chowder up my piece (or burn it)?

Shawn

[Lee Schierer]

Due to the size and power of most routers, it may be difficult to control.

[Prashun Patel]

Lee, I'm not carving detail, like fish scales or duck wings. I basically need to grind away excess material around a chair leg so it flows into the seat better.

[Jason Pinsonneault]

i would recomend looking for a cheap air powered die grinder with a carbide bur

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

Assuming I can control the router with one hand, what's the downside here?

I don't think you can control it with one hand. I've occasionally trimmed laminate with the base removed to get into tight spots, and it's definitely a two handed operation.

[Chip Lindley]

Why must you do this one-handed? Clamp the chair leg down and control the router with BOTH hands!

Practice on some scrap and get a feel for it! The important thing is to NOT lose control and injure yourself, or NOT lose control and chew up good areas of the stock you are working on. Go For It!

[Paul Atkins]

The die grinder would be safer. Unless your hands are large, I think it would be a bit clumsy. The switch on the router would not shut off if you dropped it in your lap or on your foot! The die grinder is made for one handed use and it would shut off if you dropped it. Harbor Freight has them really cheap.

[Myk Rian]

Use a Dremel with a sanding drum.

[Peter Quinn]

I'd give it a try. On some scrap obviously. I have a pneumatic mini die grinder that I paid less than $40 for at the borg for such purposes. Something like that might be easier to control, give you a better view of your work, and perhaps give better access. to tight spots? So if the router doesn't do what you want the next best option isn't a big stretch financially.

[Jim Rimmer]

People usually get hurt or damage something when they are trying to use a tool for something it was not intended to do.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Jim's right about using something for a purpose it's not intended to do.

The good news is that Dremel makes a flexible shaft & bits that will do exactly what you want to do.

[Joe Scharle]

Most newer drill handles (the left-handed one) are 43mm, which is the size of Rotozip collars. I run 1/4" burrs in mine for small cleanup jobs and the extra handle gives plenty of control.