Climb cutting

[Randy Henry]

I have been experimenting with the "climb cutting" technique on the shaper and was wondering how many others do it. Obviously, a power feed is required and it does take some practice. But, I am not seeing that much difference in the quality of cut vs. the amount of shavings/dust that it produces that does not go into the dust chute, most of it goes out the right side of the shaper onto the floor and other tools. I thought it was bad on the pattern cut, but could not believe the mess the raised panel cutter made. When I do the regular cut, the chips/dust outside the shaper is minimal. Just wondering what other people do.

[Leo Graywacz]

I have never climb cut on a shaper. I do it all the time with a hand held router though. Makes for a clean cut to remove 90% of the wood without chance of chipout which occurs mor easily with the smaller diamerter cutters.

Is there any reason you are climb cutting? Are you having a problem with chipout or even chunk out?

[Glen Butler]

Generally I climb cut on the shaper, because I can, and because there is always that one little spot in the wood that couldn't handle the chip cut and climb cutting prevents cursing.:D The power feed holds the peice. I use an outboard fence or should I say a fence on the opposite side of the cutter. This gives the wood something to push against. I also put something to block the flying chips and most of them end up in the DC. I have plans to make a side mounted DC funnel to catch all those flying chips. I don't climb cut raised panels. They work just fine chip cutting.

[Jim Dunn]

I do it with a power feeder on my router table and just let the chips fly. I have tried to attach a vacuum host at the end of the table to try and catch the chips but they fly past it almost to fast to make to much difference.

I do see a tremendous difference in the quality of cut when climb cutting.

[Randy Henry]

Leo, I am just trying it out for now. This is the first time I have ever had a power feed and just trying to learn more about it. Is it absolutely necessary? Probably not, but its worth learning about at least.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Randy, yes climb cutting sure makes a mess, I use an aditional 4" hose held in the dust stream by a magnetic base with an arm.

I only climb cut when I have a problem with grain direction or chip out.

Regards, Rod.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I've climb cut dadoes in Melamine on my tablesaw. Eliminates chips on the edges. Don't try this without a power feeder.

[Steve Griffin]

More than any other shaper operation, I use a straight bit to clean up edges. Climb cutting is absolutely key for success. Glassy smooth surface which never has a chip out. I use an indexed outboard fence. One of these days I should start a thread on this setup, which amazingly is not used by everyone who owns a shaper.

I still like using panel raising bits in the non-climb cut direction however.

-Steve

[george wilson]

Climb cutting also works better in milling machine work. Aluminum climb cuts very well,but regular cutting tends to leave compacter aluminum "fuzz".

DO be VERY careful with climb cutting on a shaper,as it can easily grab the wood. Keep your fingers out of the path of the cutter if the cutter grabs on you.

A milling machine also has to be massive enough to resist the table being jerked into the cut,breaking the cutter.

[J.R. Rutter]

The only climb cuts I make on the shaper are for when an edge has to be chip free. For instance, I do some raised profile solid slab drawer faces (like a raised panel, but 13/16" thick at the edge). Climb cutting gives a nice clean edge where chip cutting often causes small blowouts. When a panel is captured in a groove, you never see these ragged edges. For climb cutting, I made an auxilliary hood that attaches to the outfeed fence and captures the vast majority of the shavings.

[Jason Yeager]

Don't mean to hijack the thead, but I would love to hear Steve's technique for cleaning up edges on his shaper, that sounds brilliant.

Thanks,

Jason

[Larry Edgerton]

I would add that when climb cutting on a shaper, even with a power feed it is very important that the cutter be very sharp. Dull cutters create a lot more pull on the piece.

I will usually run the piece in the normal direction at less than final cut, taking out the bulk of the cut, and then do a light pass climb cutting.

Be very carefull, and triple check your setup.......

[Jeff Duncan]

I did some climb cutting a while back but haven't had the need since I went to a larger spindle. I don't really do much for raised panels though, mostly just sticking cuts.

I was told however that climb cutting wears the tool edge much faster. Can't remember exactly why but may be worth looking into?
good luck,
JeffD

[Richard Amabile]

I have not used my shaper much and this is the first I have heard the term "climb cut". Could someone take just a moment for a quick explanation. Since it seems it could be a bit dangerous, I would like to know what it is so I don't inadvertently do it!

[Leo Graywacz]

Climb cutting is cutting in the same direction as the cutter rotation. Normally you cut against the rotation. This gives a lot of control and holds the pc against the fence. With clime cutting you HAVE to have a stock feeder to hold the pc down. If the board catches the cutter it can get thrown out of the machine at a high rate of speed.

[Richard Amabile]

Leo:
Thanks for the explanation - that helps.