Router table questions....

[Nathan Dekens]

So I was going through a old storage shed on the family property and found a new in box sears router table. I rigged it up and mounted my 2.25 hp ridgid to it so now I have a router table!.....but I have little experience with a router table:(

So today I had 1/4" ply template mounted to a 5/8 peace of cherry and I found the following issues:

I am getting a lot of burning on the cherry. Im spinning a 1/2" straight bit with a roller bearing at the collet end at about 17k rpm. Should I change my router speed up or down to reduce the burning?

Also I was trying to trim a little bit of the end grain with the router but ended up causing chip out near the end. Is there a method of preventing this when using a router on end grain?

I am unsure of wich way to push wood through the bit if when looking at the router table the bit is spinning counter clockwise should I approach the bit from right to left or left to right?

Thanks!

[Jerome Hanby]

Reducing bit speed might help with the Cherry. No experience with that particular wood, but I find a steady push with no pauses helps with burning on other species.

Backup the cut with some scrap to avoid the tear out at the end. I tend to do that cross grain (is that the correct term?) sometimes just leaving the piece a little along and trimming it afterwards and end grain.

Routing the edge farthest from you with the router in front of you, run the material from the right to the left in almost all cases. Running the other way is called a climb cut and can jerk the materiel out of your hand. There are cases where I've seen the climb cut advocated, but it scares me so I avoid it.

[glenn bradley]

Good info so far. Feed right to left along the fence on a table. That bit should be able to be run full speed. Cherry is prone to burning. Do you end grain cuts first with a backerboard. Then the long cuts will clean up any small tearout that the backer didn't take care of. If you can clamp the backer in place you should get no tearout. Feed rate combined with bit speed is something you will develop a feel for and it varies with profile and material. The bit manufacturer will give you a maximum speed but lower speeds sometimes make sense.

[Prashun Patel]

Oh a router table, you usually push it thru right to left. (so y'd spin yr template counterclockwise)

On the end grain on a table I feel safest using a backer board behind the piece. When freehanding it, sometimes I climb cut the end grain. If routing all the way round the piece, I try to do the end grain first; some of the tearout gets smoothed over when the sides are subsequently routed.

Most burning is caused for me by moving the bit too slowly or keeping it in one place too long. I sometimes do that when I'm cutting too much material and compensating for chatter or tearout by slowing the feed rate way down. For me, the best results are obtained by taking a lot of very shallow passes - or in the case of flush trimming, cutting very close to the line so the bit doesn't have to do much work, which allows me to move a little more swiftly - not fast - swiftly.

[Tom Willoughby]

Feeding right to left on the table is what I do too. The bit forces the work piece into the fence and provides some resistance when running it through, much like the saw blade on a table saw. As Jerome mentioned running the wood the other way through the router pulls the workpiece away from the fence and provides little resistance, which can pull it out of your hands. I find that a very scary cut and avoid it too.

[Jerome Hanby]

One other thing about burning, depending on the profile, you could take a very light final cut and that might strip off any existing burn marks without creating new ones.

[Don Jarvie]

The smaller size the bit the faster it should spin. That will eliminate most of the burning. +1 for the shallow passes. This will help with tearout when you put coves and ogees on the wood.

[Jim Neeley]

Nathan,

Burning is a common phenomena experienced most by people new to the router. Burning is cause by an insufficient feed rate, where the bit scrapes too long in one area and generates heat. This slow feed is either due to operator over-caution or because the bit is dull.

If you're feeding the wood at a "comfortable" rate, as a beginner, it is almost always too slow. Don't push it to the level you feel is unsafe but press your comfort zone a bit and you'll see less or no burning. If you know your bit is sharp, press it a little more. As a lesser alternative, slow the bit down.

You'll know if you're feeding it too fast as the bit will "skip", not making a continuous cut.

[Tom Willoughby]

Regarding the question about burning and proper router bit speeds, I have the following table attached to my router fence so that I know what to set my variable speed router to based on the bit size:



Router Bit Diameter

Maximum Speed



Up to 1"

22,000 - 24,000 rpm



1" to 2"

18,000 - 22,000 rpm



2" to 2-1/2"

12,000 - 16,000 rpm



2-1/2" to 3-1/2"

8,000 - 12,000 rpm






This is courtesy of Rockler.

Kind regards,
Tom