Router inlay kit - Must be doing something wrong

[Bill Brush]

I just bought a router inlay kit (bushing+collar and bit).

In less than a couple hours testing I have managed to break both the bit that came with it, and my own 1/8" carbide bit.

The first time could have been me putting stress on the bit during alignment (the router wasn't on).

The second time I was routing along the edge of the template, came to the point, and suddenly things felt wrong. Lifted the router up and the bit was broken.

Is there a trick to using these kits that I need to be aware of or am I just beating the odds?

I'm a little stunned and a whole lot of frustrated because I can't believe I just killed $25 worth of router bits.

[Bob Wingard]

How deep of a cut are you taking ??? These little kits are really meant for small, trim type routers ... the makers won't tell you that, but, too much heft in the router itself leads to over stressing these tiny bits. It's not the horsepower, but the overall size & heft of the bigger routers that makes them more difficult to use with finesse.

[Cary Falk]

I have used a inlay kit in my full size router for years and never had a problem. I would guess you are routing too deep at one time or moving too fast.

[Tom Esh]

Yeah, those small dia solid carbide bits won't take much feed pressure - probably not much more than the drag of the baseplate on the surface, which makes it difficult to feel how much force you're applying. Waxing the baseplate helps, and I take it very easy. Never more than 1/32 or so per pass. Might get some burning from too slow feedrate, but the inlay will hide it.

[Jerry Thompson]

Bob;
I have used the inlay kit with a Bosh plung router and have had no trouble. I only went abot 1/16'' first pass and then to final depth which was about another 1/16''.

[Bill Huber]

I have not done a lot of them but I have no problem with breaking bits. Most of my inlays are 1/8" think and I do it in 2 passes or 1/16" each.

[Bob Wingard]

Hey guys ... I'm in no way doubting your statements to the effect that you've had no problems in this arena ... just saying, and overly large & heavy router can be hard to handle with complete certainty in delicate situations. That's why I would highly recommend a trim router, merely for it's size.

One thing though that I'll never understand is ... why do they make those tiny router bits so long ??? It's not like a drill bit that you can keep sharpening ... the fluted portion of a 1/8" bit should never be more than about 5/16" long ... it makes these types of failures almost a sure thing.

[Lee Schierer]

I broke the first two bits I had before I got smart and used a larger diameter bit to hog out the majority of material that needed to be removed before switching to the 1/8" bit for clean up. I agree that a smaller router would have less tendency to break these fragile bits. You don't need 1-1/2 + Hp to run one of these small bits.

[Bill Brush]

Well I guess I'm just biting too deep and going too fast. I think the wood might have had something to do with it (padauk) as it is one of the hardest woods I've used that type of bit on.

I'll chalk it up to a learning experience and go on.

[Jim Tobias]

Bill,
This has nothing to do wiht the router bits/technique, but when I saw the words "padauk" and 'inlay" in the same paragraph it got my attention. You may already be very aware of this but padauk produces a bright orange dust that can/will get into the grain of any other wood(especially lighter woods) and give it an orangish color that you may not want. I'm thinking of your inlay when you sand it all back. It doesn't mean not to use padauk(I like it and have used it often), but you have to be careful when sanding and do a lot of wiping/taping off whenever possible.
Just a thought.
Jim

[Bill Brush]

Bill,
This has nothing to do wiht the router bits/technique, but when I saw the words "padauk" and 'inlay" in the same paragraph it got my attention. You may already be very aware of this but padauk produces a bright orange dust that can/will get into the grain of any other wood(especially lighter woods) and give it an orangish color that you may not want. I'm thinking of your inlay when you sand it all back. It doesn't mean not to use padauk(I like it and have used it often), but you have to be careful when sanding and do a lot of wiping/taping off whenever possible.
Just a thought.
Jim

Thanks for the heads up Jim. This is my first dance with padauk, so it is appreciated. Luckily this is going into walnut so it's not as worrisome as say alder. I'll make sure to plane/scrape the padauk down as much as possible and maybe we can avoid any sanding.