Surfacing with the Router

[Kevin Smith]

Since I have a narrow bed jointer, I often use my router to surface one side of the stock before running it through the thickness planer. Currently, I'm using a 3/4" diameter straight bit to perform this operation - but was considering purchasing one of the larger diameter Bottom Cleaning bits like this one from Eagle America. http://eagleamerica.com/product.asp?pn=116-1205&bhcd2=1176758723 (http://eagleamerica.com/product.asp?pn=116-1205&bhcd2=1176758723)

I'm trying to get a sense of whether or not it's the right bit for the job or if there is something better to use. Having a 1-1/2" diameter bit would definitely cut down on the number of passes needed to true up the surface on the wider stock.

Your thoughts and/or recommendations would be helpful...

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[Grant Lasson]

Kevin,

I've used a bottom cleaning bit to surface boards on my ornamental mill. They do a passable job. The finish isn't great so I try and leave enough material to plane the board on both sides. The bits come in a wide range of sizes. I use Magnate bits. Can't really compare them to Eagle America but I've been pleased with Magnate's bottom cleaning bit.

http://magnate.net/index.cfm?event=showProductGroup&theID=136

[glenn bradley]

I see no problem as long as your router will drive it. I assume you'll take light multiple passes and using twice the width will speed things along.

[Doug Shepard]

The Eagle bit seems like it should work as good as anything I can think of. But does anyone recall an article in FWW maybe 1-2 years ago? The author was doing something similar and claimed tearout-free results even on highly figured wood. I cant recall what type of bit he was using though. Kevin - I'd be interested in seeing pics of your setup for doing this. I've only done it a couple of times and made a throwaway holding scheme. One of these days making a better jig for this would probably be worthwhile.

[Kevin Smith]

Grant - Thanks! I'm not familiar with the Magnate brand router bits but will take a look at them today.

Glen - Good point… I'm currently using a single speed router with my jig and would need to replace it with a variable speed unit. According to the chart I have, I need to reduce the speed of the router by roughly 30 percent to around 16,000 rpm if I'm going to use a 1-1/2" diameter bit.

Doug - I modified the original post to include a couple of pictures of my router surfacing jig. As you can see, it's pretty simple - but works fairly well. When building a project, I normally rough cut all my stock and surface those pieces that are too wide for my jointer using this jig. I place shims (where required) and ensure the stock is held firmly during the routing process. And once I have established a flat surface, I can then take it to the planer for clean-up and final thickness.

I've made two or three of these jigs over the years and continue to make some modifications with each iteration. At some point, maybe I should just give in and buy a larger bed jointer…

This one uses a couple of plywood side rails which are attached to t-tracks on my workbench. Each is capped with a strip of hardwood to resist the wear of the sled moving back an forth over the rails. The sled is made with a 3/4" plywood base and sideboards to provide a little stiffness to the fixture. These sideboards also have a 1/4" groove routed on the inside to receive (trap) an acrylic base plate for the router which eliminates the risk of the router tipping during the cut.

There are stops positioned on each end of the sled which limits the travel of the router. Stops are also positioned at the end of each rail which restricts the travel of the sled. The underside of the sled has two hardwood saddles which track with each rail. Both the side rails and sled have indexing marks which makes it a little easier to gauge each pass along and/or across the wood's surface.

A little paste wax on the saddle and runners and you have a fixture that glides easily along its length.

[John Peterson]

I havent used it for this but when I have a large area to clean out, I have 3/8 rabbeting bit that I cut the bearing off and removed the post that the bearing is attached to. This allows for a wider cutting path. I believe the total cutting width is 1.25". Just an idea.

[Kevin Smith]

Doug,

Your comments got me thinking about an article I had read in Wood magazine a couple of years ago. So... I went back though my stack and was able to locate it (issue #162). It too, was talking about using a router sled (for surfacing) to control tear-out on highly figured wood.

In this article, it stated that you can use a flat-bottomed bit - but went on to say that using a 1-1/4" diameter dish-carving bit seemed to work better because the "radiused edges" also helped transition into the next pass.

Maybe I'll buy one of each…

Thanks again for your response!