Router Table Feed Direction

[Jim Summers]

Hello All,

I need to plow a groove in the middle of a piece of stock. I am planning on doing it on a router table with a fence. I haven't done this before and don't really want to learn by experience on this for fear of slinging a piece of wood across the shop at a high rate of speed or even worse things.

All I have done on router tables so far is edge routing and I always feed it from right to left. Or I guess you could say "into" the direction of the spinning bit.

I almost want to say that it doesn't matter but I think the proper direction will at least help hold the workpiece against the fence as opposed to the operator having to fight it the whole way.

Ideas / suggestions?

TIA

[Bill Huber]

I go from right to left and I also use feather boards, one on each side and one on each side on the top also. With 4 feather boards the wood in not going anywhere but were I want it to go.

[Tom Veatch]

Hello All,

I need to plow a groove in the middle of a piece of stock. ...
I almost want to say that it doesn't matter but I think the proper direction will at least help hold the workpiece against the fence ...

Feed from the direction in which the leading edge of the bit moves toward the fence. The leading edge does the work in this kind of cut, and if it is moving toward the fence, the resultant forces tends to hold the work against the fence.

Feather boards are a good idea, also. Depending on the depth of the groove, I find that straight bits tend to leave the groove packed with shavings. You may find that a spiral upcut does a better job of clearing the groove.

I'm not in the shop at the moment so I can't verify the direction, but, if I recall correctly, looking at the router from the bit side, it turns CCW. That means when you're standing at the table looking across the bit and perpendicular to the fence, the right side of the bit is moving away from you and toward the fence. Therefore, feed from the right side.

[Bill Wyko]

You definitely want to get it right. X-mas day I was in the e-room. I ripped the tip of my finger off. All I did was touch the piece to the router and it grabbed it and pulled my finger right in. I was trying to trim off 1/32nd of an inch from a wooden hing I was making. Believe me, that sucked.:mad:

[David DeCristoforo]

Feeding into the direction of the cutter (or bit) rotation is called "climb cutting". It is very dangerous to do this "freehand" on a router table and far more so on a shaper. With small bits and light cuts, you can get away with hand fed climb cutting but it's still dangerous. Climb cutting has it's advantages. For one thing, tearout and chipping are virtually eliminated which is especially helpful when working with highly figured woods or when there are a lot of grain direction changes. However, to do this safely, you really need a power feeder. There are a number of small feeders that are perfect for mounting on a router table. One of these will not only make climb cutting safe but will greatly expand the usefulness and ease of use of your router table setup

[Jim Summers]

Thanks.

It sounds like the consensus then is:

Looking at the table feed the stock from right to left.

David, I have experience with that "climb cut" you mention. On my dovetail jig, the instructional dvd that came with shows examples of make some climb cuts when cleaning out. Man you batter have a good grip on the router and take a verrry light pass or it'll yank ya'. That is my main reason for getting this right, cuz when she (in this case the stock) decides to take off it gonna go and ain't no stoppin it.

Thanks again!

[Dave Hale]

I'd also suggest several light passes rather than one full depth cut. That'll help prevent the sawdust 'packing' and uneven depth of cut.