Router round overs and dust

[pike]

I've been rounding over all the edges and cut outs on some large bits of ply with my dewalt 621k and the mess is terrible. Is there anything I can do to improve it? The parts are too big for a table I think. e.g. 5 foot long and some with lots of holes needing rounded over. I've been wondering about a trim router but I imagine the mess would be the same.

Cheers,
Carl.

 

[marcros]

do you have duct extraction on your router?

 

[ColeyS1]

Are you using the plastic extraction bit that clips on the fence ?

Coley

 

[pike]

I've got it plugged into my trend vac but the extraction is from the top. I'm not using a fence as I'm rounding over holes cut in the ply.

 

[pike]

I think I might have lost this little bit of clear plastic. I'm guessing that would make a difference.

 

[ColeyS1]

That'd definitely help. To be honest I fuddled up routers and was thinking of the larger 625 dewalt

Coley

 

[pike]

Thanks anyway Coley. Sometimes I just need to think out loud ;-)

 

[Giff]

It may not solve the problem this time but I have a Makita RT0700C which is really good for small rounding over and trimming. Much more delicate that the larger ones as well for these jobs. It can be converted to a plunge and has a tilting base in the bigger kit, and a follow bearing guide. It can do a lot of things that a full blown DeWalt or Elu struggle with.

 

[paulrockliffe]

You could run the edges with a saw to take of some of the bulk before finishing with the router. That would reduce the dust volume quite a bit.

 

[chippy1970]

Have you got a fence with dust port or catcher on it. On my Festools they have a clever swiveling cover around the cutter. This helps massively with dust collection. If you have a fence with dust catcher it will help

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[pike]

I will try the fence but it seems a bit clunky for freehand edge routing where the fence won't actually touch the wood. It won't help for the inside cuts. Thanks for suggestions, appreciated.

 

[Logger]

As an alternative, in this weather, is it possible to do it outside. I use mdf on saw horses to make an outdoor bench and do messy jobs outdoors. Having said that, i am not fastidious about being dust free in my workshop, but routing does create so much mess. I recently routed the stringer for a housed staircase. I did that outside under an old car port and it looked like a beach.

I don't like the dust extraction on routers as with most, it gets in your way and if you are doing long pieces, end up needing to move the extractor as well.

Cheers

Nick

 

[pike]

Problem solved. I just forgot how my router works after it being in a box for a year or two..

I do have the plastic casing around the base but there is a separate "cap" which clicks in place around the bit and that makes a huge difference to dust collection! On the inside cuts it made it a much happier experience. Still doesn't help outside edges a lot but I had less mess to clean up. Maybe I can use the fence on the outside cuts but haven't tried that yet.

I think that's probably what chippy was talking about.

Thanks for the help.

 

[slemishwoodcrafts]

I saw somebody had once fashioned a dust spout from an old 2 litre milk bottle that allowed them to use bearing guided edge cutters and still have good extraction

 

[DiscoStu]

I've got the Festool OF1400?and dust collection on that is brilliant. Might be worth a look to see if the concepts could be borrowed and bodged onto another router. Basically is has a clip in plastic connector that surrounds the bit and then for edge routing it also has a chip collector.


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[pike]

Don't tempt me. I love my festool stuff especially for the dust extraction and would have no hesitation getting one of their routers, but it's a bit too expensive right now. The dewalt 621k actually has decent extraction when I use it properly

 

[chippy1970]

Maybe something like this http://www.rockler.com/edge-routing-dust-port

 

[pike]

Looks like a good idea but reviews seem to say it needs better build quality, so I might look at making something myself. Cheers.

 

[DiscoStu]

Don't tempt me. I love my festool stuff especially for the dust extraction and would have no hesitation getting one of their routers, but it's a bit too expensive right now. The dewalt 621k actually has decent extraction when I use it properly

You can probably get £50 off at the moment!