Router table, is this safe?

[Chris_belgium]

I need to 'plane' some small pieces of wood 50 mm square 500mm long. I don't have a planer, but do have a router table and a 55mm long cutter.

Is it safe to feed the wood from the other side, inbetween the fence and the cutter? I know if one would feed a piece inbetween the fence and the cutter the normal way it would go flying, but if it's fed in from the other side it should be ok?

My gut feeling says it should be ok, but that feeling has been wrong many times before.

 

[CNC Paul]

Chris

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!

For christ sake don't do that

 

[Chris_belgium]

Chris

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!

For christ sake don't do that

why not?

 

[Rich]

And make sure you paint a big arrow going in the other direction so you can NEVER forget.

Rich.

 

[Chris_belgium]

And make sure you paint a big arrow going in the other direction so you can NEVER forget.

Rich.

Again, why? Not trying to be a wise *** here, just wan't to understand.

I think there is some mixup about what I'm attempting to do. I'm having problems explaining it in English, sorry about that.

Made a quick sketchup model of what I'm talking about. The wood would pass inbetween the cutter and the fence. I would offcourse make very small passes to minimize the load on the router/cutter.

 

[Rich]

On a router table ALWAYS feed the workpiece from right to left, if you try doing it from the other direction you could find the workpiece buried in your stomach AND do NOT feed the piece BETWEEN the fence and the cutter, my advice to you is to, buy a book on routing, look at some of the free vids available on the web, an inverted router is a very useful tool but when it's spinning at 35000 rpm, it can be lethal if not used correctly.

Regards,

Rich.

 

[jasonB]

Unlike feeding in the normal way the method you propose has some risks.

There is a much higher risk of kickback, if the timber moves away from the fence slightly, the blade will dig in and throw the wood back at you and also away from the fence macking it move CLOSER to the cutter and dig in more and so on.

If you get a dig in when feeding in the normal way the wood will again be thrown towards you and away from the fence but as it moves away from the fence it will move AWAY from the cutter.

Are you just trying to plane a surface or attempting to thickness the timber, there is a safe way to plane a surface using teh router.

Jason

 

[Shultzy]

Chris, the best way to carry out this operation is to set both fences level with the cutter using a straight edge. Then move the RH fence back about 1.5 - 2mm then move the wood from right to left, don't forget to use feather boards to keep the wood tight to the fence and use a push stick. If your fences are not independently movable, pack the LH fence by 1.5 - 2mm and set this fence to the cutter using a straight edge. NEVER EVER put the wood between the cutter and the fence, firstly any kick-backs will be aimed straight towards you and secondly the cutter is exposed so any slip and you could lose a finger.

 

[MikeG.]

I hesitate to say it, but I have done this many a time......I don't need to any more because I now own a thicknesser.

Quite obviously, you don't stand in the normal position when feeding work through this way. There is no danger of the work being spat out at you.....you are in fact feeding the work in at the correct relationship with the turning cutter (ie, the cutting edge is coming towards the work).

No, the real danger is that you have an isolated cutter with no way of guarding it, and your hands are necessarily going to be in the vicinity. Unless you really know what you are doing with a router table, and unless you have a bomb-proof set up of feather boards and pushers I would get a plane out and use some good old fashioned skills to get your timbers accurate.

This is one of the most dangerous things I have ever done in the workshop, and I wouldn't suggest anyone tries it.

Mike

 

[Streepips]

For goodness sake why not just use a handplane?

 

[ginsters]

wow,this must be a wind up :? if not get your self one of these

 

[CNC Paul]

I could not elaborate earlier as dinner was calling.

I hope the above advice helps... you only have one set of fingers.Why not
use a hand plane and improve your hand skills

Best wishes


Paul

 

[Niki]

I also did (and do) it but with two fences and iron feather boards, one before and one after the bit.

Also, I'm removing or cutting only 0.2 ~ 0.3 mm at each pass so the bit does not "dig" too much into the workpiece.

The second fence is used also as a locator and all a I have to do is reset the straight edge location for the next board - if it's at different width.

I use this method to get a very tight glue line or, if I want the board width to be very consistent all along the board.

Like all the others, I would not recommend to do it just "free hand"....

niki

 

[Steve Maskery]

I have to say, I'm with Mike here.

The dangers are from an exposed blade and wander, rather than from kickback. I'd want to see some guarding and featherboards, but the basic mechanical principle is sound. That doesn't mean it's a good way of achieving what you want, though.

I do wonder if you would actually get very good results, as the cutter diameter is very small compared to a thicknesser.

All in all, I think this is a great opportunity either to:
1. Buy a planer/thicknesser, or
2. Hone your hand-planing skills.

Cat, pigeons - I'm off.
S

 

[Digit]

I make most of my jigs and fixtures out of Paxolin, (cos I've got it!)
and I use the same technique as Niki.
But I find one point that is essential that has not been mentioned. The side that is running on the temporary fence must be either dead straight or concave. If it is neither the side being machine can never be straight and the chance of a 'dig in' is greatly increased.

Roy.

 

[ByronBlack]

I'm confused here, what is wrong with doing it the old fashioned way? Feed from right to left as normal, but as a previous poster mentioned, just set the in-feed part of the fence back the distance you wish to plane/joint? It's pretty darn simple.

 

[fossil]

I'm sorry , but you'd have to be some kind of Numpty to want to even think of doing it like that :shock: :shock:

sharpen up your hand plane :twisted:

 

[harryc]

I agree with Byron why make something that is so obvious more complicated. Is it because you can?
The obvious danger of routing left to right is that you are more likely to get your workpiece pulled away from you, and hence your fingers are going to get a nasty shock

Harry

 

[Sawdust]

He is routing left to right but wood is between the fence and the cutter so the cut is the right way in relation to the cutter rotation. It's acting like a miniature thicknesser.

I've never tried it but don't see that it is going to pull the wood in.

What would scare me is that it will probably jam up or snap the cutter. It might work better with a bigger cutter.

If you do decide to do it, guard it well, use a push stick and take really light cuts.

Mike

 

[MikeG.]

The obvious danger of routing left to right is that you are more likely to get your workpiece pulled away from you
Harry

Wrong!!!

Harry....see my earlier post. On the other side of the cutter from normal, the wood's relationship to the direction of cutter travel is the correct one.

This doesn't, of course, mean this procedure is safe.

Mike