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Burning

3K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  RustyW 
#1 ·
What causes wood burning when routing ? Does the power of the router have a direct effect on the outcome ? What about the rate or speed of feeding the wood ? any comments on this subject :thank_you2:
 
#2 ·
Feeding too slow will cause burning. But it's not the only factor. Not all router bits are created equal. Freud, Forrest, Amana etc. charge a lot more than Harbor freight for a reason. Also the bit should be used near it's recommended RPM.
You using your router on a table or hand held? I try to use the table when ever possible, so much easier to control all these factors. One more thing, don't take the whole profile at once. I like making a light finish cut, .010 or less. with a good bit and fast feed rate, it will leave a finish that don't even need sanding!
Harry
the TX one
 
#3 ·
Hi rotor

Just to add to Harry post :)

All router bits are made to cut the profile in one pass the norm even the Big bits ( panel bits) but the router has a voice and many things come it to play when you route the profile , how hard the wood is,how soft the wood is, it comes back to the voice thing, it's like when you are drilling a hole you can hear the drill motor telling what it wants, it's the same with a router :) speed of the bit and the rate of feed all come into play, no hard rule it's a practice/learning thing that you get every time you use the router..:)

Until you get it down use the 2 cut way to clean up the burn marks, it's hard to not put them in place, I do it from time to time if I stop too long in a corner, the bit gets hot and burns the stock :)
Like I said no hard rule :) it helps to let the bit cool down after each pass...:)

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#5 ·
Adding to the experts comments (above) here's the observations of someone who's still got a lot to learn about routing. I found that I was moving the router far too timidly and run it too slowly when I first started using it. With a sharp bit spinning up at the bit's ideal speed it melts through even hard maple like butter.

Obviously you must listen to the router and not overload it but I haven't had that problem. When I press myself to move the router faster (don't mistake that with "pushing the router against the wood faster than it can cut") and run it up at speed I get really nice cuts.
 
#6 ·
The coasters I recently made were tough to do without burn marks. Using a plunge router and a dish cutter to make the recesses, I tried to keep the router moving as I plunged and unplunged(?). But I still had burns at my start and stop points that needed quite a bit of sanding. The bit was from MLCS, I will probably replace it eventually with a Whiteside. A see if it makes a difference.
 
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