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Any kind of flame or igniter in a wood shop could be hazardous so be prepared when attempting experiments like I discuss below. With that disclaimer, I will get to the meat of this post.
It has been suggested on routerfourms.com that since a router in a table only produces chips above the table, there should be no need to have "under the table" dust collection. I have conducted an experiment using a 1/4" radius roundover bit in a table mounted router to visualize the air flow induced by the spinning router bit. A base line test was first conducted using an incense stick (WalMart) with the router bit not spinning; the smoke clearly rises to confirm that the laws of physics are obeyed in my shop. In the next photo, the router motor was turned on and clearly the direction of the smoke flow is reversed. The router bit acts like an impeller on a blower and induces its own air flow. This explains to me why you will get chips beneath the router table.
It has been suggested on routerfourms.com that since a router in a table only produces chips above the table, there should be no need to have "under the table" dust collection. I have conducted an experiment using a 1/4" radius roundover bit in a table mounted router to visualize the air flow induced by the spinning router bit. A base line test was first conducted using an incense stick (WalMart) with the router bit not spinning; the smoke clearly rises to confirm that the laws of physics are obeyed in my shop. In the next photo, the router motor was turned on and clearly the direction of the smoke flow is reversed. The router bit acts like an impeller on a blower and induces its own air flow. This explains to me why you will get chips beneath the router table.
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