I have a 3 1/4 HP router mounted in a bench and I just started cutting raised panes. The router has variable speeds so I crank it down to the 1 or 2 speed setting to turn the bit safely. My question is how many passes should it take for me to route my entire edge?
I think I am a bit scared to take too much and it winds up taking me 6-8 passes per side which actually becomes an arduous a task after 2 or 3 raised panels.
Replies
I had a bunch of RP to do onetime. I cut the , I think 10d, bevel on my table saw then went to the router. I only had to make one pass with the bit I was using and they came our great.
Bio ,
Really you take as many passes as needed , find out how big a bite your router will take if it balks , back it out until it feels and sounds right .Even on my shapers with much larger diameter cutters than the router uses depending on the material multiple passes happen , if its mdf 1 pass should do it Maple will take more passes .
The idea of removing the bulk on the TS is a good one but , for only a few panels as you speak of by the time you set that up you could be already shaping the panels imo .
good luck dusty
Echo that exactly
BB
What Bonka said. If you can lay your profile over the edge of a panel, and trace your ultimate desired depth, then you can hog off the bulk with a table saw. Then you're not left with 6 passes on the router. More like two.
Sorry for the delay in responding to these messages, I was out of town. With that being said I have two extremes here. I do see how taking some edges off on the ts will help, but then I see where you can cut 3/4 mdf in one pass. That's what I was cutting mine with and was just I guess scared to try it.
I have a Hitachi 3 1/4 HP MV 12 router and it has the speed dials set from 1 to 5 (I think the 1 is about 10,000 rpm) what speed should I set it at to try to take the one pass at the MDF and go?
I'm not sure I know what you're doing, but you're not going to do these with a hand held router, are you?
Denny
Oh NO!!!! That darn MV 12 is to heavy to hold and I have already read all the safety notices that said don't run big bits freehand. My speed question is in reference to people saying big bits need to be run at lower speeds. I'm just wonder how low?
I'm simply learning to make raised panels. Bought me a set to do the stiles, rails and the raised panel. Since I'm practicing, I said what better material to try than cheap, flat and easy to cut MDF. I have been successful in the cuts but like I said I take 8 passes to do it.
My Porter Cable router in my table I think has five speeds. I just use the lowest with those wide panel bits (that I don't use too often). But Whiteside and others make bits that are "reversed" so to speak. They are skinny bits and you run your panel past it vertically. Do you know what I'm trying to describe? These don't have any speed issues at all.
Denny
Ok, now that the speed issue is resolved, do you think it is safe to make the cut in one pass?
I doubt it. Even if I hogged away most of it with a table saw, I still think it would take me two passes to get the profile exactly uniform. Routers only work right when you take a little at a time; at least that's been my experience.
Denny
I am fresh out of my shop making the panel and I must say Mr. Dusty doing the whole thing in one pass is a bit much even with that 3 1/4 router. I can do it, but as another poster said I had to slow the feed rate down to a crawl, and I did have the router throws the power strip once. I did not have any burning on that slow feed, but it just did not feel right which leads me to wonder how safe it was so I setup for two passes which were much better than the 8 I was taking previously. This process worked like a charm so now I can make 4 panels in the time it previously took me to do 1.
Bio ,
Glad you got it figured out , actually all my panel raising is done on a shaper , and most shapers spin 8 - 10 thousand rpms and the diameter of some cutters is 3 1/2 - 5 " in some cases . MDF does shape well especially if you use the tempered type , I use Plum Creek mdf for detailed works ask your cabinet material supplier for it by name .Try it you'll like it .
edit : We didn't really talk about the thickness your mdf panel stock is , I typically use 1/2" , if you are using 3/4" that would explain the second pass .
dusty , from the shop
Edited 5/30/2008 12:27 am ET by oldusty
Even if you did slow down the router and make the cut in one pass, you'd have to feed the stock so slowly that the stock would almost certainly burn. Also, you could stall the router with that deep of a cut. The other danger is breaking the shank, though not as likely with a 1/2" shank bit. In regards to speed, this chart is from Infinity.
Side note: why can't manufactures label the speed dial in 1000 RPMs instead of 1 through 6? eg. 12 for 12 000 RPM instead of 1 and 24 for 24 000 RPM instead of 6.
Bit Diameter
Maximum Speed (RPM)
Up to 1"
24,000
1 1/4" to 2"
18,000
2 1/4" to 2 1/2"
16,000
3" to 3 1/2"
12,000
Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Edited 5/29/2008 9:58 pm by flairwoodworks
Good point, as I look at the 1-5 that I have what is 1? I'm assuming 10,000 RPM
1 will likely be the slowest speed of your router, probably either 8 000 10 000 depending on your router.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Ok, here is a million dollar question. My router goes from 8k-22k. How is it broken up to tell speeds because I simply have a 1-5 rating and there is a difference of 14k and it isn't divisible by 5. Why would they want to give the routers rated with a range that you can not easily calculate?
My point exactly! Assuming that speed three is exactly half speed, your speeds would be as follows:
1
8000
2
11500
3
15000
4
18500
5
22000Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Just wanted to add one more case. Some panel raising includes an arched top on the panel. In my experience, you can not do too much with the tablesaw and using the router on end grain is tricky if you try to take off too much. Multiple light cuts is the best way for me.
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