Replies

1. 
   ring | Jan 07, 2009 10:28am | #1

   I never heard of any wood that would adversely affect the carbide in storage.

   David Ring

   http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e

2. 
   philip | Jan 07, 2009 11:34am | #2

   I think you may have read somewhere that some timbers can cause corrosion when in contact with steel and this is true of woods like oaks which have tannic acid.
   I would not worry about this for your router bit inserts since they are carbide, but the unpainted/uncoated steel shanks and body just may be vulnerable if you used a wood such as oak, so avoid it .

   Philip Marcou
3. 
   tomwalz | Jan 07, 2009 07:57pm | #3

   Many grades of tungsten carbide have a cobalt binder to cement the tungsten carbide grains together much like cement in concrete.    This is pure or elemental Cobalt. 

   (see   http://www.carbideprocessors.com/cobalt_is_preferred_binder.htm for the reasons they use cobalt.)

    

   Pure Cobalt is affected by acids (not bases) such as wood acids.  This problem shows up in sawmills and green Western Red Cedar is particularly bad.    My firm had tests run by Forintek at the University of British Columbia to measure this as it affects saw tip life.   If you are cutting miles and miles of green, high acid wood you will see accelerated dulling. 

    

   (When we do research on tool life in a laboratory test we run 100,000 feet.  This is not nearly enough to dull the tool for all practical purposes but it is still about a $10,000 dollar, month long test.) 

    

   As part of this research Forintek distilled tree acids and it was extremely difficult to see any results from the purely chemical erosion caused by the concentrated wood acids. 

    

   The binder erodes faster when you combine the rubbing and heat and other conditions actually involved in cutting.    

    

   Use any wood you wish.  You will never see any damage to the carbide.

    

   However the steel is a different issue as was stated above.  Some people have body acid such that they cause steel to rust more readily than with others.  I would spray them with WD-40 or something similar and not touch them with bare hands before I put them away or any time.   You might want to look into a dehumidifier in the box as well.            

    

   That is really overkill but it will be a fun project. 

    

   That is probably a lot more than you wanted to know, I suppose, and I apologize for that.  It is just that carbide has come so very far in terms of strength and life and corrosion resistance in the last few years and so very few appreciate it. 

    

   There is more of our research and results at:  http://www.carbideprocessors.com/materials.htm

    

   Tom

1. 
   [email protected] | Jan 08, 2009 12:25am | #4

   Tom, it is hard to provide me with too much information, at least on science or engineering matters. 

   The inserts should be a pretty high quality carbide.  They aren't brazed, so they are harder than the carbide on Amana's "normal" router bits.  And, they are supposed to have five times the cutting life. 

   The storage box, is so I can keep them organized mostly.  I can't see just throwing them in a drawer in the original plastic and cardboard packaging they come in. 

1. 
   mapleman | Jan 08, 2009 05:42am | #5

   JIGS,

   you could also buy those little plastic or brass inserts that hold the shank snugly, thereby distancing the steel shank from the wood.......

   Lee