Slow down with big bits. Big shaft you can increase speed. Mostly though just listen and smell. Smoke indicates burning. this can be high speed slow progress where the cutter ends up spinning in the same place a long time creating burning heat. If this is because you can't push the router through then reduce the depth.
Mostly I take pretty deep cuts because I am lazy and usually get away with it. If your router is like mine you can set three depths with the turret. This may not be quite enough for really deep mortises but for most grooves and dados I am in 3/4ths plywood and going about half depth so I make the cut in one pass, about 3/8ths deep. No doubt this is a bit aggressive for some people but a 3/4ths cutter on a half inch shaft with a 3 and a quarter horsepower router that weighs about fifteen pounds won't mind that a all. If it is struggling then just slow it down a little. If I was Han Solo I'd probably pet my wookie ----- Original Message ----- From: Agent086b To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 5:53 PM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Cutting depth per cut Hi, well there is a lot to comprehend in this info. I have a big new Triton router and will be using a 12 mm shafted bit,. I think that is about half inch. I can put a quarter inch Colet in for smaller bits. I do have variable speed settings. Are you saying the smaller the bit the faster the speed setting? Sorry if I am a bit thick. Thanks again for all the answers so far. Max. On 10/04/2010 22:41, Dale Leavens wrote: > While you won't go far wrong with a shallow 8th inch depth of cut this is dependent on a few variables. > > The power of the router. I have a big old triton which will drive an inch diameter bit through an 8th inch cut in the hardest wood without noticing it. > > The size of the bit of course. The cross sectional area increases following the inverse square law so, a half inch bit has four times the cross sectional area of a quarter inch bit and a 1 inch bit is 16 times the cross sectional area of a quarter inch bit. Similarly, as the outer diameter increases so the distance or the amount of cutting surface which passes a particular point increases.A one inch bit has nearly three inches of distance around the outside, at 30 thousand revolutions per minute that is 90 thousand inches a minute or about 24 inches a second compared with a quarter inch bit which will present more like 6 inches a second.This has not only resistance implications but heat generations and other concerns. > > Then there is the shaft size. A half inch shaft will take a lot more load than a quarter inch shaft, remember here the inverse square law. > > I am unaware of any safety recommendations for depth of bit cut probably because of these variables and probably several others I haven't thought of. > > Use load as your guide. You can probably make quarter inch depth passes or even a little more but judge your speed and depth by how the motor pulls down.Generally the bigger the bit the slower your speed both of progress and RPM should be if you have the luxury of variable speed. > > I find it helpful to blow out the cut between adjustments, be a little careful though, sometimes those cuttings are smoking. They can pack nearly as tight as the wood you are cutting and it all adds resistance to the second and subsequent passes. > Hope this is helpful. > > > If I was Han Solo I'd probably pet my wookie > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Bob Kennedy > To: [email protected] > Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 7:06 AM > Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Cutting depth per cut > > > > If you are just making a round hole, go as deep as you want. > > If you are making a mortise type cut that means you have to move the wood over the bit, you can make the end cuts as deep as they need to end up. Then come back and cut no more than an eighth, of an inch, 5 millimeters over there. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Agent086b > To: Handyman > Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 3:05 AM > Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Cutting depth per cut > > Hi all, > well have just purchased my first router and router table so will have > many questions. > For a start. > If I wish to make a plunge cut, with say a 12 mm diameter bit. what is > the maximum depth I should go for a first pass? > I am not sure if this is explaining myself correctly, so I will wait for > the responses and modify the question if necessary. > Thanks as always for the great help. > Max. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Send any questions regarding list management to: > [email protected] > To listen to the show archives go to link > http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=33&MMN_position=47:29 > Or > ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ > > The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. > http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday > > Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: > http://www.jaws-users.com/JAWS/handyman/ > > Visit the archives page at the following address > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > If you would like to join the JAWS Users List, then visit the following address for more information: > http://www.jaws-users.com/ > For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: > [email protected]! 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