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Broke my favorite router bit on a curly maple panel last week
I was shaping the edge of a cabinet door and the bit caught a knot I didn't see, snapped clean off, and I had to scrap the whole piece and start over with a new $50 bit - has anyone else had trouble with figured wood throwing off their routing cuts?
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paul_morgan1mo ago
Oh man, curly maple is the worst for that stuff. Had a piece of figured cherry buck me off so hard last spring the bit flew across the shop and put a dent in the drywall. The grain can just grab the cutter in a split second, especially around knots or those wavy sections. Ended up switching to a slower feed rate and taking lighter passes on any figured wood since then - it's a pain but saves the bits, you know?
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paul1171mo ago
That curly maple can be a real bear to work with. Reminds me of the time I was routing a dovetail joint in some hard maple and the bit just started smoking like crazy. Figured out later my dust collection hose had come loose and was clogged up with shavings, so the cutter was basically red hot. Had to let everything cool down for an hour before I could even touch the bit to change it out.
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