Question about making dados with a router

I was cutting a 3/4 inch dado in some pine for a bookshelf project last week. Bit grabbed about halfway through and tore out a chunk of the edge. Had to scrap the board and start over. Anyone got tips for keeping a router bit from catching on the grain?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_linda11d ago

Did you check the grain direction before you started cutting? I always run my dado in the same direction as the grain if I can, but sometimes with pine it's hard to tell which way the grain is actually going until it's too late. What speed were you running the router at? I find that slowing the bit down a little helps me keep control when I'm cutting across the grain in pine...

the_xena11d ago

Totally agree with everything you said, @the_linda! I've definitely had that same problem with pine where the grain is just all over the place and you don't realize it until you're halfway through the cut and the router starts grabbing. I actually just had a project last week where I was running my router at full speed like a dummy and the chunking was awful. I had to stop and drop the speed down to like 12-14k rpm and it made a huge difference. Also I found that taking a really shallow pass first, like just a hair deep, helps me see which way the grain is lying before I commit to the full cut.

taylorc405d ago

Wait, full speed? Like maxed out at 24k rpm? Dude that's just asking for trouble with that soft knotty pine. I've been there too but dropping it down to 12-14k is the only way I can keep that bit from going rogue. Even a tiny change in speed saved me from trashing a whole board last month. Also I never thought about taking a super light first pass just to map the grain direction, that's actually genius. Do you do like a 1/16 inch first pass or even shallower than that?