Question regarding routing oak

[JHZR2]

Over in tool time I had questions about routers.. Good results but i have a question based upon my results on one board.

I had a bunch of store credit at Lowe's, so I came home with a $99 Bosch hand-held router. It's the one horsepower colt motor, not the big 2 1/2 hp one, primarily because I didn't like the big Bosch unit that they had at Lowe's compared to the one they had at Home Depot. This Bausch handheld, while a little bit smaller, had a very rigid all metal construction, and a good in-hand feel to me. Ended up with a Freud router bit from Home Depot.

Some of the chestnut trim in our house has a round over corner, and it's perfectly smooth. But I like the look of just having the slightest subtle straight edge of the top of the round over, like just above.

I'm really pleased with the router and with the results. I had never used the router before ever, but it was straightforward and worked well. My only issue was on the ends of the oak board. One of the two pieces I made did this, while the other one did not. Essentially the wood left little fray at the top edge where I had routed. It is only when I did on the ends where the grain was parallel to the length of the board. It was only one of the two oak boards that I routed, The other one came out perfectly smooth. It was easy enough to fix with a very sharp razor blade, which took them right off. Still what is the cause of this and is there some aspect of technique that I can change to avoid it??

Thanks!

 

[spasm3]

I have wet the ends just before routing them. It does not look like you made too deep of a pass. Perhaps a bit more speed on the router bit?

 

[TooManyWheels]

Was your direction of travel such that the bit cut with the wood, rather than against it? That is what it looks like. Apologizing in advance if this is too elementary....

 

[jcwit]

Not enough "R's". Motor got lugged down while cutting.

 

[Clevy]

When a router cuts it depresses the wood slightly. That's what you're seeing. Its more obvious when cutting the end grain.
Slightly less depth and your golden.
And a trick since you look as though your going to do this again.
When you are milling with the grain on the parallel grain router the point you plan on finishing at first. Then go to the other end and start.
If you come in about 6" it prevents the grain tearing out and ruining the entire edge.
Basically I'm saying router in 6" on all the corners,then router along the length. It prevents the carbide from grabbing a grain(growth ring)and ripping it off instead if cutting it.

And if your router is variable speed then slow it down as the bits get bigger. The round over bit you've got installed should spin at full blast,like 24000rpm. As they get bigger slow the speed. This prevents tear out,burning and lessens the phenomena of compression too.
Pm me if you've got a lot of questions. I've got an entire shop that focuses on just rotary cutters and shapers.
From router tables to angled fences on a table saw that can take a piece of 2x8 lumber and create custom shaped 7 1/4 crown mould.
The router is one of my favourite tools. With a couple specific bits a man can create art and shapes that tell a story.
I'm a journeyman carpenter and specialize in rough framing however I absolutely love architectural finish work. Today's homes lack these features that used to make a statement. Today I see a box beside another box.
The soul has been removed and we are left with home building that resembles the fast food drive thru.
Rant over.

 

[larryinnewyork]

Sounds like all good advice.

FYI: I made a oak cabinet that had 21 small drawers.
Dimensions- 9" x 11" x 19"

When finishing, I wanted to darken the oak (but not use stain).

What I did was:
* put completed oak cabinet in plastic tent (used a garbage bag).
* put in containers of Ammonia
* the ammonia fumes react with the tanic acid in the oak
and gives it a different look than oil staining.

I darkened the oak to a medium brown (about 1 Week), then finished with Tung Oil.
I could have darkened the oak more but was unsure if it would effect the glue joints.
The longer exposed to ammonia, the darker the staining.

Oak beams in an old barn will turn very dark.
Surposible because of animal urine fumes.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Was your direction of travel such that the bit cut with the wood, rather than against it? That is what it looks like. Apologizing in advance if this is too elementary....


Nope, I definitely made sure I was working counterclockwise.

Everything was set exactly the same for both boards, speed, cut depth, etc. One did this, the other didn't... That's what is so odd.

I had it set on 3 of 6 not he speed dial... That was 20000RPM.

All the higher speeds were stated to be used for softwoods, laminates, plastics, etc. Also said "small diameter" bits, but not sure what that meant...

I was cutting with a 5/16" bit.

So need to go faster, OK. Any idea why one board worked perfect while the other did this, given that all parameters were the same?

Thanks!

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
I absolutely love architectural finish work. Today's homes lack these features that used to make a statement. Today I see a box beside another box.
The soul has been removed and we are left with home building that resembles the fast food drive thru.
Rant over.


Thanks for the advice, and this is so true. I love the craftsmanship of old homes like mine and in the older small towns all over. Even the so-called "high end" homes we've looked at, priced into the millions just aren't all that impressive from that basis. Ditto for "custom" built places that still tend to source their components from the same kind of vendors...

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Clevy

I'm a journeyman carpenter and specialize in rough framing however I absolutely love architectural finish work. Today's homes lack these features that used to make a statement. Today I see a box beside another box.
The soul has been removed and we are left with home building that resembles the fast food drive thru.
Rant over.


What about the goofy rooflines intersecting all over on a home that is just too small for this?
I see it every day in subdivisions, it's depressing...

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Clevy

I'm a journeyman carpenter and specialize in rough framing however I absolutely love architectural finish work. Today's homes lack these features that used to make a statement. Today I see a box beside another box.
The soul has been removed and we are left with home building that resembles the fast food drive thru.
Rant over.


What about the goofy rooflines intersecting all over on a home that is just too small for this?
I see it every day in subdivisions, it's depressing...

My favorite is fake dormers... Although after drywalling and doing board and batten siding, soffits and facsia on 5 real ones, I can see why the cookie cutter houses don't have them. It took probably an hour per square foot at my rookie pace!
Oh well, what it does to the room and the view is worth it.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Clevy

I'm a journeyman carpenter and specialize in rough framing however I absolutely love architectural finish work. Today's homes lack these features that used to make a statement. Today I see a box beside another box.
The soul has been removed and we are left with home building that resembles the fast food drive thru.
Rant over.


What about the goofy rooflines intersecting all over on a home that is just too small for this?
I see it every day in subdivisions, it's depressing...

My favorite is fake dormers... Although after drywalling and doing board and batten siding, soffits and facsia on 5 real ones, I can see why the cookie cutter houses don't have them. It took probably an hour per square foot at my rookie pace!
Oh well, what it does to the room and the view is worth it.


Quite true!

Our old house down east had seven dormers (three on the front, two on each side of the back T section and two on the finished area above the garage) and I imagine they were quite time consuming to construct but the view is definitely worth it as you've said