rustyman Posted May 4, 2010 Report Share Posted May 4, 2010 I don't know how many of you use routers, I bought all the stuff to duplicate cranks so they were the same and got a big let down. I rough cut the baits to within an eigth inch and was doing fine till I hit the end grains. Major tearout happened. I tried going reverse but still ate it up. I'm going to try a spiral type cutter here in a bit. Didn't know if any one had a good tip. Using basswood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 The spiral cutter might work, but really the router is the wrong tool for the job. You would be much better investing in a belt sander. They usually come as a combination of a belt and a disk. The disk sander has an adjustable plate. This tool is perfect for the job you are talking about and is one of the best buys I ever made. Once you own one, you will find so many uses for it. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 The spiral cutter might work, but really the router is the wrong tool for the job. You would be much better investing in a belt sander. They usually come as a combination of a belt and a disk. The disk sander has an adjustable plate. This tool is perfect for the job you are talking about and is one of the best buys I ever made. Once you own one, you will find so many uses for it. Dave I bought mine for sharpening lathe bits and other steel tools. Its not as fast as my grinder, but it does a lot better job. Now I'm going to have to go make some crank baits. LOL. Not sure why its tearing on the crank bait bodies with the router. I've used my CNC mill turning at 10,000 rpm to cut some other small wood projects with similar charachteristics to crankbaits and all I got were tiny little feathers of wood fiber sticking out on certain edges. I was able to dress them off with a tiny bit of sandpaper in seconds. I have cut oak, poplar, MDF, and pine this way. Sorry. Have not cut bass wood. Is it really soft? I have experienced tearing with balsa when aggressively hand cutting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNC Molds N Stuff Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 The only other thing I can think of is maybe you are trying to go to fast and force your way through instead of cutting. I know wood will burn if you go to slow, but if you are using a dull bit or you are pushing way to fast or have a variable speed router with the RPM set to slow ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyman Posted May 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 The spiral cutter might work, but really the router is the wrong tool for the job. You would be much better investing in a belt sander. They usually come as a combination of a belt and a disk. The disk sander has an adjustable plate. This tool is perfect for the job you are talking about and is one of the best buys I ever made. Once you own one, you will find so many uses for it. Dave Spiral bit is a no go. I've been using the disc like you have, I just thought that using a router might be faster when making a bunch the exact same. Going back to the disc. Thanks for the response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLane4 Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 Can you post a picture of the bit your using or the whole setup? In my experience with cutting all sorts of materials (plastics, alloys, composites, wood,ect.) on machines and CNCs I'd suggest trying a ball nose endmill. Also your depth of cut and feed might be to great. There is a fine balance of speeds and feeds when removing material. If you get some pictures up though i might be able to help you more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted May 6, 2010 Report Share Posted May 6, 2010 If you can, move the lure so the router bit is cutting from the flat grain to the end grain, so the cutter is going with the grain, instead of back against it. There's no magic to eliminating tearout. Sharp bits, slow feed, small bites, with the grain. Experiment with scrap until you master the technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishooks Posted May 7, 2010 Report Share Posted May 7, 2010 www.routertips.com/ several router suggestions to fine tune router performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
