Carpentry and Woodworking - Routing Cabinet Doors

This doesn't necessarily apply to only Cabinet doors, but since this is what I was doing I thought I'd be a little more detailed. I'm trying to design a glass door for an Audio Cabinet I designed/built. I decided to use a 3/4" x3 maple for my door edges. I just bought a reversible Ogee bit with a 1/4" groove cut for the glass insert.

I tried routing a test piece. The inside groove for the glass turned out great. The Ogee portion of the cut looked great except... it was all black(like it was burnt).

Am running my router too fast/slow? Any ideas?

Thanks,

D

Maple burns easily. It could be that the bit was running too fast. Large bits need to run slower- most have maximum recommended RPM's or they can fly apart. Not sure what type of profile you have, but sometimes it helps to route out part of the profile (removing 90% of the waste), then set the bit to the final height and make one last pass that only shaves that last 10%- you'll get much less burning that way.

Use a smooth, even feeding motion with no pauses. When you stop in the middle of a cut, you get a burn.

I appreciate all of the responses. I will try finding spec's on the RPM's for the router bit I have to make sure my speed is correct.

It is very strange though because I routed a piece of moulding(same wood) with another bit and this one worked fine. I'm making sure I only cut about an 8th of an inch at a time. I even tried cutting just a 1" length and the whole edge looked burnt.

Thanks for the help,

D

Is it a carbide bit? Brand new? It could be that you got a cheap bit or a bad grind.

Yes, it is a Carbide Bit. I just purchased it from Grizzly: C1392 Carbide-Tipped Reversible Stile & Rail - Roman Ogee, 1/2" Shank

http://www.grizzly.com/products/c1392

I've sent an email to Grizzly asking for the RPM rating for the bit. I will try this once I receive this and if this doesn't work, I will probably ask Grizzly to replace it.

Thanks again