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Types and types of cutters for wood for a hand router

Wood routing is one of the most versatile woodworking tools in the shop, and cutters are a key part of its success. There are many types of cutters available for use in a multipurpose hand router, such as spiral, straight, dovetail, and flush trim cutters. Each cutter has its own unique advantages, such as spiral cutters being more efficient at taking out bulk material. Straight cutters, on the other hand, are more precise, allowing for a wide range of depths for cutting, while dovetail cutters are tailored for cutting exact joints. Finally, flush trim cutters allow for a flush finish at the edges of materials. Whether for hobbyist or professional woodworkers, these cutters all have their own purpose and usefulness in a hand router to produce quality projects.

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This review will be useful to anyone interested in joinery and wood furniture making. We will tell you about the most common types of milling cutters for a hand router, their intended purpose and describe several typical examples of use..

Main standard sizes

Hand milling cutters are ubiquitous due to their ease of use and the ability to perform delicate operations on bulky parts. However, they are not at all universal, mostly due to the limited size of the cutting body โ€“ cutters.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

The largest among the milling cutters for manual processing can be called the analogs of the Forstner drill used to make blind grooves for furniture hinges. Individual linear dimensions can be higher, so some cutters are classified as disc or finger cutters. In general, the maximum depth can reach 80โ€“90 mm, and the diameter โ€“ 60โ€“70 mm. It is important to know in order to determine in advance whether it is possible to perform a particular type of processing with a hand mill..

This is not to say that absolutely all cutters are interchangeable. They differ in shank diameters and must match exactly the collet size of your tool. Milling cutters with a landing size of 6, 8 and 12 mm are considered as running. However, a set of interchangeable collets or adapter sleeves will eliminate the compatibility issue.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

Cutters of different sizes have their own specifics of work. While small cutters with a cutting depth of 10-15 mm can be used relatively freely, deeper cuts will require slow feed with little effort. And if a part of high hardness is to be processed, a significant increase in revolutions will also be required..

Blade materials, replaceable knives

Before proceeding to the description of the cutters, one small nuance should be clarified. For most craftsmen, hand router cutters are consumable items that cannot be sharpened or repaired. This is only partially true, because there are serviced components used in the conveyor of small-scale production.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

These cutters consist of a base and a set of knives. Such a design is necessary when a certain technological operation for processing is carried out constantly, and a significant load falls on the cutter. A variant of such an application is the manufacture of furniture linings, lining or frames of euro windows. The mechanical fastening of the knives allows them to be finely calibrated, so that all products from the batch will be identical, even if the cutter breaks during the manufacturing process. For sets of cutters that form mating parts of parts, this is especially important.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

Both replaceable and soldered blades are made from the same types of steel. If you do not take into account special consumables for processing plastic, artificial stone and non-ferrous metals, wood cutters are divided into HSS (high-speed) and HM (carbide) according to the knife material. The latter have obtuse edges sharpening angles, due to which the working resource increases when working with dense wood species. Quick cuts are sharpened at a sharper angle, so they are good for processing soft fibrous rocks.

Edge mills

End or bevelling cutters are one of two main varieties designed to shape the edge of a workpiece into a shaped profile. They can be as simple, forming a chamfer or fillet cut, and very complex in shape..

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

Edge cutters are often also called copy cutters due to the presence of a thrust bearing. In the simplest milling technique, the bearing simply rests against the machined edge of the workpiece, and the cutter takes a grip strictly to a certain depth. When copying, the bearing rests against the template applied flat to the workpiece, and thus the cutter sets not only the edge profile, but also the shape of the part itself. The bearing can be located at the very tip of the cutter or at the top of the cutter at the shank. There are also cutters with two bearings.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

In terms of profile shape, the end mills are of the highest variety among other types. In addition to decorative edges, wide slopes (figurine cutter), end grooves (disc), grooves (folded) and even double-sided curly chamfers can be formed. Note that not all bevelling cutters have a thrust bearing, but all milling cutters with bearings are.

Finger and solid groove cutters

Milling cutters without bearings are usually called slot cutters. Some of them have edges that close at the bottom end, some are equipped with only end knives, like a Forstner drill. With these cutters, a vertical feed of the router is possible, and therefore they are ideal for cutting lugs and blind grooves.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

Cutters with side edges make grooves and grooves only with an approach from the edge of the workpiece, sometimes they are used for copying according to an internal template and making joinery joints. Most of the cutters of this class are monolithic, in shape they can be:

  • rectangular;
  • trapezoidal;
  • fillet;
  • wedge-shaped;
  • shaped with a more complex shape of cutting edges.

For cutting blind grooves with a vertical approach, spiral cutters are ideal, whose helical edges remove chips well, significantly increasing the speed of work. Spiral cutters are considered faster than conventional cutters, but have a rather poor choice of profile shape. However, fillet, trapezoidal and V-shaped grooves are cut much faster with their help..

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

A special type of groove cutters can be called rosette cutters, designed for sampling radial patterns of complex shapes. You can work with them both with a point immersion, and according to a template, leaving a groove with equal-sized shaped sides. Also note that almost all types of end mills can be used for edging either by undercutting or to the end using a special stop..

Cutters for creating joinery connections

Structural cutters are designed for trimming parts for joinery connections. As a rule, these are not separate cutters, but sets with a reciprocal mirror shape of the profiles. There are several main types of such cutters..

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

Micro-spike cutters are used for trimming the ends of parts before glue splicing. With their help, it is possible to form grooves and spikes of both rectangular and wedge-shaped shapes. The set usually includes two cutters, in one of them the cutting edges are offset by half a tooth.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

The set of groove-and-tenon cutters also consists of two parts: one is cut into a groove, the other is a ledge on the counterpart. As a rule, such cutters are used in the manufacture of grooved floorboards or when joining furniture boards. Unlike conventional disc or groove cutters, which could be used for the same purpose, the groove-tenon set has optimal additive values โ€‹โ€‹and does not require careful height adjustment.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

The cutters for fillet connections are single, but the cut on the parts to be connected is performed in different positions. It is also possible to use such a flat glue cutter. Please note that initially a cutter of this type was intended to work on a milling table, and it will be possible to use it for a hand tool only if there is a special stop and stop.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

One trapezoidal finger cutter is used to cut the dovetail joint. However, to cut the desired profile at the end of the board, again, you will need a cross stop or a special template. The tail width can be arbitrary, but more often the groove for it is prepared in one cut of the cutter. This type of connection can include others, similar in principle, but with a T-shaped or F-shaped groove. They also have their own paired sets of cutters..

Special and combination cutters

Many wood or MDF products are now hand-milled using templates and specially designed cutters. These are door panels, furniture fronts, wooden handrails, even finishing lining โ€“ the range of special cutters is wide enough to start your own production with only one hand router.

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

The so-called shell milling cutters offer even more possibilities. They consist of a spindle and one or more mandrels with blades of various shapes. By rearranging the nozzles in different order, alternating them with bushings and bearings, you can achieve a high variety of profile when processing edges. Therefore, such sets are so popular among furniture makers working with solid wood and MDF..

Types and prototypes of cutters for wood for a hand router

Corkscrew cutters, designed for drilling out cylindrical dowels to strengthen joinery joints and local elimination of wood defects, stand apart. Also common are sets of narrow cut milling cutters for fine engraving. Finally, if none of the thousands of samples suits your needs, there is always the option of contacting a specialized company and making a custom cutter..

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Comments: 3
  1. Sage

    Can you provide more information about the different types and specific uses of wood cutters for hand routers? Iโ€™m particularly interested in understanding the variations in blade shapes and sizes, and what types of cuts each one is best suited for. Additionally, any recommendations on reliable brands or materials for these types of cutters would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Delaney

    What are the different types and specific uses of wood cutters available for hand routers? Are there any recommended brands or models for specific woodworking tasks?

    Reply
  3. Clara Morgan

    What are the main types of cutters available for a hand router when working with wood? Can you provide some insights into their different uses and advantages?

    Reply
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