SKIL 1830 Router Problems


MHRestorations

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I've had the SKIL 1830 combo for a year or so now. I've been having issues of the bit slipping and going deeper into the wood on long passes. Over a 30 inch pass it can lower as much as 1/16th of an inch.  Ive cleaned the bit shaft, and no debris is in the collet.  Thoughts on how to fix the issue, other than purchasing a better router?

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Never chuck a router bit all the way down in a collet chuck. Always pull it up a little before tightening.  If the bit is touching bottom the vibrations can cause it to creep. Then once it starts creeping it can keep going.  Another tip is to take lighter cuts, especially with big bits in weaker machines.

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I slid the bit out so that the end of it was not all the way down in the collet.  That removed the huge amounts of movement in bit depth, so thank you for that comment.  Really appreciate it!  Now that I've got the bit staying consistent, I'm getting what looks to be about 1/32 "lip" on one side of the path after making a pass with the router.  When I make one pass, I can go right back over the same exact spot and the bit seems to want to take a little more material on the second pass.  That would be fine, but it is still leaving this uneven surface.  Is this just a normal thing or is there something else I can adjust to improve the cut?

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Some flex in the jig was my first thought, as this is the first jig like this I've taken a whack at.  I can see why some flex would cause the uneven pass, but would it also cause the bit to take more material on a second pass? Perhaps I should borrow a much nicer router from a friend and see if it does any better in the same situation? 

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Bit might flex under the load when cutting then straighten up when it's on the return path.  Try cutting in the opposite direction & see if you get the same results. If you do it might be the bearings.  I use a bowl/dish bit to make cuts like that , the rounded corners minimize the ridges. Some folks use a planer bit around 1 1/2" wide. 

A planer sled type jig and a drum sander works for flattening in my shop. But width and length can impose limits. 

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On 12/29/2017 at 3:02 PM, wdwerker said:

Never chuck a router bit all the way down in a collet chuck. Always pull it up a little before tightening.  If the bit is touching bottom the vibrations can cause it to creep. Then once it starts creeping it can keep going.  Another tip is to take lighter cuts, especially with big bits in weaker machines.

that is cool, I didn't realize this, always let mine go all the way. Thanks!

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So, thanks to the help in here, we've made some really good progress on fixing the jig.  Things had apparently started to twist on me without me realizing it, so I've added some bracing where necessary, and I'm pleased with how it is turning out.  After making a few passes this morning, I took some mineral spirits to clean it up and see how it would look with finish on it.  I did some light sanding to lessen the router marks, but as you can see the pass lines are still visible.  Outside of a large drum sander, is there any other alternative other than lots of sanding to remove these lines? Any other way I can improve the routing process to completely get rid of them? Thanks guys!

IMG_0540.JPG

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24 minutes ago, MHRestorations said:

So, thanks to the help in here, we've made some really good progress on fixing the jig.  Things had apparently started to twist on me without me realizing it, so I've added some bracing where necessary, and I'm pleased with how it is turning out.  After making a few passes this morning, I took some mineral spirits to clean it up and see how it would look with finish on it.  I did some light sanding to lessen the router marks, but as you can see the pass lines are still visible.  Outside of a large drum sander, is there any other alternative other than lots of sanding to remove these lines? Any other way I can improve the routing process to completely get rid of them? Thanks guys!

 

A  smoothing plane or a card scraper. Sanding sucks planing and scraping is a lot more enjoyable (personal opinion).

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I would try taking the absolute lightest cut possible with a wider bit and make each pass along the length instead of across. In essence this should make at worst a checkerboard affect & thus reduce the amount of sanding to do. Using a hand plane or scraper may be faster but you have to keep them sharp or tearout still means more sanding.

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Ive done a little bit of research on bits for this purpose, but seems to not be much consensus on the best options.  Anyone have any brand/size they prefer?  My router has a 1/4" collet and is 2.25 HP. I'm assuming that will change how large of a bit I should be using since it isn't a high power router.

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