[bbasiaga]

Stumpy,

I can think of one example that may fall under your 'lever up the grain'. I made some hexagonal bases for a pair of lamps, and wanted to round them over. Everything went fine, except that the grain was running off two of the points. Those blew out big time with standard cuts. There was no way to avoid cutting the piece to keep the grain parallel to the edge, obviously, since it was a hexagon. Climb cutting those points was the only way.

You can also climb cut what would be the trailing edge of your piece to avoid blow out on a router table. A lot of people use a backer board to prevent this, which also works. But in certain instances a quick climb cut on the end may be preferable. Just go a little bit, then start the push cut at the other end. When you get to the trailing edge, the part most prone to blow out was already removed by your climb cut.

Hope that helps.
Brian

 

[bbasiaga]

I hear what you guys are saying, but in my experience climb cutting with a moving router is WAY less safe than a fixed one. Its just like a table saw. You know where to stand and which way things are going to fly if something goes wrong, and can minimize your risk. When the router is moving and takes off, its a whole different ball game.

I've always said that the router was the most feared tool in my shop. I always try and find ways to use any other tool if I can. I guess today I'm learning another way to be afraid of it.

Brian