Question on routing HPL, plus Craigslist brag

Bump. Any thoughts on routing laminate on mdf without chip out? Has anyone successfully re-sized the opening in their router table top?

-- ~Walker

Not sure about a router table, but on a CNC we use a 1/2” Dia. Solid carbide 2 flute spiral compression cutter

No chip out.

The important thing is that you are shearing the hpl against the mdf with fluted cutters.

A down shear would work if you cut halfway through at a time from each face.
The compression cutter shears both the top and bottom at the same time. It is super efficient.

-- "Hard work is not defined by the difficulty of the task as much as a person's desire to perform it.", DS251

I’ll definitely route halfway from each face. I’ll have to make a shallow cut from the top of the table to make the “shelf” for the lift plate to sit on. Then I can cut the through hole from the bottom side of the table.

So a down-spiral bit would be best then. Sounds like a good excuse to go buy one. I don’t have any spiral bits yet.

-- ~Walker

I just used a run-of-the-mill spiral flush cutting bit to trim the laminate on a work table, router table, and table saw extension table. The biggest issue is just to make sure the path that the guide bearing runs on is free of glue etc., and is smooth.

Regarding your router and table, I have not enlarged an opening, but I did cut an opening or two. A simple jig should suffice for enlarging one. Just use a bit that has the same radius as the corners of the insert plate, and make sure the double sided tape that you hold it down with is up to the job.

Speaking of up to the job, that 890 should be an adequate router for that table. I do not own a 3HP router, but it doesn’t seem like that table could really handle one anyway. I use a Bosch 1617 in my table which is larger and heavier that the one in your picture, and I have not come across anything yet that makes me wish I had a larger router. I am a hobbyist, so I don’t need to feed work through faster than a kickback, and I don’t run mile after mile of material through it, so the 1617 has been fine.

Wayne

Thanks Wayne, that’s good info. That makes me feel better about keeping the 890. Currently I’m leaning that way, since I just got outbid on all of the PC 7518’s I was bidding on ebay.

-- ~Walker