# Climb cutting



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

This is from an email from Fine Woodworking that shows how it is possible to work from right-to-left on a router table and still be climb cutting. As the author admits, he was making the cuts in the wrong order.

Router Accident is a Great Lesson in Climb Cutting - Fine Woodworking


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Good article Charles, kind of reminds us to pay attention what we're doing!


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

A timely reminder, Charles.


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## IC31 (Nov 16, 2012)

The FW respondent's first mistake was by not using feather boards for a cut like that. I have my one climb cut brain @#$% that even with feather boards threw a work piece over ten feet and thru an (luckily) open door


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

*Me too*

I've done basically the same thing, widen a slot. I'm trying to remember not to do it that way again... DOH!

Thanks for the reminder.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

He obviously did not see my video on the very subject.......:no: :no: :no:


:dance3:


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## IC31 (Nov 16, 2012)

James, I haven't seen the video either but there are lots of them I haven't seen:fie::fie:.

Thinking about that slot cut and having to widen it AFTER you have for some reason, cut it on the wrong side of your layout lines - I would guess (and it's a question now) would you feed the table left to right then, cutting on the back side of the bit?


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> This is from an email from Fine Woodworking that shows how it is possible to work from right-to-left on a router table and still be climb cutting. As the author admits, he was making the cuts in the wrong order.
> 
> Router Accident is a Great Lesson in Climb Cutting - Fine Woodworking


I did almost exactly the same thing 5 1/2 years ago. The big difference is that when my work piece shot away my left forefinger made contact with the top of the router bit. There is now a mass of scar tissue. I was very lucky the the joint was not affected. It did end my season of routering!
These pictures were taken today with my cell phone.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

*climb cutting...no way.*



IC31 said:


> James, I haven't seen the video either but there are lots of them I haven't seen:fie::fie:.
> 
> Thinking about that slot cut and having to widen it AFTER you have for some reason, cut it on the wrong side of your layout lines - I would guess (and it's a question now) would you feed the table left to right then, cutting on the back side of the bit?


Not a professional video, but does show the basics.

Feed Direction 2 - YouTube


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## IC31 (Nov 16, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> Not a professional video, but does show the basics.
> 
> Feed Direction 2 - YouTube



Thanks James - looks pro enough for anyone to 'get' it along with your message. It is the only way I run work through my router table (except for that one senior moment I had when I had a launch:nono


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Ed Pirnak from FWW should have watched your video first James. He would have realized his mistake. If he had done like you did and work from inside to outside he would have been fine.
We do something a 1000 times when it is the right way and it is easy to forget that in some cases it's the wrong way. Tom's story and pictures show the worst that can happen which is why I always tell people to avoid risky procedures. When it doesn't work the results can be very bad. The safest thing to do in this case would be to use a feather board or an auxiliary fence on the outside. It takes a minute longer but it can easily be worth the work.


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> Ed Pirnak from FWW should have watched your video first James. He would have realized his mistake. If he had done like you did and work from inside to outside he would have been fine.
> We do something a 1000 times when it is the right way and it is easy to forget that in some cases it's the wrong way. Tom's story and pictures show the worst that can happen which is why I always tell people to avoid risky procedures. When it doesn't work the results can be very bad. The safest thing to do in this case would be to use a feather board or an auxiliary fence on the outside. It takes a minute longer but it can easily be worth the work.


Actually Charles I think I got away with one; I still have the entire finger, and the joint still works as it did before. I just can't use that finger for blood oxygen monitoring. Alos, as the piece shot away it did not hit anything. It could have been much worse.

I also did not have a feather board, and one of the worst hings I was doing at the time was not using a push block; had I been using one it ould have saved my finger. Another brain failure.

It takes only one instant of not thinking to do what this whole thread is about and possibly suffer serious consequences


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

mftha said:


> I did almost exactly the same thing 5 1/2 years ago. The big difference is that when my work piece shot away my left forefinger made contact with the top of the router bit. There is now a mass of scar tissue. I was very lucky the the joint was not affected. It did end my season of routering!
> These pictures were taken today with my cell phone.


Tom, I was about to withdraw your title of ROUTOLOGIST then I realised that the incident took place before you gained the title.


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

harrysin said:


> Tom, I was about to withdraw your title of ROUTOLOGIST then I realised that the incident took place before you gained the title.


I almost withdrew the title myself! Sometimes I seem to need to learn the hard way.


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