# Router Bit Extension Safety



## Carving1 (Jul 13, 2014)

I have a Bosch Model 1617EVS Plunge & Standard Base. I am interested in making a few bowls and was wondering how safe the bit extenders are. I have a couple of 4" thick slabs of Sycamore to use for a bowl/tray. Any thoughts or comments would be helpful. Thank you in advance!

Mike


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Hi Mike,

I have not heard of a safety issue with these extenders, the few adverse comments that I have seen relate to 'wobble' of the cutter.

I have not had any problem.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Mike the thing you have to avoid is 'too much load on the cutter' extenders do many useful things and they are no problem, as long as you don't load up the cutter with too deep a cut, and that is the same even if you don't use and extender, never load up the cutter with more than it can do and if you do that then you will have no problem with a CMT type height extender or with the Muscle Chuck, don't cut more than the cutter can do with comfort. N


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Hog out the majority of the waste with a drill bit and use the router to finish up. Safer, faster, cheaper in the long run, and easier.


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## beckchest (Nov 30, 2009)

*Router Bit Extension and Run Out*

I have found that most routers have excessive run out in the bearings of .003" to 
.005" measured by a dial indicator. This was measured on a Bosh, Porter Cable, and a DeWalt routers. When you add an extension to the router this run out is amplified and can cause extreme vibration and destroy your project, router bit, and more. It is very important to take light cuts and slow feed rate. The only router I found with a zero to .001 run out was a Festool and they are very costly.


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Hello Mike, glad you found us, it's great to have you as a member of the community, welcome to Router Forums.
I have use one had no trouble with it.


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## PAD3 (Oct 20, 2013)

Never had a problem with the extenders as long as they are sized for the bit properly. I've never had any excessive wobble, vibration, router bit problems. Never had problems. Make sure you route in the proper direction on the inside. I found it easy to ease the top with a small round over bit on my router table, but you could also sand it, your choice. I also us a slightly bigger round over on the bottom and gave it an edge.

I have made many bowls and find that laminating them is easy and works better than trying to use one (chunk) piece of wood and waste most of it. Here is what I did.

1. Decide what shape you want your bowl to be i.e. oval, ellipse, round... any shape you choose.

2. Make a pattern from MDF, plywood, hardboard, just make sure the bearing will ride on pattern until you're deep enough to use the side of the bowl as a guide.

3. Decide how deep your bowl will be and gather enough wood to laminate to give you needed depth, and how thick you want the walls to be, around 1/4-3/8 is good.

4. As you cut the lamination's to over size lay the pattern over it draw the pattern on the wood and cut out the material with a jig saw. ( Don't saw out the bottom lamination)

Save this and make a slightly dished out tray for your dresser to put change in. Do this for each lamination and give to friends after finishing them.

5.Glue up lamination's, when dry, attach pattern to the bowl with drywall screws, use a pattern bit for the inside's and dish/bowl bit for bottom. Remove pattern and with a compass scribe wall thickness and trim excess wood with band saw or jig saw, or sand and finish. Use food grade oil for food or what ever finish you like.

I made one with Birch and 1/2" Paduk middle and top and did the same with roasted walnut on the bottom and rim, oiled it and finished it with lacquer. Mine were about 3" high, 5-6" wide and 11-12" long. I also made round ones, ellipses and ovals, varying wood and size. Great fun and you get to be the designer. 

A big plus... by cutting out the centers and then gluing, you really have very little waste, as opposed to throwing away the whole center.

Good luck, they are a great project for Christmas presents. You're only limited by your imagination.


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## Carving1 (Jul 13, 2014)

*Thanks for the replies.*

I have a couple of nice blocks of wood I think would make great bowls. The wood is from storm damaged tree. I have had the wood for about 4 - 5 years stored away in my shop. I am planning to use a drill press to remove most of the waste form the inside. I could use my carving tools to clean out the inside, however using the router seems like a easier way to perform this task. The extender seems like a good idea for this use.
Thanks for the replies.

Mike


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

*...routing for beginners.....*

Hi Mike,

Check out the posts by Harrysin.

He has some experience in routing bowls which he has passed on to the forum..

http://www.routerforums.com/portable-routing/40223-simple-trinket-box-tutorial.html

http://www.routerforums.com/guide-bushings-templates/21306-routing-tutorial-beginners-part-one.html


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, PAD3.

Do you have some pictures about the described process? It looks interesting.


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