I am a little confused as to the direction of travel possible in particular. I understand keep cuts on the left, but videos I have seen show pushing forward, pulling back, turning in circle.
When routing an edge the
material should be to the left, the fence to the right of the cutter and you almost
always push the router away from you. Because the cutter rotates in a clockwise direction (viewed from above) this arrangement effectively pulls the router onto the work (against the fence or cutter bearing) as well as pushing backwards towards you - which is why you push, NOT pull. You should in general try to avoid what is called a "climb cut", e.g. work to the left, fence to the right and pulling towards you OR work to the right, fence to the left and pushing, because in a climb cut the router will try to push away from the material (and in the case of the pull cut also towards you, so double dangerous)
When cutting edges always ensure that you don't over work the cutter - on edge cuts that means never cutting more than half of the diameter of the cutter (so for a 16mm diameter cutter, you'd never cut greater than 7mm in one pass). If you hear the router labouring stop and take a lighter pass. Do the cut in two, three or even more stages. A labouring router can and will stall or potentially kick back. Always try to take multiple light cuts rather than a single heavy one - the cut quality will be better
Also do bits show recommended speed setting? and is there any correlation between the numerical dial and set speed? 800- 2200rpm
The M12e settings are 8,000 to 22,000 rpm. I think it runs 1 to 6 (not sure) with 1 being 8,000rpm and 6 being 22,000rpm which should give the following approximate progression (by basic maths):
1 - 8,000
2 - 10,800
3 - 13.600
4 - 16,400
5 - 19,200
6 - 22,000rpm
Always use the highest safe speed for the cutter you are using (for straights up to about 20mm that means top speed) and I'd suggest you avoid using larger cutters until you've gained a bit of experience on how the router should feel and sound
I have read old reviews regarding fitting of cutters being tricky with two nuts, however newer video shows a locking button and one nut; is this an updated design perhaps?
Most modern routers use a single spanner on the nut with a button to lock the shaft. The first router to come out with this was (I think) the Elu MOF177e in about 1984. It's taken other manufacturers a while to catch up with Elu (and some still haven't)
I'll throw in a few tips about installing cutters:
- Always install the shank of the cutter as far as you can, then pull it back out by 3 or 4 millimetres so that there is a small space between the top of the cutter and the bottom of the hole in the shaft
- Don't ram the cutter hard into the collet - there is often a small rounded fillet between the shank of the router cutter and it's body and this needs to be clear of the bottom of the collet by a couple of millimetres when you tighten up the collet to ensure that the cutter shank is properly gripped
- Don't be tempted to pull-out the cutter too far (and then compensate by overtightening the collet) - the shank should occupy the full length of the collet - if it doesn't the cutter can work loose in use or the top of the collet can collapse and permanently deform. If it deforms it can't hold any cutter safely and you may get massive vibration
- Lastly don't ever tighten the collet without having a cutter inserted - this will permanently deform the collet (see above)
Lot in there, I know, but manuals don't always have this stuff.
Happy routering!
