Reverse Router Polarity?
David Schramm
is to be able to reverse the direction that my router cuts. I guess
this would be called reversing it's polarity. I'd like to go back and
forth between clock wise and counterclockwise cutting directions. Are
there any gizmos on the market that can help me do this?
Dave
eddie
David Schramm <schramm...@juno.com> wrote in article
<36DC88CB...@juno.com>...
Ben Jacoby
: I'm not sure if this is the correct terminology, but what I'd like to do
: is to be able to reverse the direction that my router cuts. I guess
: this would be called reversing it's polarity. I'd like to go back and
: forth between clock wise and counterclockwise cutting directions. Are
: there any gizmos on the market that can help me do this?
: Dave
No.
That's the short answer. The long answer is that since a router usually
uses an AC-DC motor (has brushes), you can add a switch to reverse it.
You have to take the motor apart though. Once the router is apart find
the wires that go to the brushes. Normally there are two brushes (carbon
blocks with springs that rub on the rotating armature) and the current
goes in one (we'll call it A) and comes out the other brush (B). To
reverese the direction of the motor you need to wire a switch (dpdt) so
that in one position the wires are as you found them (forward) and in the
other position the wire that used to go to A now goes to B and the wire
that used to go to B now goes to A. That will make the router run backward.
BTW it's not a good idea to flip the reversing switch while the motor is
running.
Hope this helps.
--
Benjamin Jacoby | "Some rob you with a six-gun and some with
| a fountain pen." ..........Woodie Guthrie
(SPAM GUARD! Delete the no spam letters in name to email.)
David Schramm
Dave
eddie wrote:
> Where are you going to find bits that cut backwards?
>
> David Schramm <schramm...@juno.com> wrote in article
> <36DC88CB...@juno.com>...
David Schramm
said by adding a switch. I'll be using it to rout binding channels. I hate
cutting against the grain, thus the reason for the reversible router.
DS
Ben Jacoby wrote:
> David Schramm <schramm...@juno.com> spake thusly:
> : I'm not sure if this is the correct terminology, but what I'd like to do
> : is to be able to reverse the direction that my router cuts. I guess
> : this would be called reversing it's polarity. I'd like to go back and
> : forth between clock wise and counterclockwise cutting directions. Are
> : there any gizmos on the market that can help me do this?
>
> : Dave
>
MMGGUITARS
>cutting against the grain, thus the reason for the reversible router.
Wouldn't you get the same effect by reversing the direction of the router and "
climb milling" against the grain?
Marty>
David Schramm
builders who have set up their routers to be reversible, I just didn't know how to
rewire mine so I never tried it. I figured there's got to be a device out there
that can do this for the same reason shapers have reversable direction.
Marty, have you tried climb milling on a spruce or cedar top against the grain?
How did it turn out?
Dave
Darling
thing as an AC-DC motor... It's gotta be one or the other... On a DC motor you
could do the switching thing but it wouldn't work on an AC motor..
Dave
MMGGUITARS
>grain?
>How did it turn out?
Dave, I guess what I was saying in my earlier post was to try feeding the
router in the opposite direction from what you are doing. Most people are
taught to move the router opposite from the direction of the cutter rotation.
If you move in the same direction, the cutting edge approaches the wood in a
different manner, but the router wants to go too, so you have to hang on to it
with more resistance. I haven't tried this on softwood, but routinely do this
with my template routing after removing the bulk of the waste.
Maybe you should try removing less material with different sized bearings and
only remove a tiny amount on the last pass.
I am sure others have other suggestions for you.
Marty
MMGGUITARS
routers and feel that they offer me more control over what I am doing. Since
I remove the bulk of the material before routing, I feel that I also am
removing some of the risk in the router taking off on me. As always practice
on scrap wood first and use caution. Personally I feel more comfortable with
a router than a table saw.
Marty
Eric Keller
Darling wrote in message <36DD5760...@iaw.com>...
>I'm pretty sure that this is not 100% correct.. Theres not really any such
>thing as an AC-DC motor... It's gotta be one or the other... On a DC motor
you
>could do the switching thing but it wouldn't work on an AC motor..
I think that the motor on a router is what they call a universal motor, and
will reverse by reversing the wires. Capacitor start motors reverse by
messing around with the start circuit somehow. Course, my M12V with the
electronic speed control probl'y wouldn't work with the wires reversed.
eric
Andrew McWhirter
>
> David Schramm <schramm...@juno.com> spake thusly:
> : I'm not sure if this is the correct terminology, but what I'd like to do
> : is to be able to reverse the direction that my router cuts. I guess
> : this would be called reversing it's polarity. I'd like to go back and
> : forth between clock wise and counterclockwise cutting directions. Are
> : there any gizmos on the market that can help me do this?
>
> : Dave
>
> No.
>
> uses an AC-DC motor (has brushes), you can add a switch to reverse it.
> You have to take the motor apart though. Once the router is apart find
> the wires that go to the brushes. Normally there are two brushes (carbon
> blocks with springs that rub on the rotating armature) and the current
> goes in one (we'll call it A) and comes out the other brush (B). To
> reverese the direction of the motor you need to wire a switch (dpdt) so
> that in one position the wires are as you found them (forward) and in the
> other position the wire that used to go to A now goes to B and the wire
> that used to go to B now goes to A. That will make the router run backward.
> BTW it's not a good idea to flip the reversing switch while the motor is
> running.
Ben, I find it pretty hard to believe that this would work... If what you
say is correct, and what I've seen inside drills and routers is typical
wiring, then all you'd be doing is swapping the active with the neutral.
You can try this by swapping the wires in the plug, before messing with the
router (or just flip the plug over in the US, if it's a two-prong
plug...it'd be the same thing, if I understand your suggestion).
The swapping wires method only works with DC motors.
So have you actually done the mod you suggest? To what make/model router?
Cheers
Andrew
--
The return address will work as is...
These opinions are hereby disowned by the company I work for.
Ben Bradley
Not at all. Actually, if you're thinking about drill press motors,
they are induction motors with just one winding and can't be reversed
like this. But motors with brushes are usually wired like below, and
can be reversed.
>You can try this by swapping the wires in the plug, before messing with the
>router (or just flip the plug over in the US, if it's a two-prong
>plug...it'd be the same thing, if I understand your suggestion).
>
>The swapping wires method only works with DC motors.
No, it's not the same - the armature and the field windings are in
series, and they both generate magnetic fields that are 'phased' to
make the motor turn the direction it does. If you reverse the
connections of either one, you reverse the magnetic field of either
the armature or the field, and the motor will turn the opposite
direction.
There are names for different types of motors, I forget this one
other than it's 'series-connected'. But hey, I'm an engineer, I only
need to know the concepts, not the names ;-)
<ASCII-ART,cruedness="11", definitely NOT HTML, Best viewed with a
monospace font>
'Normal' wiring:
--------<o>---------------------UUU-------
brushes/commutator field winding
Wiring that turns the motor in the opposite direction:
/-------------\
| |
---/ /---<o>---/ /---UUU---
| |
\--------------/
</ASCII-ART>
This is the same way that reversible hand-held electric drills are
reversed - they use a double-throw, double-throw switch to reverse the
winding (or is it the brushes? It doesn't matter).
I've actually added a regular DPDT toggle switch to a
variable-speed reversible drill because the built-in reversing switch
had worn out and it didn't work. I bought it for a couple of dollars
at a yard sale, figuring if it didn't work I could fix it, and I did.
It works fine now.
-----
http://www.mindspring.com/~benbradley/seasons_greetings.html
The return address is a real alias, and I report UBE/UCE.
dunwell...@dorje.see-my-organization
ben_nospa...@mindspring.com (Ben Bradley) writes:
<<<<snip lots of good stuff about AC moter windings etc >>>>
I haven't seen anyone address a question that was asked early on in this thread
by (????). What are you going to use for bits?
If you reverse the router then your standard bit is running backwards and won't
cut worth doodlie. I know that if you have a 3/8" collet then you could buy
reverse twist straight milling bits from a machine supply, but I haven't seen
any reverse twist roundover pattern-following bits for milling machines<g>.
Other other ideas?
Alan
David Schramm
rabbit in the reverse direction ei. Jesada, Eagle, CMT, Woodcraft...It's not
uncommon.
Dave
Stan Gosnell
>I'm pretty sure that this is not 100% correct.. Theres not really any such
>thing as an AC-DC motor... It's gotta be one or the other... On a DC motor you
>could do the switching thing but it wouldn't work on an AC motor..
>
>Dave
Then how does a reversible electric drill work?
dunwell...@dorje.see-my-organization
<schramm...@juno.com> writes:
I looked and, by Neddie Dingo you're right! Learn something new every day.
Alan
Andrew McWhirter
<big snip of explanation>
Thanks Ben, that makes sense now.
Cheers
Andrew
Simon van Dongen
>
>Darling wrote in message <36DD5760...@iaw.com>...
>>I'm pretty sure that this is not 100% correct.. Theres not really any such
>>thing as an AC-DC motor... It's gotta be one or the other... On a DC motor
>you
>>could do the switching thing but it wouldn't work on an AC motor..
>
>I think that the motor on a router is what they call a universal motor, and
>will reverse by reversing the wires. Capacitor start motors reverse by
>messing around with the start circuit somehow. Course, my M12V with the
>electronic speed control probl'y wouldn't work with the wires reversed.
>eric
>
Totally off topic, but vaguely related: can anyone explain why a
battery powered electric shaver would refuses to switch off (with the
on-off switch) if the batteries are put in the wrong way round? Only
way to stop it is to physically remove the batteries.
Simon van Dongen
--
Simon van Dongen <sg...@xs4all.nl> Rotterdam, The Netherlands
As he reclined there he sang ballads of ancient valour, from
time to time beating a hollow wooden duck in unison with his
voice, so that the charitable should have no excuse for
missing the entertainment. -Bramah, Kai Lung's Golden Hours
kwhi...@usa.net
Maybe I'm having a brain fart here, but what are the reverse direction bits
intened for? I'd assume (key word there, assume) that reverse direction bits
would mean that you sould buy revesre direction routers. That not being the
case, what *are* they intended for?
Kyle
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David Schramm
the direction of their router! Actually, they are bits that mount on a mandrel
which could be reversed. Usually used for routing binding rabbits in acoustic
guitars. Stew Mac and LMI carry them.
Dave
Rick Francis
tips on tooling too. However, nobody has mentioned something that's
probably at least as important: Safety. You'll notice that the standard
collet setup is RH threaded: the spinup of the unit when it starts tends to
tighten the collet nut, owing to the inertia of the nut. Reverse the motor,
and the reverse is true -- so my advice is, if you do this, keep things
extra tight and check EVERY chance you get!
Rick
David Schramm wrote in message <36DC88CB...@juno.com>...
>I'm not sure if this is the correct terminology, but what I'd like to do
>is to be able to reverse the direction that my router cuts
...
David Schramm
Dave
dunwell...@dorje.see-my-organization
The ones I found were in the catalogue section with shaper tables. One assumes
that most shapers are bi-directional. Makes sense that you might want to feed
different directions because of shape or grain. Same arguments for the hand
held routers.
Alan