Pumping stations

Classifications and purpose of cutters for a hand router. Types of cutters for wood for a manual router: edge, groove, combined Edge cutters for wood

From this article you can find out what a cutting element such as a wood cutter for a hand router is. The text sets out a detailed classification of products: the main types and features of parts, their technical characteristics and practical use. The article contains useful recommendations that will help you decide on the choice of cutters for hand tools.

A hand router is a convenient and effective tool designed for processing lumber, including shaped, as well as flat surfaces. In addition, this device is suitable for forming various technological recesses, for example, grooves, ridges, recesses for installing hinges. To do this, it is enough to buy cutters of the appropriate configuration. Each such element has individual design features and is used to perform specific functions.

Purpose of a hand cutter for wood:

Edge processing - involves the use of a cutter for merging wood for a manual router, when it is necessary to connect various workpieces together by connecting a tongue/groove.
Insertion of hinges and other fittings.
Decorating - in this case, cutters are used to form three-dimensional shapes on the surface of flat products, as well as for the production of wooden blanks with complex configurations.

Professionals know dozens of options for using cutters on a manual router. However, in order to correctly determine the choice of cutting parts for a tool, it is advisable to study the official classification of existing products. Once you understand what cutters are and the features of their use, it will be much easier to make a choice.

First of all, you need to pay attention to the unit of measurement for the diameter of the shank. This can be done in millimeters or inches. The unit of measurement depends on the type of collets that are included with the router. These components are designed to clamp the shank. If the size is calculated in millimeters, then the most common options will be products with a diameter of 6, 12 and 8 mm. If inches are taken as the unit of measurement, in this case it will be possible to buy cutters for a hand router in only two sizes - ½ and ¼.

Note! You cannot combine a millimeter shank and an inch collet and vice versa. This may cause the tool to break.

Types of cutters for a manual wood router: typesdesigns

There are dozens of product options on the market with different purposes and costs. If we consider the design features of cutting elements, we can distinguish the following types of wood cutters for a hand router:

Prefabricated - have the form of blanks with welded cutting edges. These cutters are very easy to manufacture, which is why most products on the market have a similar design.
With interchangeable edges - the products are equipped with interchangeable cutting edges with double-sided sharpening. When the knife becomes dull on one side, the cutter can be turned over and used further.
Monolithic - cutters with cutting edges machined at the base. They rarely break, but after several sharpenings the part will have to be replaced.

Types of wood cutters: classification of products by blade type

Milling cutters can have vertical, spiral or inclined blades. Products with straight edges will cut pieces of wood from the workpiece, which increases the likelihood that chips will appear during the cutting process. As a result, the quality of milling is significantly reduced. This does not happen with angled blades.

Consumers can buy wood cutters with two types of blades:

High-speed cutting (HM) - used on surfaces made of soft wood.
Carbide (HSS) – used for machining hard surfaces.

Products with carbide blades have a higher temperature coefficient and have improved characteristics, which affects their cost.

Classification of cutters: overview of the main types of products

Milling cutters are rotating parts studded with teeth. These elements are available in various configurations. Milling cutters can be used for processing metal and plastic surfaces, but they are most often used for working with wood.

The following types of products are distinguished:

end;
end;
cylindrical or slotted straight;
shaped elements, which can be both groove and edge;
disk, etc.

Helpful advice! If you periodically lubricate the support bearing, you can increase the life of the part.

Features of wood end mills for hand tools

Wood end mills for a hand router have cutting edges on the end side of the working part. Moreover, they work not only through the application of axial load. These cutters also use side edges, which makes it possible to move the rotating element in the plane of the support pad on the router. As a result of this, it is possible to obtain various selections and grooves in the wood. Such parts may have a different number of cutting edges, which affects the cleanliness of the processing.

In most cases, end mills have a monolithic design, but sometimes you can find composite ones, for example, hole saws, used as cutters for a wood drill. This option is used in cases where there is no manual router at hand.

end;
spiral;
burrs;

profile;
conical;
spherical.

Wood end mills are used to form grooves of various configurations and sizes. They are suitable not only for making wooden products, but also for creating tongue and groove joints. Therefore, end mills are often classified as slotted products.

Profile cutters represent a wide group of components for performing the following tasks:

end processing;
formation of grooves with a complex configuration;
decorating the surface with ornaments.

Wood burrs have another name - cutters. They are designed for making holes with a specific configuration. Such cutters are used at the intermediate stage of processing. In addition, they can be used to finalize the configuration of some parts.

Classification of edge cutters for wood for a manual router

Edge cutters are the most common group, since hand tools are most often used for making edges on wood products. Even in large sets, the bulk of the parts are edge cutters. This option is more preferable for home craftsmen. It is easier to buy a set of wood cutters for a hand router than to select these elements one by one.

This group includes:

profile - to give an intricate shape to the edges of the product;
molded or shaped - to round the edge, thereby obtaining a convex shape of ¼ of the circle;
conical - designed for chamfering at an angle, the most common option is 45 °;
disk cutters for wood - for forming grooves in the edge part of the product;
folded - designed for cutting out quarters in the edge part of the product;

fillet - used to make grooves in the edge on ¼ of a circle;
figurine - designed for making panel edges.

In most cases, edge cutters are equipped with a thrust bearing. This element restricts the movement of the tool, preventing it from sinking into the wood. In this case, the cutting part of the part can be located above or below the bearing. By setting the tool support pad to a certain position, you can adjust the cutter overhang depth.

Helpful advice! If the cutter makes large cuts, it is desirable to carry out the processing of the product in several stages, each time deepening it into the material until the thrust bearing is triggered.

In some cases, there is no bearing in the cutter design. To work with such a part, you will need a template and a copy sleeve or parallel stop. The size of molding cutters depends on the height of the cutting part. If the profile has several roundings, then the manufacturer indicates the dimensions of the largest diameter that can be obtained using such a part. Moreover, the distance between the cutting parts can be adjusted at your discretion.

Horizontal type figurine cutters have a large diameter and weight. Such elements require a lot of cutting force, for this reason they are made exclusively with a 12 mm shank. These cutters are designed for a router with a stationary structure.

Related article:

TO accessories, operating instructions. Recommendations for choosing designs and a review of the best models.

Classification of groove cutters for wood for a manual router

The main purpose of a groove cutter for wood is to make grooves in wood - grooves.

There are several types of such cutters:

fillet - these parts are designed for the manufacture of semicircular grooves;
conical - elements are used for threading flat surfaces;
spiral cutters for wood for a manual router - in many ways similar to end elements. However, they have a more pronounced cutting edge located on the outside. Essentially, the design of a spiral wood router is similar to a drill bit;

T-shaped cutters for forming grooves of the appropriate shape;
Dovetail elements;
shaped;
straight groove cutters for wood - cylindrical parts that form a groove with a rectangular cross-section;
combined - cutters are used to connect large-sized wooden panels.

Combination elements include tenon/groove cutters. Most often, such elements have a monolithic design, but there are also options equipped with carbide cutting edges. They are used for joining workpieces.

Copy cutters or straight cutters are the smallest group of components for a manual router. Between themselves, these parts differ in the number of cutting edges, sizes, as well as the nature of the placement of thrust surfaces and bearings, which can be located both above and below. There are also options with double-sided placement in relation to the cutting part. During operation, the bearing moves according to a template, making it possible to obtain a part of the required configuration from a workpiece.

The head of fillet cutters has a rounded shape. The resulting groove in cross-section looks like the letter “U”. The walls of the recess can be rounded immediately at the surface or located at a right angle for some time. It depends on the depth of the cut.

Note! Although a fillet is considered a semicircular notch, cutters that form a V-shaped groove are also included in this category. If during the work you need to make grooves with different angles of inclination of the walls, it is advisable to have an appropriate set of wood cutters for a hand router, where there are cutting elements of different configurations.

Wood cutter for hand router: choosing the optimal set for the job

Buying the right woodworking tool is not a guarantee of excellent results. To ensure accurate and high-quality processing of the material, it is advisable to purchase good equipment. For these purposes, sets of wood cutters for a hand router are designed, which include a set of cutting parts suitable for performing specific jobs.

What are the best wood cutters to buy for a hand router?

When choosing equipment for a hand router, you need to pay attention to the main criteria:

Workmanship.
Thermal strength level.
Type of connection between the cutting part and the shank.
Solder material.

Before purchasing a set of wood cutters, you should pay attention to the quality of the soldering. It must be done so that during long-term operation the tool does not lose its longitudinal stability. This is especially true in cases where the work uses products made from hard wood, for example, pear, hornbeam, oak, etc.

The following grades of solder are considered high quality: PSr 37.5 and PS p40. They are characterized by a high content of copper and silver. If a material of a different brand is used for soldering the plates and shank, most likely it contains nickel, which does not provide the required level of strength of the joints. It is not allowed to use elements in sets of cutters for a hand router, in which the working cutting part is connected to the shank by welding. This kind of equipment is not the best option.

Monolithic cutters also need to be checked for the hardness of the material of manufacture. This operation can be performed at home. To do this, just go over the working part of the cutter with a calibrated file. If no visible marks remain on the surface, then the element is made of high-quality material. The optimal hardness is 58-62 HRC.

Note! The quality of work also depends on the availability of additional devices. Therefore, it is advisable to purchase a set of templates and stops.

A brief overview of the catalog of Encor cutters for a manual router

Very often, manufacturers offer craftsmen to purchase a ready-made set designed to perform the same type of work. For example, some Encor wood cutters for a manual router are combined into kits that allow you to achieve a certain result. Such sets are used to make identical joints or wooden products. Moreover, in the second case, the cutters allow you to complete a full processing cycle.

In the catalog of Enkor cutters there are sets with different numbers of elements. For example, a set consisting of two combination frame cutters with a 12 mm shank can be used to create frame products. These elements are designed not only to form the inner edge. They can be used as corner joint cutters for a hand router.

Using this set, you can create not only frame products, for example, thin window frames, but also join wooden boards into large panels.

Of course, each of the cutters in this set can act as an independent element with which you can perform other operations on processing wooden products.

Consumers can buy a set of Enkor wood cutters for making lining. Using these elements, you can form the edge of wooden products, which can subsequently be used for interior finishing work. In addition, the manufacturer offers sets of decorative cutters, which can include from 4 to 12 elements with different configurations. The average price of sets ranges from 1370 to 8300 rubles.

Review of the catalog of wood cutters for the SMT manual router

The products of the Italian manufacturer SMT are in high demand among consumers. On sale are individual cutting elements and entire sets designed to perform various jobs.

The catalog contains the following types of SMT cutters for wood for a manual router:

groove and end;
overtaking;
for furniture strapping and splicing;
disk;
T-shaped and Dovetail;
paneled;
edge molding;
profile;
jointing and chamfering.

The kits offered by the manufacturer are designed to perform certain types of work or to form specific connections. The buyer can purchase a ready-made kit designed for the manufacture of doors, furniture facades, lining, trim and various bindings. The cost of the sets varies between 5610-63000 rubles.

Buying hand cutters for wood: prices for popular types of products

Wood cutters are suitable not only for making products from solid wood. These elements can be used for processing lumber such as plywood, chipboard, veneer, fiberboard, etc.

Average prices for Enkor cutters:

Type of cutters	Type	price, rub.
Grooved	V-shaped fillets	from 185
	Direct	from 189
	Shaped	from 190
	Structural T-shaped	from 202
	Structural	from 206
	Fillet	from 212
Edge	Direct	from 220
	Mouldings	from 287
	Cone	from 352
	Folded	from 405
	Half-rod	from 519
	Fillet	from 550
	Curly	from 615
	Adjustable moulders	from 1500
	Multidisciplinary	from 1570
Combined	Universal	from 1130
Combined	Framework	from 2160

The existing range of components for a hand router has several classification options. These products differ in design, tooth structure, and material of manufacture. By selecting a cutter with the necessary characteristics, you can create an edge, grooves, ledges, grooves and other elements of the desired size and configuration in a wooden workpiece. In addition, cutting parts are used to install various functional and structural elements. For example, hinges, locks, latches.

Milling offers almost unlimited possibilities for processing workpieces. Creating edges, grooves or grooves of different depths and shapes - for each of these operations there are different types of wood cutters that allow processing with maximum efficiency. In this article we will talk about what types of cutters there are and for what purposes they are used.

Tool steel is an ideal material for the production of solid cutters. The body of brazed cutters is made of structural steel, and plates made of high-speed steel and hard alloys are brazed onto the working parts of the cutter teeth. Prefabricated cutters have high-speed steel teeth or are equipped with carbide inserts. They are fastened using various mechanical methods.

The main parameters of the cutter include:

shank diameter. This indicator is key. It shows whether the cutter is compatible with a specific router model, because not every tool comes with collets. The collet is a special bushing that compresses the shank. Collets are available in 6, 8 and 12 mm. Note that in stores you can find cutters with a 1/4 or ½ inch shank; if we convert to millimeters, we get 6.35 and 12.7 mm. These cutters are not compatible with 6mm and 12mm collets. The diameter of the shank strictly corresponds to the diameter of the collet
cutter design. They can be monolithic, prefabricated, or with replaceable blades. Often, a wood cutter is a steel “blank” with a shank to which blades are soldered. There are blades that are created in the form of removable plates with double-sided sharpening. When the edge becomes dull, the knife is simply turned over. In addition, there are solid cutters, which are created as a monolithic metal part with machined blades
types of blades. The cutter is marked “HM” and “HSS”. HM is a carbide cutter, HSS is a high speed cutter. The high-speed version is ideal for working with soft woods or aluminum. Carbide will help cope with various wood materials, including hard varieties. Most often, the position of the blades is strictly vertical, which means that they chop rather than cut material. There are also inclined or spiral knives. Such knives cut the material, therefore, with this processing, there are fewer chips along the edges, and the quality of processing is noticeably higher.

Very often you can find cutters that are equipped with a small bearing mounted flush with the blades on top or bottom. The bearing ensures precise edge milling with minimal time, because there is no need to tinker with stops to guide the tool smoothly: the bearing itself rests on the “edge” of the workpiece and, therefore, creates an accurate direction for the router.

Purchasing cutters individually is quite expensive. It's better to buy a set right away. A set, of course, has a higher cost than one cutter, but if you buy the same cutters separately, you will spend much more. There are many such sets and they are sold in any store. Let's look at the five most common sets from the Diold company:

The first set has six edge cutters with radii of 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 mm, equipped with a support bearing at the bottom. The shank of all cutters has a diameter of 8 mm
The second set contains 12 cutters. By purchasing a set, you will receive two edge cutters with a radius of 6.35 and 9.5 mm and with a support bearing; one figured with two radii of 4 mm and with a support bearing; three end mills having a diameter of 6, 12 and 16 mm; one end with a diameter of 12.7 mm; one corner (90 degree angle) with an outer diameter of 12.7 mm. The set also contains one groove cutter with a radius of 6.35 mm; one end radius with a radius of 6.35 mm and a support bearing; one end mill with an angle of 45 degrees with a support bearing, as well as one slotted (dovetail) with an end diameter of 12.7 mm and an angle of 14 degrees. Such a large set will become a faithful assistant to a beginning carpenter, because it will help to implement different types of work on creating simple pieces of furniture
the third set contains 16 items. It is very similar to the previous one. In addition to those described above, in the set you will see end mills with a diameter of 3 and 12.7 mm; slotted with a radius of 3.2 mm and a special drill with a diameter of 6.3 mm
The fourth set is intended for professional craftsmen. The set contains 12 reinforced cutters with all the functions of the second set
The fifth set has some similarities with the fourth, but includes 20 cutters of a reinforced design with a wide variety of characteristics and the addition of an end groove cutter with a width of 9.5 mm and a diameter of 32 mm. The set is also intended for professional craftsmen.

In addition to the sets described above, the Diold company has 10 more sets equipped with cutters in various combinations. The choice of sets is quite wide, any master will choose the right one for himself.

Types of cutters for a router

A hand router is an indispensable item in the household. It, like any other serious tool, has a variety of accessories, with the help of which simple wooden blocks become a work of art. Next, we will talk about the most popular types of wood cutters today, their purpose and application.

The groove cutter for wood has several modifications:

straight groove cutter. It has parallel cutting edges, which during rotation outline a surface in the shape of a cylinder. These cutters are designed for cutting straight grooves. If you skillfully combine them with a copy sleeve, you will be able to carefully cut curved flat blanks according to the template. The size of these cutters is determined by the diameter and length of the cutting part
fillet V-groove cutter. It leaves a straight groove with the bottom of the corner. This profile is used as an element of decorative carving or as a special guide for moving, for example, a drawer, which can be found in old furniture
structural groove cutter. It is designed to create joints such as dovetails or inverted T-slots. The same cutter will help to obtain ordinary box joints for lightly loaded boxes, such as boxes. The size is determined by the largest diameter, angle of inclination, and also the height of the working part
cutter for splicing onto a micro-tenon, or “mouse tooth”. Such cutters are used in the process of joining long workpieces in length. However, there are other uses for such cutters: they can help attach faces to the end for decorative effects or create wide panels
shaped groove cutter. The task of this cutter is to create grooves with shaped side surfaces. Naturally, with the use of a rip fence or a guide bush, these cutters can handle the edges of the workpiece. Also, some of these cutters are quite suitable for forming large-area recesses, for example, compartments in boxes, recesses in non-round saucers, wooden trays and other similar work.

Wood end mills are the most versatile tools for woodworking. The stores offer a huge number of models that are designed for a variety of jobs related to processing different types of timber and creating different structures from it. However, despite the versatility of this type of cutter, choosing a suitable and at the same time high-quality option is quite problematic. An end mill is like a drill bit that locks into the spindle of a router. The cutter itself is characterized by the presence of several cutting edges located on the side or at the end. Most often, a spiral cutter for wood is made of high-strength steel. In addition, to ensure additional protection, the working part of the cutter is coated with Teflon non-stick coating.

Also, a spiral cutter is perfect for plunge milling. Spiral cutters are characterized by low wear and reduced shock loads on the milling machine.

Wood edge cutters come in the following types:

straight edge cutter. Absolutely all edge cutters have a bearing, which during operation rolls the edge of the part. Note that the working (cutting) part is located above or below the bearing. Straight edge cutters are very popular when working with templates. The bearing can be located at the top or bottom. Cutters with a lower bearing are cheaper, but during operation the workpiece is located between the template and the router, which does not make it possible to carry out processing in two passes in depth, whereas with an upper bearing this is possible. The main characteristics of these cutters include the working length, working diameter, as well as the bearing diameter, which often differs from the working one. It is more convenient to purchase cutters that have the same diameters; this will make it easier to create and install the template on the workpiece
shaped, or moulding, edge cutter. There is a wide variety of such cutters. The edge profile is selected according to the appearance of the product. Their size depends on the height of the working part, as well as the largest diameter and radius of curvature that they make. If there are several curves in a profile, the profile of the largest of them is most often indicated. Very rarely, you come across adjustable molding edge cutters. In such cutters it is possible to adjust the distance between the working parts
disk cutter for wood. It is designed for rebating. The main difference from straight groove cutters is that disk cutters are based on the edge with a bearing, as a result of which the groove selected by it is more accurate in relation to the edge of the workpiece. However, their cost is higher than straight grooved ones. Most often, these cutters are made adjustable so that you can choose a groove of different depths or widths. A set of such cutters contains bearings of different diameters or a stack of thin cutters on an axis, so the height can be changed by disassembling the cutter and removing excess disks
curved edge cutters. There is a bearing at the end of such cutters, but the shape of their edges is somewhat more complex than that of shaped edge cutters, with a greater height. They are used to create baguettes and in the process of processing the edges of panels, baseboards, and façade frames. These cutters are also available without bearings. With such a cutter you need to work with a rip fence or a copy sleeve and a template
horizontal figurine cutters. They help in decorative milling of panel edges. As a result of their significant diameter, weight and cutting force, they are produced only with a 12 mm shank and can only be used in a table, that is, provided that the router is stationary. There are cutters that consist of two cutting discs and are capable of processing both sides of the panel in one pass.

It turns out that buying a milling machine is only half the battle. If you intend to fully work with wooden products, then you should also purchase appropriate and high-quality cutters, each of which is used to implement specific tasks.

A manual milling machine is a high-performance equipment. If you have a large number of interchangeable tools, they can be used to perform a wide variety of work with wood. For this purpose, various types of cutters have been developed and produced. Today, we will talk about the types of cutters and their purpose, and also touch on the main selection criteria.

Classification and types of cutters for wood processing

Wood cutters for a hand router can be divided into the following types:

Designed for processing wood edges (). Such a tool is equipped with a guide bearing, which ensures the evenness of the processed edge of the product. Spiral cutters also fall into this category.

Flat end slot cutters. To use them, you will need a stop and a certain practical skill, since without a template it is almost impossible to get an even rectangular groove.

Fillet cutters, designed for milling a semicircular groove in the end of a wooden block. Such cutters are also quite versatile, since the size of the groove arc depends on the depth of immersion of the cutter in the material. Fillet cutters with support bearings allow you to produce decorative furniture slats.

V-face slot cutters. When using them, you can get a shallow groove, the side walls of which will be inclined relative to each other at an angle of 90 0. By increasing the depth of penetration of such a cutter into the material, the groove will have smooth walls.

Reverse cone tenon cutter, to obtain dovetail grooves. Such a tool is indispensable when performing repair work on furniture, when one fragment is removed and the second is secured to the base using the specified groove.

Cone cutters. With their help, the outer edges of the product are processed, which, when ready, must have chamfers of a strictly established height and angle of inclination. The depth of penetration of such a cutter into the wood can be limited by installing a thrust bearing, similar to that used for edge cutters.

Moulders, using which you can obtain rounded edges. A set of wood cutters for a hand router usually includes several standard sizes of such a tool, which allows you to create edges with different radii of curvature. Installing a support bearing allows you to further obtain a straight edge when the tool is inserted deeper into the wood.

Quarter cutters. They create not only a vertical, but also a horizontal edge, and therefore are used in the manufacture and repair of wooden window frames.

Disc cutters. They are also designed for making grooves, but, unlike groove cutters, they work not at the end, but at the periphery of their working part. A set of such cutters of various diameters (3...6 mm) allows you to obtain grooves with a guaranteed depth along the entire length of the processing area. In this case, a support bearing is not required. Disc cutters with an increased height of the working part are sometimes called rebated cutters, and are used to produce window grooves for glass in wooden frames.

Combination cutters According to the capabilities provided, they combine tenon and groove types.

The listed versions of wood cutters for a manual router can be used not only when processing wood, but also a number of other materials, in particular plasterboard boards, multi-layer plywood, etc.

Designs of cutters and their influence on the technology of milling operations

Wood cutters for a manual router can have stacked and monolithic designs. In the first case, the design of the tool is a certain set of plates made of high-speed steel, which are attached to the cutter shank by soldering with copper alloys (sometimes, in cheaper sets, tool steel is used instead of a carbide alloy, and alloy structural steel is used as the shank material).

In the second case, the cutter is a monolithic tool, which is made of tool steel. A special type of cutter for a hand router is formed by mounted cutters, which consist of a removable plate, which is then mounted on an adapter shank. Such cutters are the most technologically advanced to use, since when the cutting blade becomes dull on one side, the removable plate can be turned over to the opposite side and continue to use the tool.

When choosing a set of tools in question, pay attention to the following:

Soldering of typesetting cutters must be done in such a way that the tool does not lose its longitudinal stability during long-term processing, especially if the workpiece is made of hornbeam, pear, oak and other hardwoods;
When soldering tools, grades PSr40 or PSr37.5, with a high content of silver and copper, should be used as solders. Solders of other brands usually include nickel, which impairs the strength of the connection between the plates and the shank;
The easiest way to check the thermal strength of a set cutter is by the thermal deformation of the tool during heating of each tooth to a temperature of 200...250 0 C: the tool after such heat treatment should not allow its longitudinal axis to run out by more than 0.05 mm;
The stacking cutter should not be made by welding the shank to the working cutting part. Firstly, at the site of the weld, the strength of the metal is always reduced by 15...20%, and, secondly, with sharp impacts (for example, when cutting a cutter into hard wood), chips may appear on the surface of the weld. The use of such a cutter is unacceptable.

It is especially worth highlighting the problem of the hardness of cutters for a hand router. Manufacturers of sets of such tools may be from China. The price of such a tool is noticeably lower, but the quality of the metal from which the equipment is made also decreases. Most often this concerns monolithic cutters. It is impossible to evaluate the steel grade under normal conditions, but the test can be performed at home. To do this, it is best to use a calibrated file, after contact with which there should be no visible marks on the working surface of the cutter. This roughly corresponds to a hardness of 58…62 HRC.

The durability of cutters is determined by the intensity of their use. High-quality stacking cutters with working plates made of high-speed steels have the best durability, while monolithic cutters made from ordinary tool steel have the least durability.

How to choose a wood cutter for a hand router?

Having decided to purchase a set of cutters of the highest quality, it makes sense to analyze the criteria for choosing such a tool. The following are usually taken into account:

Shank dimensions. This size (for an imported set produced by a European brand, it can be indicated in inches) will determine the possibility of sharing the equipment with a hand router. The problem will not arise if the design of the router provides collet clamps. But even in this case, the diameter of the collet must be compatible with the diameter of the shank. The most common discrepancies are caused by different length measures. For example, shanks with a diameter of ¼ or ½ inch in conversion will give a diameter value of 6.35 and 12.7 mm. The metric sizes of the most common types of collets are 6.8 and 12 mm, so it will not be possible to combine the mounting points.

Blade material Wood cutters for imported manual routers are marked with the letters HM (carbide) and HSS (high-speed steel). Carbide cutters are characterized by increased fragility, so when cutting into hard wood, they can quickly chip. But they can successfully cope with milling A0 or A00 aluminum. If you intend to process hard wood, it is more practical to use high-speed steel grades R6M3, R6M5 or 10R6M5.
Blade position. They can be placed parallel to the tool axis, or at some angle. Vertical blades do not cut, but chop wood, which practically translates into significant impact loads. In such conditions, it is quite difficult to work with a hand router, and the resulting surface will have to be ground. Therefore, it is advisable to use plate cutters with vertical plates in preliminary operations, when the main thing is maximum material removal. On the contrary, inclined blades cut wood cleaner and are used at the final stages of milling.

The optimal set of cutters for wood includes two edge cutters (for metric and inch shanks), three end mills (diameters 6.12, 18 mm), two groove cutters (including one for dovetail), one each figured and corner cutter. More advanced combinations are used for professional wood milling purposes.

This review will be useful to anyone interested in carpentry and making furniture from wood. We will talk about the most common types of cutters for hand routers, their intended purpose and describe several typical examples of use.

Main sizes

Manual milling machines have become widespread due to their ease of use and the ability to perform delicate operations on large parts. However, they are not at all universal, mostly due to the limited size of the cutting element - the cutter.

The largest among cutters for manual processing can be called analogues of Forstner drills, used for making blind grooves for furniture hinges. Some linear dimensions may be higher, so some cutters are classified as disk or finger cutters. In general, the maximum depth can reach 80-90 mm, and the diameter - 60-70 mm. It is important to know this in order to determine in advance whether this or that type of processing can be performed with a manual milling machine.

This is not to say that absolutely all cutters are interchangeable. They vary in shank diameter and should exactly match the collet size of your tool. Milling cutters with seat sizes of 6, 8 and 12 mm are considered to be running. However, a set of replacement collets or adapter sleeves will eliminate the compatibility problem.

Milling cutters of different sizes have their own specific operation. While small cutters with a cutting depth of 10-15 mm can be operated relatively freely, deeper cutting will require a slow feed with little force. And if a high-hardness part is to be processed, a significant increase in speed will also be required.

Blade materials, replacement knives

Before moving on to the description of the cutters, one small nuance should be clarified. For most craftsmen, cutters for a hand router are consumables that cannot be sharpened or repaired. This is only partly true, because there are serviceable components used in small-scale production lines.

This type of cutter consists of a base and a set of knives. Such a design is necessary when a certain technological processing operation is carried out constantly, and a significant load is placed on the cutter. An option for such an application is the production of furniture overlays, lining or euro-window frames. The mechanical fastening of the knives allows for their fine calibration, so that all products from the batch will be identical, even if the cutter breaks during the manufacturing process. For sets of cutters that form mating parts of parts, this is especially important.

Both replaceable and soldered blades are made from the same types of steel. If you do not take into account special consumables for processing plastic, artificial stone and non-ferrous metals, wood cutters are divided into HSS (high-speed) and HM (carbide) based on the material of the knives. The latter have obtuse edge sharpening angles, which increases the working life when working with dense wood species. Quick cutters are sharpened at a sharper angle, so they are good for processing soft fibrous rocks.

Edge cutters

End or edge cutters are one of two main types, designed to give the edge of a workpiece a shaped profile. They can be either simple, forming a chamfer or fillet cut, or very complex in shape.

Edge cutters are often also called copy cutters due to the presence of a thrust bearing. In the simplest milling technique, the bearing simply rests against the machined edge of the workpiece, and the cutter takes the grip strictly to a certain depth. When copying, the bearing rests against a template applied flat to the workpiece, and thus the cutter sets not only the profile of the edge, but also the shape of the part itself. The bearing can be located at the very tip of the cutter or in its upper part near the shank. There are also cutters with two bearings.

In terms of profile shape, end mills have the highest variety among other types. In addition to decorative edges, wide slopes (curly cutter), end grooves (disc cutter), recesses (rebated cutter), and even double-sided figured chamfers can be formed. Note that not all edge cutters have a thrust bearing, but all cutters with bearings have edge cutters.

Finger and solid cutters for grooving

Milling cutters without bearings are usually called slotted cutters. Some of them have edges that close at the bottom end, some are equipped only with end knives, like a Forstner drill. With such cutters it is possible to enter with a vertical feed of the router, and therefore they are ideal for cutting out lugs and blind grooves.

Cutters with side edges make grooves and grooves only starting from the edge of the workpiece; sometimes they are used for copying according to an internal template and making carpentry joints. Most cutters of this class are monolithic; their shape can be:

rectangular;
trapezoidal;
fillets;
wedge-shaped;
shaped with a more complex shape of cutting edges.

Spiral cutters are ideal for cutting blind grooves with a vertical entry, since their helical edges remove chips well, significantly increasing the speed of work. Spiral cutters are considered faster cutting than conventional cutters, but have a rather meager selection of profile shapes. However, fillet, trapezoidal and V-shaped grooves are cut much faster with their help.

A special type of groove cutters can be called rosette cutters, designed for cutting radial patterns of complex shapes. You can work with them either with a point immersion or according to a template, leaving a groove with equal shaped sides. Also keep in mind that almost all types of end mills can be used for edge processing, either by trimming or to the end using a special stop.

Milling cutters for creating carpentry joints

Structural cutters are called cutters designed for cutting parts for carpentry joints. As a rule, these are not individual cutters, but sets with counter-mirror profiles. There are several main types of such cutters.

Microtenon cutters are used for trimming the ends of parts before glue splicing. With their help, you can form grooves and tenons of both rectangular and wedge-shaped shapes. The kit usually includes two cutters, in one of them the cutting edges are offset by half a tooth.

The set of tongue-and-groove cutters also consists of two parts: one for cutting the groove, the other for the protrusion on the counter part. As a rule, such cutters are used in the manufacture of tongue-and-groove floorboards or when joining furniture panels. Unlike conventional disk or slot cutters, which could be used for the same purpose, the tongue and groove set has optimal additive values and does not require careful height adjustment.

The cutters for corner joints are single, but the parts to be joined are passed in different positions. It is also possible to use such a cutter for flat splicing with glue. Please note that initially a cutter of this type was intended to work on a milling table, and it can only be used with a hand tool if there is a special stop and limiter.

A single trapezoidal finger cutter is used to cut the dovetail joint. However, to cut the desired profile at the end of the board, again, you will need a cross stop or a special template. The width of the tail can be arbitrary, but more often the groove for it is prepared in one pass of the cutter. This type of connection includes others that are similar in principle, but with a T-shaped or F-shaped groove. They also have their own paired sets of cutters.

Special and combined cutters

Many wood or MDF products today are made by hand milling using templates and specially designed cutters. These include door panels, furniture facades, wooden handrails, even finishing lining - the range of special cutters is wide enough for you to start your own production with just one hand cutter.

Even more possibilities are provided by the so-called shell cutters. They consist of a spindle and one or more mandrels with blades of various shapes. By rearranging the attachments in different orders, alternating them with bushings and bearings, you can achieve a high variety of profiles when processing edges. That is why such sets are so popular among furniture makers working with solid wood and MDF.

Standing apart are cork cutters, designed for drilling cylindrical dowels to strengthen carpentry joints and locally eliminate wood defects. Sets of narrow cutters for fine engraving are also common. Finally, if none of the thousands of samples meets your needs, there is always the opportunity to contact a specialized company and make a custom-made cutter.