Which direction should I feed a router?
One rule that produces two apparently opposite answers: anticlockwise around the outside of a board, clockwise inside an aperture, and reversed again on a router table.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 10 min
- Read
- 4 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Seen from above, the bit turns clockwise. Feed so the cutting edge meets the timber against its own rotation. On the outside edges of a board that means moving anticlockwise around it; inside a cut-out or an aperture it means moving clockwise. On a router table, where the work moves past a fixed bit, feed the workpiece from right to left along the fence.
This is the one piece of router knowledge that must be automatic before you switch the tool on, because getting it wrong is not a poor cut — it is the router snatching forwards and running along the edge under its own power. The good news is that it is one rule, not a set of memorised cases.
Safety
Step by step
- Fix the one fact everything follows from.Looking down at a hand-held router from above, the bit rotates clockwise. Everything else is derived from that.
- Understand what correct feed feels like.Fed correctly, the bit's rotation pushes back against your feed and tries to push the router away from the work. You are working against a mild, constant resistance, and you control the rate. That resistance is the tool being safe.
- Understand what a climb cut does.Fed the other way, the rotation is in the same direction as your travel, so the bit grabs the timber and drags the router forwards. It accelerates away from you, digs in, and there is nothing to push back against. That is a climb cut.
- Apply the rule to an outside edge.Working around the outside of a board, move anticlockwise: left to right along the edge furthest from you, then down the right-hand side, then right to left along the near edge, then up the left. If it helps, remember that on any single edge, the router travels left to right when the timber is on your left.
- Apply the rule inside an aperture.Routing the inside edge of a cut-out, a frame or a tray, move clockwise. It feels like the opposite rule, and it is the same rule: you are now on the other side of the cutter, so the direction that opposes its rotation has reversed.
- Apply the rule on a router table.On a table the bit is upside down, so from above it appears to turn anticlockwise, and the workpiece moves rather than the router. Feed stock from right to left along the fence, with the cutter between you and the fence. Never feed left to right on a table — the bit will throw the workpiece.
- Take the guesswork out with a physical check.Before switching on, set the router in position with the bit near the work and turn the bit by hand. Watch which way the cutting edge travels where it will meet the timber, then plan to move so the timber is fed into that edge, not away from it.
- Know when a climb cut is legitimate.A very light climb pass — a whisper, barely touching — is a real technique for avoiding tear-out on figured timber and on the short-grain corners of a board. It is only safe as a scoring pass, with a firm two-handed grip, and never as the main cut.
- Route the end grain first on all four edges.When profiling right round a board, do the two end-grain edges first and the two long-grain edges last. The long-grain passes then remove the small blow-out at the corners that end grain always produces.
Common mistakes
- Working out the direction after switching on — By then the decision is being made with a spinning cutter in your hands. Set the direction before the tool is live, every time.
- Assuming the inside of a frame follows the same direction as the outside — It reverses. Routing an inside edge anticlockwise is a full-depth climb cut and the router will run.
- Feeding left to right on a router table — The cutter grabs the work and throws it back along the fence. Right to left is the only correct direction with a standard fence setup.
- Routing a workpiece that is only held by hand — A snatching router moves the workpiece, your hand, or both. Clamp it, or fit a non-slip mat and stops.
Questions people ask
Why does my router pull itself along the edge?
You are climb cutting — feeding in the same direction as the bit's rotation. Reverse your direction of travel. If it only happens on part of a job, check whether that part is an inside edge, where the correct direction reverses.
Does feed direction change with a bearing-guided bit?
No. The bearing controls how deep the cut is, not which way the cutter turns. The feed rule is the same for every bit.
How fast should I feed?
Fast enough that the cutter is producing chips rather than dust and the surface is not burning, slow enough that the motor does not audibly bog down. Too slow burns; too fast tears out and leaves ripples.