Tear out with an omnijig?

[toller]

I made my first 6 drawers with my new omnijig. Had a bunch of problems, but they were due to carelessness or inadequate stock preparation; the jig was great.

Well, except for the tear out at the of about half the pieces. Is that just the way it is, or is there some secret to avoiding it? I think leaving a

1/16" of extra material on, and then trimming would solve it, but maybe there is a better way. Please don't suggest a backerboard; I had enough trouble keeping two pieces square and set, three would be beyond my ability.

[ks]

Try this: make your first cut by moving the router from right to left, cleaning to the tip of the fingers. This will help avoid tearout at the edges. Then, move the router left to right, following the template outline.

[kwoodhands]

Previous post is right on. By moving the router from right to left, taking small amount off you are effectively climb cutting. Then rout the usual manner by going in and out. You will not tearout the piece this way. mike

[toller]

Sure, I do that on other end grain routs. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Leon]

Keep in mind that you will also have to address tear out on the back side of the board when you do Through DT's.

On these cuts let the bit slowly exit the back side of the cut on the right side of the cut and then enter back into the cut from the back left side. Hopefully any tear out on the back side will be in the middle of the area that will be removed and reentering on the left side will remove material before it has a chance to tear out.