That time my router bit into a hidden nail and I had to think fast

I was cutting a dado for some drawer bottoms in my shop last Tuesday, using my Bosch router on a piece of cherry. The cut was going smooth until I hit something with a loud crack and the whole router jumped. I shut it off right away and saw I'd hit a nail, a small finishing nail I guess was left over from a previous project in the wood. It chewed up the carbide bit pretty bad and left a nasty gash in the cherry. My heart sank because this was for a custom vanity in Seattle. I ended up filling the gash with a mix of sawdust and glue, then re-cut the dado about a quarter inch over once I got a new bit. It worked out, but man, that sound. Does anyone have a good trick for checking reclaimed wood for hidden metal before you start routing?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan2111mo ago

Check your wood with a magnet first. A cheap one from the hardware store will find nails and staples a metal detector might miss. Run it over all the surfaces, especially the ends and any old fastener holes. It won't catch everything like aluminum, but it gets the steel stuff that ruins bits. Still a good idea to look it over real close after that.

the_anthony1mo ago

Yeah a metal detector is the only real way.

troy99622d ago

Man, my buddy learned this the hard way. He was cutting into some old barn wood and hit a nail his detector missed, totally wrecked his blade. After that he started doing what @ivan211 said, running a magnet over everything first. Found like three more old square nails the detector never beeped at. Now he does both every time, no exceptions.