I finally got around to my first attempt at routing the slot for the T-molding on my bartop yesterday.
I had already assembled & primed the cab. I know I should've cut the slot before then, but.. well.. anyway..
I also know I should have probably splashed out on a decent quality router, but I saw this one for £30 (about $50?) and figured I am not going to have a great deal of use for a router other than this particular task, so why pay more ?
In setting up the cutter blade, I found that the router had to be locked in the plunge position before the cutter is attached, because the diameter of the cutter is wider than the gap in the router's baseplate, and so would not plunge down through that gap, if that makes sense.
Tested on a spare piece of wood. Then I began routing. I found it incredible just how easily it cuts the MDF. I ad seen a youtube video where the guy describes it as "like a knife through butter", but it really was, literally, like a very sharp knife through butter. I didn't notice that the slot-line had gone off centre.
Then it happened - all in a brief and terrifying moment: At max speed, just towards the end, the plunge lock on the router released itself, and the cutter sprang back through the gap, tearing a piece off the corner of my beloved cabinet, and cutting a slice through the actual metal on the router's baseplate, then it came off, and span through the air, cutting a slice out of a nearby tree in the garden, and just missing me.
There are moments when life seems precious and precarious. I had one of those moments.
Now to repair the damage on the cab...