Rosette cutters

[Rick Potter]

Hi there,

Can anybody tell me the proper speed to run a rosette cutter in a drill press. I want to use the three inch size on red oak.

Thanks,
Rick Potter

[phil harold]

1500-3000 rpm
1.5 hp
I use a mill when trying to swing any thing that big

[Glen Butler]

I use a mill when trying to swing any thing that big

I can agree with that. Generally a drill press isn't rigid enough for rosette cutters for an ideal situation, but they will work. Someday I intend to buy a mill.

Rick, different woods will require different speeds to get smooth cutting. There is no pat answer here. You should cut some extra stock and play with a few different speeds. 1500 rpm is a good starting point, if not (IMO) a little high. You might feel more comfortable starting slower (800 rpm), and once you have tuned your setup, increase the speed.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I spin my 3" at about 1200 RPM in my 1/3HP benchtop drill press.
IMHO - it's a bit on the fast side. 800 RPM & the extra torque that would give would work better.

However - I'm lazy & it's a major pain to change speeds on the GMC drill pressm so I leave it at a compromise speed.

It works fine as long as I keep the feed rate down. If I get a bit too agressive, it will stall.

BTW - good chip collection is mandatory if you're using an underpowered drill press like I am. Otherwise the chips build up and "push" at the workpiece.
It doesn't take much to push the workpiece off center just enough to mess up the cut.
I toss an old roll of masking tape on top of the work piece and direct the nozzle of a shop vac to the center. The roll creates a wall to contain both the suction and the chips.
It actually works extremely well.
I picked up that tip for doing cups for pocket hinges & use it any time I have a lot of chips coming off the work on the DP.

[Gene Howe]

800 for me, too. Recently had to make a few dozen for a remodel job. An exercise in patience overcoming boredom's effects. They were to be painted, so poplar was the wood.
I certainly agree with Rich E. about chip collection. My hold down may be a bit unorthodox. The blanks were square, so I caught each in a wooden clamp and then clamped the clamp to the DP table with a fast clamp. Used an adjustable nozzle clamped to the DP post for chip collection.

[Rick Potter]

Thanks guys,

I don't have the nerve to do one blank at a time, so I plan to cut a strip, clamp it down real good, and cut the rosettes. Then I will cut the squares to size. I picked up several brand new Rockler rosette cutters for next to nothing, and thought I would try them on some trim work. Never used them before, always bought the few I have needed.

Good tips on chip pickup, too. Wish I had a mill, but it won't happen in this lifetime.

Hey, here's a thought....I could just put them in my plunge router. That should cut them. Tongue in cheek....joking.....didn't really mean it....do not try this at home....may submit suggestion to 'Jackass' TV show...sheesh, never mind, they might try it.

Rick Potter

[Sam Layton]

Hi Rick,

I like the idea of cutting the rosettes in one long board. Good idea. I would also like to have a mill. But, I'm like you, won't happen... If you had a Shop Smith that may work in place of a drill press.

Sam

[BOB OLINGER]

Hi Rick,

I, also, cut them out of a strip ripped to width clamped down tightly (using my drill press). Then, just cut for length on the table saw or powered miter saw. I don't have speed with me at present, but my experience is with red oak, also. Make a few extra so you can sort out any for imperfections. Go slow on the depth progression to avoid chip outs.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hey, here's a thought....I could just put them in my plunge router.

As long as you don't turn on the router, I'd think that'd be fine!

I've done them both ways - in a strip and individual.
I like them individual a little bit better. It's easier for me to center the cutter that way.

Make a few extra so you can sort out any for imperfections

Here's the irony...
I did make some extras when I used the strip method and was glad I did.
I had a devil of a time cutting them to size after the rosette had been cut.


Oh - yeah - one other thing I found out quite by accident.
You don't have to use stock that's wider than the rosette as you base.
I had some scraps of red oak about 2 - 2.5" wide. I edge glued them so they were wide enough to fit the 3" cutter.
Once the rosette was cut, the glue line disappeared & you can't tell the glued ones from ones I used a solid piece for.

[Ryan Mooney]

I screwed together some small boards to use as a stop and clamped those together with a rosette into a cross slide vise. Basically had a board that ran the length of the opening, one stop indexed on the near end of the vise jaw and the other stop protruded into the vise for the rosette to but up against. Once set it was very repeatable, just push the rosette into the vise, close and cut. I had about 80 of them to do last time and took a leisurely sunday afternoon to do it. The cross slide was mostly useful for getting the initial setup dialed in, you could do the same thing with any other clamping setup (I have the HF cross slide which was - imho - well worth the $45 I paid )

For cutting I started low at 600rpm and worked up until I stopped getting as much tear out. I was using a little bit smaller cutter, but I think I ended up somewhere around 1000.

I found that lightly soaking the wood reduced tearout as did freezing it in the deep freeze overnight and taking out right before cutting. By far the biggest issue was controlling the feed rate on the drill press, that part was just painful.