A Most Vexing Conundrum
Yonak
While routing with a PC 7519 router on a Formica-topped table, I began to see tiny gray specks on the wood. They won't wipe off but they will sand off. It's gotta be specks of grease, right ? ..So I changed out the router bit, then the collet. The specks are still there.
I think to myself, “Well, the router has been vibrating a bit lately, maybe its bits of a bearing or something.” I swapped out the router for one that's new, out of the box. Gray specks still !
Maybe somehow wax has built up on the table, so I wipe the top good with mineral spirits and re-wax. The specks remain. I thought, maybe the surface of the router table is deteriorating somehow .. it's not grease but fragments of plastic. ..So I went to another router station all together .. different router, different table. The gray specks remain. Wow ! .. A different router and a different table … ..ah ha .. but I used the same router bit and collet .. changed them out .. no help. You might guess I’m getting a bit frustrated now.
OK, if it’s not the routing process, the grease must have been on the pieces before I started. I examined the pre-routed pieces. Not a trace of gray or grease. Well, if it’s not on the wood it must be IN the wood (I laugh at myself for such an absurd thought.)
What ?? What’s causing this ? Resigning myself to hand sanding 300 pieces after routing, I begin to trudge through the remaining 280 thinking, “Maybe I’ll put new tops on the router tables tomorrow.”
After routing about a half dozen, I notice my gray hands. More precisely, my hands clad in close-fitting, gray “All-Grip” gloves that used to have a grip coating. Quickly putting on a new pair, I rout again and examine.
No gray particles ! What a load off ! After struggling with this for three days, I was so relieved that I did half the batch after supper tonight.