knots in pine redwood

[Matt Baker]

hello you beauties

I am starting out on this cnc adventure please forgive the "noobness" - i have just received my first delivery of wood ( planks of redwood to chop down ) and there are knots dotted across them.

some of them are fairly big so i know im going to have to avoid those, but there are smaller ones (15mm across and smaller), some going through the thickness of the plank (32mm thick)

i was thinking i can dig these out and fill with a dust/glue mix as it's a trick my carpenter friend does making furniture but i cannot find much info online regarding what happens when a router bit hits it. will it damage my bit? will it rip the wood?

has anyone had success with this? or should i avoid them all like the plague and only work with the wood without knots.

many thanks. matt

[the great waldo]

I would glue the knots with thin super glue (depending 0n how tight or loose they are ) or epoxy (slower) and cut as normal. The speed of the cut should be fairly fast and use an upcut spiral bit. The glue just stops the knot from moving or flying out. A tungsten bit should go through knots without too much trouble so long as they are not loose. A good tungsten bit can cut metal so a knot in wood should be no problem.
Cheers
Andrew