Hello all, i built a jig for my router to reduce 3/8" shafts. It works fine at reducing them but leaves a really rough surface. The router bit is new and i tried varying the feed rate but no luck. has anyone else experienced this? The shafts will be fine when i get them smoothed out. it'll just take a lot more work now. thanks, dan.

I make a lot  of  shafts in  my router jig. The hole  in the outfeed  block needs to be a close  fit  on the cut  shaft.  That means you have to adjust the jig  so the router cuts the shaft  to  maybe.001  or .002 larger  than the outfeed  guide hole.  The shaft will  be  burnished a little and  will  be held  steady for  the  cutter.

Are You starting from square stock? If so, the stock  should be big enough that  the corners mash a little  in going  through the infeed   guide hole.

Hope this helps. My  shafts don't even need sanding. They are slick and  shiny  direct  from  the process.

Thanks jim, i PMed you too, you can ignore that. Dan.

Lee VAlley Tools......Dowelling jig machine

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=42331&cat=1,180,42288

http://www.veritastools.com/Products/Page.aspx?p=151  

This one ain't near as expensive and gives you a clean 3/8" shaft ( or a little smaller with a little adjustment) for 7 /16" ripped blanks. Gotta taper the ends to the proper size and adjust tiller with sandpaper and drill.
I think I spent 40$ for mine a few years ago and that included an extra blade and the doojy for fittin the blanks in the drill. Turns out you can get that doojy at a home improvement place or hardware store. The whole thing works great.

You might be runnin the arrow along the wrong side of the bit. You know, how a router cuts better when you run it into the piece instead of with the spin of the bit.