Amana 45705 Groove Diameter Router

Sorting through router bit terminology and making selections from a seemingly endless potpourri may be confusing, specially if you are new to working with a router. Reading up on the basic facts will aid you to choose the best router bits, and to make the best use of them.

There are galore types, including some designed for highly specialized applications. We won’t be capable to cover each type in this article, but here are a good deal of of the most common:

Straight Router Bits

Straight router bits are amidst the most mutual often times used. Straight bits applied to make cuts straight down into a material to form a groove or dado or to hollow out an area for a mortise or inlay. They come in a potpourri of cut diameters, most ordinarily in the range from 3/16″ to 1-1/2″.

Rabbeting Router Bits

Rabbeting router bits formulate a straight vertical and horizontal cut, and are designed distinctively to cut a rabbet (notch) in the edge of a material. Rabbeting is an example of a “piloted” bit, meaning that a bearing of the top of the bit is used to guide that along the edge of the material. Rabbeting bits ordinarily come in a set that includes a range of pilot bearing diameters, permitting a single one to give rise to a assortment of rabbet dimensions.

Flush Trim Router Bits

Flush trim router bits are guided by a pilot bearing that is the same size as the bit’s cutting radius. They’re employed to trim the edge of one material flush with the edge of another material. Trimming a veneered surface flush with a substrate, or using a pattern to fabricate multiple identical shapes are examples. The pilot bearing may be on the top of the bit, at the base of the cutting edge, or both.

Chamfer Router Bits

Chamfer Router Bits develop a bevel cut at a given angle. Chamfer’s are once in a while applied to embellish the edge of a material, and may also be used in joinery to construct beveled edges for multi-sided constructions.

Edge Forming Router Bits

Edge forming router bits are most ofttimes applied to cut a ornamental edge into a material. The potpourri of edge

forming profiles are practically unlimited, but a great deal of of the most mutual include:

• Round over bits – Used to cut a rounded edge of a given radius.

• Ogee bits – The term “ogee” refers to an “S” shaped profile. Ogee’s are available in a number of configurations; the Roman ogee bit pictured here is one of the most common

• Edge beading bits – Used to cut a 1/4 or 1/2 half circle profile called a “bead” into an edge or corner

• Cove router bits – employed to cut a concave 1/4 circle into a material

Many edge forming bits include a pilot bearing. In most cases, they are applied for final decoration of a project where edges are already traditionalisti and may serve as the guide for the bit.

Molding Router Bits

Designed to architectural molding profiles, molding bits are quintessentially more spectacular than the basic edge bit. Molding bits may integrate multiple basic edge forming profiles into a single bit. Because of their size, molding such bits most safely used in a router table.

The Classic Multi-Form Bit pictured here is designed to make assorted ornamental profiles possible by combining basic profiles included in a single one.

Stile and Rail Bits

These are applied in frame and panel construction, principally for developing frame members of cabinet and passage doors. These bits cut a ornamental profile and a panel slot into the edge of door frame stock, and likewise a matching cut into the end of the material where the frame’s “rail” (horizontal member) meets the profiled edge of the frame’s “stile” (vertical member).

These are available either as a set of two “matched” bits, or as a single that may be arranged to cut both of the necessary elements of the cope and stick joint.

Raised Panel Bits

These are often employed in conjunction with the former type to fabricate a profiled edge on a door panel. The profiled edge fits into the matching slot in the frame’s stiles and rails. Raised panel bits are available in both a horizontal and vertical configuration. Horizontal raised cut the panel profile with the panel stock laying flat on the table. A vertical frame and panel bit is employed to cut the panel profile with the stock tipped up on it is edge and run along a fence.

Vertical raised are considered by a heap of to be safer to operate because of their much littler radius. A horizontal raised panel bit is necessary for panels with curved edges, such as those employed in arched top or “cathedral” cabinet doors.

Joinery Bits

These include dovetail, drawer lock, finger joint, and lock miter bits. Each of these is used to develop a specialized type of precision joint. A dovetail is ofttimes applied in combining with a dovetail jig to speedily and accurately develop dovetail joints for drawer boxes and other box-making projects.