My Favorite Router Bits

I was typing an answer to a comment Jim posted on the OF-1400 demo when I felt a strange déjà-vu so I thought instead of typing it again, I'd make a posting instead :)

The déjà-vu was in answering which router bits I use the most.  Granted, that's just good for comparison if you have a drawer full of them, but if you're starting with an empty drawer, it might make a good start vs some 300-bit variety pack.

There's the motley crew:

There's a cluster of 3 spirals, a cluster of 4 "profiles", and a stack of slot cutters up front.  Lemme go through each.

The spirals:

The front two bits are basically the same except the double bearing on the leftmost bit.  They are 1/4" down-spiral bits from Eagle America.

The one with the double bearing (#120-0412) is used for flushing anything with a tight turn.  The double-bearing has better registration than just one.  I also used this in the MFK-700 for flushing banding nicely until I found an 8mm version (bigger diameter bits avoid 'scalloping' the surface).

The one without the bearings on the right (#106-0452) is for shallow cuts on the surface like for an inlay, mortise lock, etc.  The down-spiral will leave the surface clean although these aren't good for deep grooves since the chips get pushed to the bottom.  In fact that down-spiral is what I used for the French-knot floor inlay as well (not a typical use, I know, but any other bit would shred that cork; down-spiral left it pristine).

The bit in the back is a Whiteside 1/2" compression-spiral double-bearing flush trimming bit.  There are as many adjectives in that bit's name as the average Starbuck's order...  It's not cheap as it is solid-carbide so it'll last long.  Eagle America has an alternative like this one #120-0865 (nearly the same price).  For normal pattern flushing, I use this compression-spiral bit.  The fibers on the top and bottom surfaces are cut towards the middle ("compressed to the middle" ahhh....) so the surfaces have no chip-out or fuzzing.  When following a pattern, I prefer to put the pattern on the bottom of the stock to cut mostly so I can limit how far I extend the router bit; "pattern" bits with the bearing above the cutters on the shank require you to have the whole thing exposed.

For pattern flushing like that, you could just go with a down-spiral with double-bearing and get very nearly the same results (#120-0815 or #120-0835).  Why? Because the pattern at the bottom will back the stock being cut so the down shearing of the bit won't chip-out.  As you can see, though, the price of the 1/2" down-spiral is about the same as the compression anyway.

Using a router on a guide rail, I can also use the compression spiral to cut a very clean edge.  Rough cut the edge with whatever you like (bandsaw, rip blade, frenzied beaver).  Lay the guide rail so the bit cuts your final edge.  The bearings will be below the board in this case and not used.  Make sure the small bit of "up-spiral" at the end of the bit is against the bottom of the stock and the cut will come out fantastic even with curly grain.

As an aside, the CNC industry uses compression-spirals a lot for cutting stock cleanly like that.

Last bit that I neglected to put in the photo is a 3/8" up-spiral.  I use it for mortise cutting.  I use 3/8" because my mortise will be at least that wide; for wider mortises, I prefer a second pass anyway.  The reason mine isn't in the picture is it was a HSS bit that got way over-used and is all discolored :)  I'll be getting a new carbide version.  For spirals without bearings, I now always look at Vortex Tool first; great bits.  This three-flute will be the replacement: #1860 (or the cheaper two-flute #1260)  They make bits for the CNC industry (hence no bearings); these are competitively priced, but made to much higher standards than other spirals.  Have some fun browsing their bits; dovetail spirals? yeah, they have that, too.

Addendum: someone asked about plywood bits... :-/  plywood isn't a specific thickness so while those bits get closer to the correct size, they never are.  You'll have a gap or too tight a fit.  That's why I do dados/grooves in two passes with a smaller bit and use the Bridge City KM-1 to exactly size the dado.  Even if "plywood bits" were the correct size, straight flutes in plywood make a messy splintered top; the compression spiral is the solution to that.

Enough about spirals :)

The next group, "profile" bits:

The blue bit is a 45º chamfer bit.  Usually I'll use a hand plane to put a chamfer on something because the small variances add character.  On a large chamfer, I want a bit.  Another use for this bit isn't so obvious: jewelry boxes.  For a small box like that, cutting thin stock on a 45º bevel for mitered corners can be messy with chipout.  Instead, I put the squared stock in a coping sled (discussed later) and apply a perfect 45º bevel on the edge with the bit.  Just back the board in the sled to avoid splintering on the exit cut.

45º camfer bits can be had about anywhere.  The blue one is from Rockler and one of my first purchases. Since I have the Eagle America site open for links, here's theirs: #152-0645; they even give a table of degrees for such boxes.

The green bit to the far right is a dish carving bit.  That's a Woodcraft bit.  It basically has a flat bottom with vertical cutting sides and a radius.  Think of it as a cambered plane blade for your router.  As you move around (paying attention not to climb-cut) flattening a recess, the radius keeps you from getting "router tracks" that are a pain in the butt to sand out; ask me how I know...  that was the reason for buying this bit.  I got a couple of those green ones on a clearance sale; good to do since you tend to hog out a good deal.  But you can sharpen them up... more on that later.  It seems Woodcraft no longer sells the greens and have switched to Freud ("reds" :) so here is the equivalent bit Freud Dish Carving bit.  Oh, if you suspend a router on a track to 'joint' a board below it, this is the bit you want: the radius eliminates most of the router tracks and also makes moving the router easier than with a straight/spiral.

Big green bit in the back is a tabletop edge bit.  It has a second radius on it, but I don't use that often; typically I just use the swooping profile up top near the bearing.  Makes for a nice edge on the underside.  I cannot find this bit online from Woodcraft (Woodriver brand) or others.  It shouldn't have been in the picture; I use it often for parts of the profile, but I wouldn't say it's super handy for everybody.

The grey Whiteside bit in the back to the left is the Charles-Neil signature molding bit.  Over the years, he used a huge multi-profile molding bit, but only used one portion of it for nearly all his projects, so he refined that profile and had a custom bit made.  He gets a run of them made from time to time so if they aren't available, sign up for his email list and you'll find out when a run is being made (or send them mail so they know there's a demand!).  I don't put profiles on a lot of projects, but usually what I want is on this bit somewhere.  Whiteside bits are excellent.  As of this writing, he has 5 left.  No pressure :)  First consider if you plan on using profiles often; these are decorative ones.  Traditional furniture has lots of molding.

The last bits I showed in the first family photo is a screw with a bunch of slot cutters on it.  I bought this set from Eagle America: #199-4615.  That's the 4-wing set; they cut very smoothly, you can stack them for different slot sizes.  I don't use them a lot, but they seem to be more of a "only good thing to use here is a slot cutter"... there are times when they're the perfect solution, like routing a groove in thin stock you don't want to stand up on the router table or, more scary, table saw.

After awhile, you'll get a decent number of bits with bearings.  Getting a bearing kit like this isn't a bad idea; note that this kit is geared towards slot cutters.  I swap out bearings to change how deep a profile or rabbet goes; this is a good-to-have for later when you notice a lot of bearings on your bits.  Bookmark this page: Bearings and look at the bottom for related kits; all of those kits fit different needs; when you need a different bearing, go to that page and you'll find it after a minute or three.

So I mentioned a coping sled.  I use this Woodpecker's coping sled and really like it.  I like the easy adjustments, the quick ability to remove parts of it if you need more capacity, all the excellent hold-downs, lots of T-track for your own additions/jigs, and the best part: it rides against the fence, not in a "miter slot".  Since it rides the fence, you can do your usual fence adjustments on successive passes instead of readjusting the stock in the sled.  You can also use this against a start pin when using the sled to deal with small parts (oh, most "small parts" holders I've seen and tried were really lame; judge it in person before you buy one).  The only complaint I have with this sled? The top plastic that rides against the fence rides really close to a T-slot on my Woodpecker's fence :-/  Since I use a sacrificial fence on the fence anyway, it isn't normally an issue.

Last tidbit... get a bit cleaner and clean them; makes a big difference.  I also have a set of diamond sharpeners by Eze-Lap (here's a DMT equivalent)  Use these on the flat part of a bit's cutting edge to touch it up (never on the outside bevel).

Others that get used from time to time are bearing-guided rabbetting bits (I have two: one for 1/2" deep, and the other I swapped the bearing so it's a 3/8" deep rabbet).

Round-overs?  They seem like you'd use them a lot, huh... I use the 1/4" radius roundover for making shop-made oversized Domino tenons.  Everything else gets a hand-plane or rasp/file treatment.

Okay, sorry, that was longer than anticipated!

Sculpted Mahogany Vanity - Sculpting!

Finally getting to the sculpting! In this episode, we transfer a pattern I drew to the panels then mark them for pre-sculpting. The pre-sculpting is done with a router so I took the opportunity to give you a side-by-side view of the OF-1400 vs the OF-2200 each working a panel. The dust collection on both is fantastic.

Then comes the sculpting of each panel. In real-time, each panel took close to an hour depending on the complexity.  I won't put you through watching an hour of sanding :)  The clip is about 4 minutes to highlight certain aspects of the shaping process. I have a couple tips to share about using the RAS-115 and RO-90 at the end that get demonstrated.

Lastly, you get to see the three panels side-by-side in a fairly rough state; the embossing will be lowered considerably, but I talk about some effects I can use while they are still pronounced.

This week, I'll work on removing the old vanity as I need to get any plumbing changes done first before planning the depth of the drawers.  My neighbor (my plumber) has been out for a week so I'm behind on this!  Once the drawer sizes are decided, we'll go through doing those.  In spare time (!!) I'll complete the shaping of the panels as they won't be needed until after the drawers are built.

In the video, I mention using Iwasaki rasps and plane files.  I got some of mine through Highland Woodworking. D'oh! I shouldn't have gone there to get the link... there are so many more I'm interested in for other projects :)  Even if you don't plan on shaping anything, I'd recommend getting a set of the very fine files.  With the flat one, you can adjust tenons very quickly, clean mortise sides, and any number of other 'flat' corrections.  You'll be impressed by how they cut.

So scratch-n-sniff an offcut of Mahogany for that right-in-the-action sensation! Cue it up...

Now earlier this week, someone on the FOG had some questions about handling the RO-90 especially in rotary mode.  They wanted to see some raw footage basically so I took the raw footage of sculpting, removed the RAS-115, and sped it up.  Are you an insomniac? This is the cure!  Again, it is raw footage so just me sanding with the RO-90 for 8 minutes... the tune is good, though!

Sculpted Mahogany Vanity - Completing Top Segment

In this episode, I didn't get as far as I'd like.  Moving big tools for sale and moving new ones in place took a lot of time plus I think my boss is subscribed to my channel and thinks I have too much spare time whenever I post a video :)  (Hi, Bob!)


Floating panels get finished and installed, the upper case glued up, drawer fronts flattened, Dominos pinned, and a discussion of the placement of certain top structure members with respect to their function as part of an "integrated drawer webbing".

I also fix a boneheaded visual mistake with a quick router trick, but fast as it was, not making the mistake in the first place is still better!  You might find the trick useful for other types of surface repairs.

Pretty certain we'll get the panels ready and pattern marked out in the next episode.  There's some preliminary carving necessary to keep consistent.  That'll be before going hog-wild with the RAS-115 :)

Festool OF-2200 Review and Demo (OF-1400, too!)

I did a video review last night of the Festool OF-2200 router, comparing it along side the OF-1400 router we're more familiar with.  The last clip is a demo showing both routers in action.  Kinda wish I had a bigger bit to use for the demo, but these are certainly more common uses of either router.  Naturally the demo will demonstrate the dust collection as well.

Festool OF-1400 Demo

This is another video I made for a contest over on the FOG.

This is a rather long review of the OF-1400 router because I go through nearly all the accessories including some from other Festool products.  Most people reading this bloggle (babbling blog :)) know what a router is so I go through those basics pretty quickly then slow down to show the accessories in much more detail.

As the video is split in two parts, I'm posting a playlist link here.  It will automatically play part 2 for you, though you can jump ahead to it easily with the playlist navigation.

Also, here is a link to the thread about it on the FOG if you'd like to read some of the current feedback.

Routing Laying Down

The Festool OF-1400 comes with a few interesting accessories that aren't available for other routers.  One pair of accessories I use quite often yet they are shrouded in Festool mystery (and therefore green fog :): the edging plate and the angle arm (disregard that Festool's site says it isn't compatible with the OF-1400; you'll see it is). These two accessories are shown in this picture right in front of the Systainer.

The two pieces combine to make a 90º plate that we will use to run the router on its side.  You can see the attachment point on the OF-1400 in this picture as well.

Last night, I banded some maple ply with 5/8" hard maple banding.  This is going in a closet so it's utilitarian :)  You can run this vertically on a router table and use a spacer on the top of the fence to allow the excess banding to flow into the bit, but that's awkward and very easy to tip and gouge your work.  Better to take the tool to the stock.

Here you see the angle arm attached to the router with a flush-trim bit installed.  The green knob is a micro-adjuster so you can set the cutting face of the bit to be exactly on the surface of the ply.  Personally, I back it off a hair so I can flush with a block plane, which lets me remove any router milling marks.

For this configuration, you set the bit position with the green knob so you don't have to rely on a bearing.  Here I show my two 1/4" down-spiral bits; one has a double-bearing.  Either would work, but I do usually choose the bearing-guided bit so when I place the router on the stock, the bearing prevents me from digging into the ply.  I set the bit position to just clear the banding to keep the ply veneers safe.

As shown, the router will kick up the trimmed maple right in my face.  That sucks.  That's not what you expect from Festool!  You can still mount the dust shroud that came with the OF-1400 although it is a tighter fit under the arm than I expected.  It works, to be sure, but this may be why Festool states the angle arm is for the OF-1010 as the shroud wasn't sized to easily fit over it.

Now, the shroud comes as a cylinder split in half.  We need more clearance on the entrance and exit so I've already cut the shroud on the second set of indentations using a hack saw.  This really won't affect other uses and you could always purchase a second if you are concerned.

It isn't shown above, but I installed the dust extraction hose connector (the clear one that mount above the base plate).  That's how you get the hose in the picture.  While all of this sounds long to setup, is is really fast and trivial.  And here's the router in action!

I took this picture immediately after making a flush pass; what you see is all the dust I had to deal with.  Now I will warn you that the D-27 hose can easily plug up if big strips of banding come off and are ejected into the hose.  The D-36 is always a better hose for routing.  Ooh, Halloween scary... in that picture, my thumb looks missing; believe me it is still here! what do you think I sit on all day...

This accessory pair is a winner.  The angle unit is normally used with the copier scanning set of bearings, which I have yet to use.  On its side, however, I've used the OF-1400 many times to flush banding before assembly.  I've also used it on a tall box to flush the side-to-front joints while it was upright; this particular case would have been impossible on a router table.

Ultimate Wide-Base of the OF-1400

Everybody discovers this when they get their new Festool OF-1400 router, but I'll point it out to those who don't have it to figure it out.

Routing on an edge always leaves at least half the base off the stock making the router less stable.  Add to that the higher center of gravity of a plunger like the OF-1400 and you can easily make a mess of that edge.

The OF-1400 comes with two guide rods intended for use with the edge guide or the guide stops (the pads that let you run it on the rail).  Thing is, the guide stops sit level with the router so I use them all the time as a very extended handle and wide-base for the router.  Used this way, it is nearly impossible (oh, but I'll find a way...) to tip the router on the edge.


In this configuration, the pad is out nearly a foot from the bit!  The added stability is amazing and offers a lot of control for guiding the router.  On a recent project with a lot of a shaped profile requiring climb-cutting on material very prone to chip-out, I used this configuration to bump-route much of the edge; the little bit of climb-cutting I did was very safe and controlled as that long arm to the base gives you a lot of mechanical advantage.

Now, I like to use the edge guide even with a bearing-guided bit for certain situations where I want to make multiple passes rather than hog off the whole profile in one shot.  You can still get the advantage of this wide-base setup by simply extending the rods as far as possible to the opposite side of the router.

French Knot Walnut Inlay in Cork Floor

I took several pictures while doing this project because the Festool "system" surrounding the OF-1400 router was key to its success (yes, yes, you could make your own rail or do it by hand, but this was fast, easy, and, uhm, smart :)  I also posted this entry in a shorter form on FestoolOwnersGroup.com as part of a contest I won't win.

Here, I have my new entryway :)  I took 2 sheets of 1/8" luan plywood and cross-laminated them together to form a substrate that was water resistant and able to be directly attached to my slab foundation.  I covered it in a nice cork in a herringbone pattern; in dry-fitting the layout, I found the herringbone pattern didn't telegraph the seams as much as others.  I then laid out a French knot pattern with masking tape that by chance was very nearly the same width as my extremely bowed scrap of Walnut :)  Center stage is the OF-1400 router and a guide rail.  Those two made this process ridiculously easy.

To route the recesses in the cork, I'm using a 1/4" down-spiral bit.  My process is to route away the outside edges of the recesses then go back and eliminate the part left behind with another bit.  I just don't want to buy another bit to avoid the 10-minute pass with another bit to finish it off.

To make sizing the recess dead-nuts accurate, I'm going to use the KM-1 by Bridge City Toolworks.  The KM-1 works by using the size of your cutter (a router bit in this case) and the size of the dado (recess here) to create 2 offset fences that you'll see as I go along.

Set the 'orange' jaw of the KM-1 to the width of the bit your using.

Next, set the grey jaws of the KM-1 to the width of the walnut we're inlaying.  Keep it close by :)

Okay, this picture has several important points.  I swapped the stock base with the table widener.  In this case, I don't need the added stability the widener gives the OF-1400, but rather the added thickness that lets me use the guide stops off the back of the rail so the router is sitting on the stock instead of on the rail (I generally don't like it sitting on the rail since I never get the compensating support foot to lock solidly).  Note how I do not have the micro-adjusting screw of the guide stops attached between the stops.

Position the bit so it will cut the inside edge of the recess (inside meaning closest to the guide rail).

 I do use the dust guard, but find that I had much better visibility if I left the front part of the guard open.  It didn't change the dust collection much.  Remember that this is a down-spiral bit so most of the waste was left in the wake of the recess.

Measure from the guide rail to the inside edge of the recess as you'll use this to properly align the guide rail to the recess for all future cuts after the initial setup is completed.  Note that using a triangular bench rule like this one is nice since it butts up to the guide rail eliminating some error.

At this point, the router is ready to route the inside part of the recess, but we want this to be as "faster, easier, smarter" as can be so we need stop blocks calibrated with the KM-1.

In this picture, the leftmost guide block is first locked in place.  The KM-1 is placed between the guide blocks in the "long" position and the rightmost guide block is moved to touch it and locked into position.  The rightmost guide block will never be moved again in this project.  You'll notice something to the left of the leftmost guide block (apologize that it wasn't in the previous pictures).  That is the microadjuster for the MFK-700 as it fits perfectly on the rods and locks.  I use it as a well-sized stop block.  Butt it up against the left guide block and lock it in place.  You won't move it again.  Note that the "microadjust" ability is not used; it just sits there like a dumb brick marking a stop location; I plan on ordering another by digging through the Festool EKAT parts system.

Next, flip the KM-1 to use the "short" fence.  Loosen the leftmost guide block and move the router over until the KM-1's short fence is between the guide blocks.  I have a stop collar from a drill-bit set to the right of the leftmost guide block (right behind the KM-1... it's small).  It doesn't fit as well as I'd like, but worked.  Tighten this stop collar to mark the short fence location.  You can return your KM-1 to its hand-made walnut keeper chest now; the collars will mark our offsets.

This is where your router bit should be located right now after the adjustments using the KM-1 (if not, verify you didn't budge the guide rail).  Also remember that in my case, the tape is nearly identical width to my walnut; YMMV.

So now you are ready to crank through the routing operations.  Note in the original picture that several recesses line up within a French knot and to an adjoining French knot.  This is by design.  Even if your tape isn't perfectly laid out, using the guide rail aligned across all co-linear segments will make the whole that much better looking.

Here's the steps:

1. Place the guide rail the distance noted above from the inside edge of a recess to route.  Clamp the rail because patching this cork is not an option.
2. Loosen the leftmost guide block (one between stop collars) and slide the router until the guide block abuts against either stop collar.
3. Plunge and route; I usually scribbled with a red Sharpie at the ends of a segment so I could be forewarned when looking through the router window.  Stop early as it is easy to square the corner with a sharp chisel.
4. Loosen the leftmost guide block again and slide the router until the guide block abuts against the other stop collar.
5. Plunge and route.
6. Go to step 1 until you have no more recesses.  This is a very fast cycle.

Once the recesses are done, chuck up a straight bit (1/2" in my case) and freehand between the "moats" you just made to clear the waste between the edges.  This won't be neat.

Occasionally the rail didn't make it the whole way across the board.  It missed by inches.  For that, I inserted the rail connector into the rail and put a small piece of home-sawed veneer under the connector before clamping it down (veneer simply takes up the space under the connector so it doesn't pop the rail up).


Next up, cutting the walnut to length and mitered corners.  This isn't difficult, just tedious.  One tip: when 7 segments go in first-try and the eighth is being, uhm, fussy, check for new posts on your favorite forum.  Really, you just need to walk for a second.

So the rest of this has less to do with the router, but finishes the story of the floor.

Here's the walnut dry-fitted into the recesses.  You want a very snug fit, but try not to fully seat anything while dry-fitting since pulling it out can shred edges of the cork (this is why an up-spiral bit isn't appropriate).

 Paint the recesses with contact cement and let it flash off (about 30 minutes).

Paint the back of each inlay piece as well.  Note that I labeled each piece on the back to know where it goes.  Put pieces in order into the recesses.  I found that gently pushing them in and aligning the neighbors was the best way before pressing down hard.  Once you press down hard, it's done.  You'll want a scrap of cork glued to a block so you can use it to mallet the inlay pieces afterward to ensure they are seated and glued.

I used a shoulder plane to flush the walnut to the cork.  I preferred the medium shoulder plane mostly because the blade was just marginally wider than the walnut.  This greatly reduced the chances of striking the cork.




Voilà, the finished inlay!

For context, it will be in the entryway at the bottom of a set of stairs I refaced almost 2 years ago.  Here are some photos.

Bottom step will have the riser attached after the entryway is installed over the tiles you see to the right in the photo.

The landing has a French knot, as well.  It was done in a much more difficult manner; I was more stupid back then.  Oh, the lopped off corner of the entryway inlay is where the door is for the entryway so the entryway and landing will look the same from the top of the steps.  I have since installed base molding.

The bullnose of the existing treads was cut off and replaced with triple-beaded walnut.  Risers are home resawn lacewood veneer.  The corner molding you see here was custom cut and has continuous grain from the topmost step to the bottom.  Now, that molding is trivial, back then, it was tricky.  Guess I learned something :)