3.5" Raised Panel bit too big for hole in router table, Options?

[Travis Fatzinger]

So after finally getting the rail and stile bits set properly I went to use my new 3.5 inch Freud raised panel bit in my MLCS router table with Aluminum Plate. Yup you guessed it, bit is 3.5", hole is 3.25". I can put the bit in from the top while the router is mounted, but I can't lower it far enough to get the right cut. I'm trying to figure out what to do next, I'm sure I'm not the first one to run into this.

I think I have 3 options:

1. Buy one of the 2 3/4" router bits. Seems like the easiest option, but I'm afraid the smaller profile will look lost on a door. Then again, the kitchen is small, and none of the doors are large.

2. Mount a piece of 1/2" oak plywood on top of the table, this will give me the added depth I need. I think this is my best option, but it seems like it would just introduce one more variable, anyone ever done this before?

3. Order a Phenolic insert for my table and make my own sized hole. I thought this would be great but then I noticed the Aluminum plate is 1/4" and the phenolic is 3/8". So it looks like that wouldn't work either, although I find it hard to believe MLCS makes two different MDF tables for the different inserts.

Any other ideas?

Thanks

[Brian Kerley]

Get an "upright" panel raising bit. They are tall and narrow instead of being big and wide. Seems that they would be less scary to use as well.

[Travis Fatzinger]

Actually I may have found the perfect solution, a 12x9 plate that has a 1/4" lip.

http://www.amazon.com/Rousseau-3509-9-Inch-12-Inch-8-Inch/dp/B00002242B/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

[Alan Schaffter]

Quickest and easiest is option #2

[johnny means]

Why not grab a piece of scrap and make an insert? IMO this was the most obvious solution.

[Mike Heidrick]

Actually I may have found the perfect solution, a 12x9 plate that has a 1/4" lip.

http://www.amazon.com/Rousseau-3509-9-Inch-12-Inch-8-Inch/dp/B00002242B/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top\

The base plate is molded with a slight crown to ensure the center is the highest point. I never liked that about their plates. I sold one before mounting it. I switched to a Woodpecker plate at the time and then their lift.

[frank shic]

i also don't like the crown in the rousseau and i've also bought panel raisers that were too big for my router insert hole - thank goodness for angle grinders!

[Ole Anderson]

My Freud bit was a hair too large for the Woodpecker plate so I just slowly raised it up through the aluminum plate at my lowest RPM setting. Worked fine. Aluminum and carbide: no problem.

[John Piwaron]

I addressed this very problem by building a new router table. I bought 2 different inserts for it 'cause I wouldn't normally use my behemoth router in it. It was also way past time I upgraded. But that's probably more than you need.

How about a vertical panel raiser? Whiteside makes some nice ones.

[Mike Heidrick]

My Freud bit was a hair too large for the Woodpecker plate so I just slowly raised it up through the aluminum plate at my lowest RPM setting. Worked fine. Aluminum and carbide: no problem.

Could ruin you ability to install inserts so be care ful doing this.

[Michael W. Clark]

I had the same problem and made a new insert plate out of 3/8" acylic. I drilled the hole with a circle cutter in the drill press. My other plate is 1/4" thick, so I had to route the recess deeper to accept the 3/8" acyrlic plate. I just crank up the leveling screws when I put the 1/4" plate in to bring it level with the table.

I made a 1/2" plywood template of the router plate while I had it removed from the router and marked all the mounting holes and center. This way I can make duplicates easily if I decided to make more with different openings. You could also machine a rabbet in the plate and make your own inserts if you want to. I was in the middle of a project (and still am in the middle of the same project :)) so I wanted something quick. The plywood top would also be a viable option, but I wanted something I could re-use and the extra plate is smaller and easier to store.

Mike

[John Piwaron]

I had the same problem and made a new insert plate out of 3/8" acylic. I drilled the hole with a circle cutter in the drill press. My other plate is 1/4" thick, so I had to route the recess deeper to accept the 3/8" acyrlic plate. I just crank up the leveling screws when I put the 1/4" plate in to bring it level with the table.

I made a 1/2" plywood template of the router plate while I had it removed from the router and marked all the mounting holes and center. This way I can make duplicates easily if I decided to make more with different openings. You could also machine a rabbet in the plate and make your own inserts if you want to. I was in the middle of a project (and still am in the middle of the same project :)) so I wanted something quick. The plywood top would also be a viable option, but I wanted something I could re-use and the extra plate is smaller and easier to store.

Mike

I had that problem with my two inserts. Despite both being sold as 1/4" thick, they are not the same thickness. So made the opening to fit the thicker. Then located where the leveling screws would touch the thinner one. And drilled and tapped the thin one on those spots. And used set screws to make it level on the existing leveling screws. That way I don't have to change anything when switching insert plates.

[Ole Anderson]

Could ruin you ability to install inserts so be care ful doing this.

Agreed, I only needed about 1/32 off one edge. Router wasn't quite centered.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I went with Option #1. After the DOH! it don't fit. Who can resist another trip to the Woodcraft store? No one else will notice the panel being "different".

You (or I) could buy another cheapo router plate and enlarge the hole and have a custom plate for the large bit.... Never thought of using the bit to make the hole bigger. That was why I went with the smaller bit.

[daniel lane]

i also don't like the crown in the rousseau and i've also bought panel raisers that were too big for my router insert hole - thank goodness for angle grinders!

Frank, that seems an extreme thing to do to a router bit... :p

[Travis Fatzinger]

Thanks for all the great tips. I did something else, I just ordered a Rockler table and it came today. Hole was already big enough, and I didn't have to fight with drilling the holes and countersinking them. I wish I had done that in the first place, I wasted a lot of time on those holes. I already sold the MLCS table on craigslist, lost $35 on the deal, but time is short and I feel it was worth it.

[John Piwaron]

Thanks for all the great tips. I did something else, I just ordered a Rockler table and it came today. Hole was already big enough, and I didn't have to fight with drilling the holes and countersinking them. I wish I had done that in the first place, I wasted a lot of time on those holes. I already sold the MLCS table on craigslist, lost $35 on the deal, but time is short and I feel it was worth it.

I use the Rockler insert too. Built that table like I described. Then I took the horizontal and a vertical panel raiser to work and used an optical comparator to measure them. Turns out that I could have saved some effort. The vertical panel raiser will make about the same profile. There's not much difference. It'd seem like it's more of a fielder's choice. Do you want a vertical or horizontal work piece?