T-Slot Router Bits

[Brett Bobo]

I was planning on purchasing the Whiteside 3070 t-slot bit, which cuts the t-slot in one pass and has a 1 1/16" large diameter, to avoid purchasing t-track as I'm making several new crosscut and miter sleds. Then, I looked at Woodcraft and noticed they have two other versions of the t-slot bit made by Whiteside--a small (item no. 128256) and a medium (item no. 128257). The medium cuts a 3/4" wide slot and the small cuts a 5/8" wide slot; however, both of these bits require a straight groove to be cut first.

What's interesting is that I don't find either of these two bits listed in Whiteside's catalog. The 3070 bit appears to have too large of a large diameter to where the head of the t-bolt or t-nut, if applicable, will spin when trying to tighten. If true, this may not be much of an issue since the head of the t-bolt or t-nut will just snug up tight to the "shoulders" of the t-slot when tightened down.

Aside from the slot widths and one setup/pass vs. two setups/passes, what are the differences between these bits? Does one accept t-bolts and the other accepts t-nuts with threaded rod? Are there advantages to one over the other? My preference is to have a one pass bit and even though price isn't really a big factor here, the 3070 bit is about twice the cost of the other bits, including the Lee Valley mentioned below.

I also found that Lee Valley also has their version of the t-slot bit (item no. 16J60.71) that uses t-nuts and does cut the groove and slot in one pass.

Thanks in advance,
Brett

[Lee Schierer]

I can only speak from experience with my Frued slot cutter. If you cut the slot all in one pass, the shank cut tends to go very slow and you'll get some burning as the chips can't get out of the cut easily. If you cut the slot first with a TS and dado blade, the slotting cut goes much faster and you end up with a cleaner cut.

[Mike Delyster]

I've had the Lee Valley version for half a dozen years or more with no complaints. As Lee said you need to go slow with it, I've only used mine in the router table and when using it I found after cutting a little ways it helps to pull your stock back a couple of inches before proceeding with your cut helps to clear the chips and also helps the burning issues mentioned (two steps forward one back kinda scenario). These T-slot cutters are great for jigs.

[Roger Pozzi]

The 3070 is on page 17 of the Whiteside catalog, but I don't see anything mentioned about making the slot in one pass. Personally, I use Rockler's version and make a straight cut first, then the slot, and I've had no problems.
Here is the link to Whitesides catalog: http://www.whitesiderouterbits.com/catalog.html

[Bill Huber]

I have 2 or 3 different ones and they work fine but the one thing you need to remember is that a T Slot cut with a router is not near as strong as some T Track. When clamping things down the T Track will hold much better then a slot in some MDF or plywood.

I use the T Slot bits on things that do not need to be locked down really good. On the drill press and thing of that type I use T Track.

[Ryan Baker]

I agree with Lee's comment. Even if your bit can cut it all at once, you may find that it works better to rough out as much as you can before hand so you aren't hogging out so much at once.