Single Tongue & Groove Bit vs. a Set Tongue and Groove

[Kent Adams]

I'm looking to buy a tongue and groove bit to put my own hardwood banding on plywood. Whiteside sales TG bits that perform both the TG and sets that perform either the tongue or the groove. If a single bit works to do the same thing, why buy two separate bits? Here are the two I'm looking at:

Set: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HPS4GK?colid=2Y2US4PG6EJCE&coliid=I18YYNG9YBXGK&redirect=true&ref_=s9_wish_co_d3_g469_i6

Single bit: http://www.amazon.com/Whiteside-Router-Bits-3375-Assembly/dp/B000EHPEE6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448202889&sr=8-1&keywords=whiteside+tongue+and+groove+router+bit

Is this an ease of set up issue, ease of use or longevity of the bit issue? I can't figure out why I would want 2 bits that could do the work of one bit.

[Robert Engel]

If I was doing it, I would get two separate bits in case you ever t&g a board thicker than 13/16"

But -- you don't need to.

I have edge glued miles of hardwood to plywood with nothing but glue and never had a problem.

[David Eisenhauer]

Same here. Edge glued 3/16" hardwood strips to plywood with glue only for 30+ years and many, many times using only masking tape as the clamps. I have no evidence of the strips ever letting go.

[Kent Adams]

Thanks Robert. I have little experience using router bits, but after edge banding with the thin veneer, I thought it would be nice to have a thicker edge and I was thinking that the tongue and groove would eliminate more chances of operator error (I'm a newbie to this) than butt jointing the two woods together?

[David Eisenhauer]

Glue the strips (slightly over sized) on. Vertically sandwich two pieces of whatever (shelves?) the strips were added to together between a piece of 2x (or something like that) with some clamps and run a flush trim router bit around the outside and down the middle of the two pieces for a perfect match. Two pieces allow for a more stable router surface. Attempting to perfectly squiggle the strips into flush alignment on both surfaces is time consuming and does not always work. You can also use a hand plane to flush the edge banding as well.

[Tom M King]

Whiteside makes some V shaped edging bits for Eagle America that you might want to look at too. If I had a lot of them to do I might consider them, but for small numbers I'd go with David and Robert's method.

[Michael Zerance]

My suggestion would be to get the single bit because it is more versatile. You can also use it to make shaker style cabinet door frames and you can remove one of the cutters to turn it into a 1/4" slot cutter. Bosch makes a similar bit for about $10-15 less than the Whiteside. I have used mine on a bunch of doors and shelf edging and it is still cutting smooth. The only drawback is that it is exactly 3/4", so your setup needs to be dead on.

I used to tongue and groove my hardwood shelf edging but I think that it is a waste of time. Now, I just glue it on; sometimes I will biscuit join them, sometimes not.