Jerry Bittner
02-22-2006, 2:58 PM
Building a crib which has a multitude of slats -- 52 in all. Cut a template and made a jig for cutting them. Roughed out the slates on the band saw staying about 1/8" outside the template lines as suggested by the plans.
However, the 1/2 inch pattern bit I bought to shape the slats to final size will only cut about 1/16" -- anything more and it gouges or splinters the board. I thought this bit was ideal since it is configured with the bearing midway between the cutter head the shaft. In other words on my router table, it - the bearing -- runs on the face of the jig template. I can make this bit work but it requires taking all the slats back to the band saw to take off another 1/16th.
I guess my alternative is to use a regular straight bit and let the shaft of the bit run on the template face -- is that an acceptable procedure.
To clarify. I'm using Maple, supposedly soft maple. I'm feeding left to right. And as to direction of the grain, I hate to admit it (look ashamed) but I thought it only made a difference in cutting going cross grain. The analogy about petting the dog makes sense -- back to the wood shop to check the grain direction.
However, the 1/2 inch pattern bit I bought to shape the slats to final size will only cut about 1/16" -- anything more and it gouges or splinters the board. I thought this bit was ideal since it is configured with the bearing midway between the cutter head the shaft. In other words on my router table, it - the bearing -- runs on the face of the jig template. I can make this bit work but it requires taking all the slats back to the band saw to take off another 1/16th.
I guess my alternative is to use a regular straight bit and let the shaft of the bit run on the template face -- is that an acceptable procedure.
To clarify. I'm using Maple, supposedly soft maple. I'm feeding left to right. And as to direction of the grain, I hate to admit it (look ashamed) but I thought it only made a difference in cutting going cross grain. The analogy about petting the dog makes sense -- back to the wood shop to check the grain direction.