Flush trimming

[Peter Quadarella]

I've been doing a bunch of flush trimming and wanted to ask you guys about the bearing on the bit. The one I have has a bearing close to the router, as opposed to at the end of the bit. Which do you prefer?

The good thing about not having the bearing at the end of the bit is that I can easily see the grain as I route on the table, allowing me to watch out for areas where I would get tear out. On the other hand, it seems a little more dangerous having that spinning blade sticking up (although I do use a guard). Are there any other pros/cons I should know about?

[Jason Scott]

I have a Freud FTB, and it has the bearing on the bottom. I really like it, but you are right about not being able to see the pattern until your bearing hits it...You just have to make sure that your setup is dead on, especially if your pattern is thin like 1/4" mdf.

[Michael Weber]

I've been doing a bunch of flush trimming and wanted to ask you guys about the bearing on the bit. The one I have has a bearing close to the router, as opposed to at the end of the bit. Which do you prefer?

The good thing about not having the bearing at the end of the bit is that I can easily see the grain as I route on the table, allowing me to watch out for areas where I would get tear out. On the other hand, it seems a little more dangerous having that spinning blade sticking up (although I do use a guard). Are there any other pros/cons I should know about?
Peter, you might like something like this. http://www.mcfeelys.com/top-bottom-bearing . They're pretty handy for avoiding tear out. You just lower/raise the bit, flip your pattern over to reverse the cutting direction. Not plugging McFeelys, it was just the first thing google found. Other places sell similiar

[Peter Quadarella]

Thanks, I will probably get one of those double bearing bits, good idea.

[pat warner]

End bearing bits preclude end cutting, side cutting only.
Moreover the selection is lousy. Most common bottom bearing trimmers are with 1/2" cutting diameters, the skinniest, most deflection prone of cutters.
Shank bearing guided tools have few diameter limitations. Bearings can be adorned on most any straight bit (http://patwarner.com/images/opener.jpg). And they all bottom cut; allows fractional thickness cuts whereas bottom bearing tools whack the whole section in one shot, like it or not.

[Chris Padilla]

I like this flush-trim bit from CMT (http://www.cmtusa.com/store/index1.ihtml?x_page=store.ihtml&parentid=CID5553152431&id=CID5503407310&step=2&pagetitle=&menuinclude=leftnav_products.ihtml&titleimage=titles_routerbits.jpg). I use it in my router table for flushing up hardwood edging on plywood. This one is 3/4" diameter so stiffer than the 1/2" ones that Pat alludes to.