# wide router bit



## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

I'm using my router sled a lot to flatten small panels of wood, but I only have narrow cutters and its taking way too long to cover the surface. Is there a cutter that will "polish" wood to a width of 2" or thereabouts?


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## MikeMa (Jul 27, 2006)

I think most people use a 3/4"-1" straight bit for this purpose. A 2" router bit should only be used in a table.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Maybe one of these would speed er up. Mega Dado and Planer Bit - FineWoodworking
Herb


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Herb, thats what I'm after.
Typical though, The uk branch of infinity is out of stock. I've emailed asking for a delivery date. Thanks very much


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Bowl bits are usually a bit wider Bob and they have radiused corners so they are less likely to leave lap marks.


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## Wildman692 (Dec 12, 2016)

sounds a tad dangerous to me, use a hand planer or jointer for the job.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Wildman692 said:


> sounds a tad dangerous to me, use a hand planer or jointer for the job.


Hope these aren't banned too.
Herb


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

sunnybob said:


> Herb, thats what I'm after.
> Typical though, The uk branch of infinity is out of stock. I've emailed asking for a delivery date. Thanks very much


Hope you have a variable speed router motor as a slower speed might be required for this bit.
Herb


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Wildman692 said:


> sounds a tad dangerous to me, use a hand planer or jointer for the job.


It's a process that has been done many times by many people with great success Roger and is more accurate than a plane and often the pieces are far too wide to put on a jointer. I used a 1.5" straight bit from Lee Valley to level the work bench I made by laminating 2 bys together.


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## Wildman692 (Dec 12, 2016)

it seems everything is banned in the UK, ha ha. But only for commercial use of course.


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Charles, those also could be my answer. I need to check then out. Yes, my sled router has speed control.

Roger, Possibly dangerous in a hand held router, but my router is mounted in the middle of the sled which is a 30 inch x 15 inch piece of 3/4 inch MDF, with end guards, over a pair of chipboard rails. No possible way of the bit getting close to any part of my body before i let go of the trigger. I have far too much respect for these routers to put myself into the firing line.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

Wildman692 said:


> it seems everything is banned in the UK, ha ha. But only for commercial use of course.


Now that makes sense, the insurance companies have their finger in the pie.
Herb


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

sunnybob said:


> Charles, those also could be my answer. I need to check then out. Yes, my sled router has speed control.
> 
> Roger, Possibly dangerous in a hand held router, but my router is mounted in the middle of the sled which is a 30 inch x 15 inch piece of 3/4 inch MDF, with end guards, over a pair of chipboard rails. No possible way of the bit getting close to any part of my body before i let go of the trigger. I have far too much respect for these routers to put myself into the firing line.


Like to see a picture of your sled operation.
Herb


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Canada is a nanny state too Roger just not quite as far along as yours- yet.


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Herb, this is an earlier prototype of my current small parts planer.
I dont work from plans, just put things together as I get the idea and then modify as I find faults.
I'm explaining this as the reason that its made out of scrap pieces and has no finishing whatsoever, because things get changed so many times it would be a waste to make them look nice. I'm currently on the mark 3 version but have ideas for the mark 4.


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## JFPNCM (Dec 13, 2009)

@sunnybob

very functional. Assume the slab to be flattened is supported by wedges held in place by dabs of glue from that gun.


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

its very versatile. The slab is a granite kitchen floor tile, as smooth and flat as anything I could ever achieve.

Its rested on 4 screw feet that go through the base unit via threaded inserts.

I can adjust the height of the tile infinitely over the full height of the side rails by using the feet (The tile stays the same height from the bench, but the base and side rails go up or down, front / back/ side to side / corner to corner). 

I dont use wedges, just hot glue the pieces to the tile and then use the router sled to flatten them. The glue holds firm up to a 2mm cut, deeper than that and I have had the glue let go once or twice.
Very quick to adjust and extremely accurate, just takes too long using a 12mm bit.


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## Herb Stoops (Aug 28, 2012)

I like that Bob, simple and easy, I tink I could build one of those. I have never tried that method, but heard so many folks here doing it that I have to try it.

Herb


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## harrysin (Jan 15, 2007)

For planing I used to use a bottom cleaning bit until I found that a dish-cutter gave a better finish.


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

sunnybob said:


> Herb, thats what I'm after.
> Typical though, The uk branch of infinity is out of stock. I've emailed asking for a delivery date. Thanks very much


I thought the infinity bit a tad expensive So Santa is bringing me https://www.amazon.com/CMT-852-504-...qid=1482080977&sr=8-1&keywords=cmt+planer+bit which might be more available in europe. Chuck I use the whiteside dishcutter and get some overlap so I will test compare it with the new cmt


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## sunnybob (Apr 3, 2015)

Very interesting. Italian company supplying europe, bookmarked,


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## Job and Knock (Dec 18, 2016)

Herb Stoops said:


> Now that makes sense, the insurance companies have their finger in the pie.


Only partly, Herb. The regulations which we have are there to reduce serious injuries in industry. They do work as evidenced by a year on year reduction in industrial woodworking accidents (per '000 workers) across Europe over many years. Because I am a foreman/site manager type this is something I need to be aware of.

Oh, and BTW, dado heads on saws AREN'T banned in the UK. Their use without adequate guarding and braking most certainly IS - at least in commercial environments, I have to ask why it is that some hobbyists without any formal training consider themselves at less risk than trained and qualified woodworkers when using such equipment. To me that is the biggest mystery


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## paduke (Mar 28, 2010)

Eric I think it stems from Americans don't like being told what to do.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Bill is correct to some extent but some of us also believe that it is far better to teach someone how to avoid getting hurt than it is to try and make the workplace idiot proof. From my experience there is no such thing as idiot proof because eventually there will be an idiot to come along and prove that wrong. Only occasionally is equipment failure the problem and often if it is it's from lack of proper maintenance and inspections. What most accidents can be traced back to is unsafe work procedure.

Two years ago I was working on a Conoco Phillips plant site, the largest Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage heavy oil project in the world. While I was there they surpassed the 1.000.000 man hour mark without a single lost time injury, a world record. If you were seen doing something unsafe and they knew you knew better you were let go immediately. If there was anything that you had to do that you were unsure of you were expected to ask before you did it. There were 5000 workers on site so it was a busy place.Nothing got done without a meeting of all concerned to go over the specifics of what was going to happen. That's how you avoid accidents is through training and good planning.


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## Job and Knock (Dec 18, 2016)

paduke said:


> Eric I think it stems from Americans don't like being told what to do.


It isn't just Americans! I find one of the greatest annoyances with health and safety is the way in which some managers and officials (especially health and safety officers) hide behind it to avoid having to do their jobs properly. An example of sheer laziness and stupidity from one of our customers; they have banned the use of utility (Stanley) knives unless they are the self-retracting type. This is because one of their employees was attempting to cut a plastic drain pipe with a utility knife, slipped and badly gashed his hand, requiring more than 10 stitches. So the health and safety officers banned the fixed blade utility knife - instead of sending the guy (and his manager) for an hour's training with one of our site carpenters. The guy who injured himself is a moron because he's been around long enough to have seen other trades cutting these pipes by sawing them with a fine tooth saw. His manager is also a moron because he didn't ensure that safe working practices were being followed and that the operative had the right equipment as well as being competent to undertake the task. The rest of us are "victims" because we are now suffering from the problems of having to do some jobs with hopelessly inadequate tools (ever try cutting-out a felted roof with a self-retracting blade? :angry: ). You can't make the workplace idiot-proof but you can try to ensure that your idiots become better informed (and thus less likely to have the accident in the first place)

In the environment I work in we have to have pre-prepared risk assessments and method statements for just about everything. It sounds like a burden, but once you've done a few it becomes relatively easy to "recycle" major parts - because the same basic safety ethos applies to almost everything you undertake at almost every client site you visit. Safety and safe working practice is trainable but periodic refreshers help keep the safety issues well to the fore in how our guys undertake their work

And before anyone says it, sorry for going so far OT


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## BrianS (Nov 7, 2004)

Job and Knock said:


> And before anyone says it, sorry for going so far OT


Nothing to apologize for here Eric... safety cannot be talked about enough in my opinion. EVERYONE has something to add to the topic based on their life experience.


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## BrianS (Nov 7, 2004)

Job and Knock said:


> An example of sheer laziness and stupidity from one of our customers; they have banned the use of utility (Stanley) knives unless they are the self-retracting type. This is because one of their employees was attempting to cut a plastic drain pipe with a utility knife, slipped and badly gashed his hand, requiring more than 10 stitches.


Seriously??!! A utility knife? He should have cut his head... wouldn't have hurt a thing that way.


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

I'm surprised to hear that 1,000,000 man hours without a lost-time accident was a world record Chuck. I still have a pen that I received over 20 years ago when working for a chemical company, commemorating 750,000 hours without a lost-time accident. Now we never got to a 1,000,000 hours pen  But that site did not have particularly impressive safety practices and engineering, and I would hope others would be a lot safer.


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