I just bought a tongue & groove bit but am having trouble. I've been practicing on a 6 foot 1X3. The wood appears to have a slight bow because it keeps lifting off the table midway through the cut. I've put two pieces of the same wood on either side and clamped them down by laying another piece on top....I then ran the wood under this about an inch before bit but still had a slight lift of the wood that resulted in a less than perfect cut. Is there a better clamp system that will better hold the wood to the table???

Sounds like maybe you could freehand this cut in order to allow the router to follow the undulations in the wood...and then hope the twisted lumber will go together after?

You might try jointing and then waxing a board to use as the hold-down, and positioning it such that it forces the work piece tight against the table. An angle or curve at the in-feed corner will make it easier to feed the stock under the hold-down. Conventional feather boards may not be strong enough to overcome the bow in the stock you're routing.

Free-handing along the edge won't really work well unless the board is clamped flat, and the clamps would likely get in the way of the router.

The other alternative, of course, is to get stock that isn't warped.

Hi

Like they say junk in junk out, use flat stock..

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Flat stock would work better, but this is when feather boards can help a lot. Position one above the bit clamped to your fence to hold the board down as is runs past the bit. You could use another feather board clamped to the table to hold the stock against the bit.

Charley

If you want to use the bow and arrow stock pickup the items below.

Amazon.com: Woodstock W1104 Board Buddies, Yellow: Home Improvement

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I would use a feather board close to the bit, and run it through with the bow down. Still, the best solution is to select your stock more carefully. I go through a lot of boards at Home Depot picking out the ones that aren't bowed or twisted and that are not flat-sawn.

Check to see if your fence is actually lifting up from the pressure of the bowed board. That would negate any force from your feather board. Also check to see if your router is squarely mounted in the table. A slight angle of the router mounting would put upward pressure as you cut. If your board is so badly bowed that you can't machine it straight, then all your work will turn to s after you glue it up. You may want to get a new board.