Another Muscle Chuck question.

hawkeye10 said:

I Have a long 1/2" flush trim bit. Is it okay to run it down in the blades down in the MC? I need to get it down so the bearing will ride the template. It looks like it would be okay but I am not sure.

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I had this dilemma one time and decided against it,in that the holding power of the chucks surface area is diminished tremendously and is relying on the chuck to clamp on the cutters which are soldered onto the tool. They weren't made for that type of pressure and might chip or damage or come loose in operation.
That said, I solved the problem with drilling a hole in a piece of plywood and clamping it on the router table to raise the feed of the stock up high enough to guide the bearing on the template.

Herb

Don, if you are using the router free hand you can easily make a thicker sub base plate and attach it with double sided tape for jobs like this.

Mike said:

Don, if you are using the router free hand you can easily make a thicker sub base plate and attach it with double sided tape for jobs like this.

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Mike I am only using it in my router table.

As Herb suggested an auxiliary table top is the easy fix for table mounted height issues Don. It can be clamped in place or fastened with double sided tape. You will find this tip in many woodworking books to solve other problems too such as a bit that will not fit through your plates center hole or when using a tilting router motor for special cuts.

The first time that I came upon such a problem I purchased a bit similar to this one.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-1-2-...%3Adfbdb0cd15d0ac807564e1fdfffd529b%7Ciid%3A1

harrysin said:

The first time that I came upon such a problem I purchased a bit similar to this one.

[NEW] 1/2 Inch Shank Flush Trim Router Bit With End Bearing Woodworking Cutter

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Harry I have thought about that but was looking for away to get around buying another bit. I think buying the one bit will solve the problem so that is not a big deal.

There are cheaper ones, I'm sure mine was only about $A7.00 and is as good as some of my very expensive ones. Over the years I've bought one off bits that looked interesting and any that I have used on a regular basis I tend to purchase an expensive one. I haven't counted how many bits I have but I would guess at least 150. On occasions a particular shape can be obtained by using more than one bit.

This is a common issue if you do much pattern routing so it pays to have a few different lengths of both flush trim and pattern bits. In the long run it's easier to have the bits than to have to monkey with spacers. Yonico/Precision Bits have fair decent quality bits for reasonable prices.

Cherryville Chuck said:

This is a common issue if you do much pattern routing so it pays to have a few different lengths of both flush trim and pattern bits. In the long run it's easier to have the bits than to have to monkey with spacers. Yonico/Precision Bits have fair decent quality bits for reasonable prices.

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Chuck Stick won't let me buy any more of those cheap bits. :grin:

Don
I prefer to use a Flush trim bit on a router table when pattern routing that way you Mount the pattern on top with no expose cutter showing just feels safer to me.

I can only imagine that Stick has never tried any of the cheaper bits which for hobby use I've found to be great. In Stick's routing days it was industrial routing and only the best would be suitable for that type of work.