I don’t often get very excited about router bits, but I was intrigued when I heard about the new miniature bearing bits from Amana.

These bits originally were intended for sign makers, giving them the capacity to rout the tiny spaces inside letters, numbers, and the like. But I was curious to know whether they would help in making the fine boxes I like to build.

The new bits have 3/16-in.-dia. bearings that guide the cutter smoothly along edges. There are five bits available: rabbeting, flush-trimming, Roman ogee, chamfer, and roundover.

To give the bits a good run, I used a few of them to make a Greene-and-Greene-inspired box. The chamfer bit cut clean, delicate chamfers, and the rabbeting bit took care of the lid rabbet with ease. But the most useful bit turned out to be the 3/32-in.-radius roundover. I used it to round over the finger joints, a task that I would have done with sanding blocks. But the roundover bit did the job infinitely faster, and without the need for further sanding.

I probably would not buy the whole set, but boxmakers and instrument makers could easily find a home for at least a few of these handy bits.

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