The culprits. Some profiling bits remove wood from the entire edge, causing problems in the way the workpiece rides the fence on a router table.
Q:
I have a pair of edge-banding router bits (eagleamerica.com, No. 190-2075), but whenever I use them I get snipe at the trailing end of my plywood panels and the solid-wood edge-banding. What am I doing wrong and how can I fix it?
Michael Bourg, Weaverville, CA
A:
The bit that cuts the plywood panel PANEL profiles the entire edge, leaving none of the original surface riding the fence. This creates a gap between the panel and the router fence on the outfeed side of the bit. So near the end of the cut, when the workpiece clears the infeed fence, it is free to plunge deeper into the bit, removing more from the trailing end than the rest of the workpiece.
The solution is to make an offset fence, where the outfeed side sticks out just a bit extra to make up for the wood you are removing from the edge. An easy (and temporary) way to do this is to tape a shim to the outfeed side that fills the gap between the panel and fence.
Correct it by shimming the outfeed side. Because the workpiece is narrower, the fence needs to stick out more on the outfeed side. Use double-sided tape to add a temporary shim.
Smooth ride. The panel is supported after it leaves the bit, so you get a perfect cut the whole way.
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