I would like to invest in a cope and stick router bit set or stackable bit. The make mostly cabinet doors (rather than house doors). I use raised as well as flat plywood veneered panels. The sidebar in the Oct issue of FWW was helpful. I understand that I have the option of getting a stackable bit, which includes both bits, instead of a set. The stackable bit would do away with bit changing (a plus). I have also found a stackable bit that has shims for altering the width of the dado for veneered plywood (a bit less than 1/4″). I have discounted the reversible bit (for the inconvenience). Does anyone have any other pluses or minuses? Do you have something that you use and like? Any recommendations for manufacturer? Freud? Whiteside? Rockler? others?
Thank you
Replies
I prefer to use two separate bits. With some bits, you have to shim them to make the profiles match correctly. It's often necessary when new as well as after sharpenings. The joint is very glue dependant so you need a great fit all along the profile. Once you have the cutters shimmed, you won't have to do it again for a while. When you do your sample cuts, with any bit, you will have to make a practice cut on both the cope and the stick to test the fit. This can be a lot of extra work if only one bit has to be re-configured. If you have to compensate with shims, it gets more complicated. If you do a fair number of doors, you may want to set up two router tables. Quite a few manufacturers make sets for plywood panels, with a smaller tongue slot and cutter. This doesn't mean that plywood will actually fit. Plywood varies a lot from species to species, manufacturer to manufacturer, especially these days. With raised panels, you can make the tongue any size you want.
The better bits like Whiteside, Jesada, Amana, CMT, have a fine grained carbide and it's much thicker, allowing more sharpenings. They are more expensive than Rockler, Eagle and others in the mid price range. I'd stay away from lower priced bits but the mid range should be OK.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Whiteside and several others make cope-and-stick sets with grooves slightly undersized to fit "standard" 1/4 plywood. Ballew Tool & Saw has the Whiteside bit at http://www.ballewsaw.com/VENDORS/Whiteside/Cabinet_Making/stl_rail_sets_408.aspx
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I bought the Rockler set as a starter set and have had great results with them as a starter set to learn with. As I hone my skills I would definitley like to get a CMT or Amana set.
Good Luck
John
I purchased whiteside bits that I love. They also have an extra set of plywood adapters that you can interchange so you wouldnt have to buy another set of cope and stick bits. I believe I paid around $45 for the plywood grove set.
mike
I have a few of them... I have 2 Viper "convertable" Sets and three matched sets, two from Amana and one from Rockler. The Viper convertables seem to be too much tinkering and the cut quality is not as good as either the Amana or Rockler. I have used the bits on Maple, Hickory, Oak, Pine and MDF. I had some problems with the Viper bits on Hickory, I had to make 3 passes, the Rockler bits worked fine with 2 passes, the second a very light pass.
All of my bits cut a 1/4 slot for the panel, I tried 1/4 ply for a flat shaker style look but was too loose, I upgraded to 1/2 ply then rabbeted the back to get a nice tight fit. I may be tempted to try the Amana with the adjustable slot cutter, but then again I like the 'feel' of a thicker door.
I use a 'sled' like the one in the article. Unlike the article I cut the ends of the rails first because I had a *lot* of trouble with tear-out on the hickory when I cut the long edges first.
My remedy for cope tearout. Set up the cope bit first(set to proper height) and make a backer board for the sticks by running a perfectly square 12" X 12" X 3/4 piece of baltic birch(or bigger if you wish) through the cope bit and use it as a backer after you run all of the sticks. The sticks profile will fit perfectly into cope profile to eliminate tearout and it also acts as a square sled while running along the fence when coping. Very simple but effective.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Edited 8/10/2007 10:22 am ET by BruceS
Bruce,
I made a sled *very* similar to the on in the article, the only change was a clamp between the two hold-down clamps. The sled and backer did not eliminate the tear-out problem even though it did help, Hickory is the only wood that I have had a lot of tear-out with.
When I compared the Viper bits to the Rockler Bits, the Viper carbide is inline and square to the shaft, where the rockler bit has a a little hook and 'helix' angle...
If you use a block like Bruce said, you can turn it every cut or two for a fresh backing surface. With a sled, the backing hole keeps getting larger and tearout will follow. Without a clamp, you have to make sure the gap in the fence isn't large enough for the work piece to move in. The block has to be accurately square.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
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