I am building a fire place surround with a cabinet above and two sets of raised panel bi-fold doors. My routers are smallish 1.5 HP, fixed speed, Porter Cables. Has anyone had any experience with Vertical Raised Panel bits? The catalogs claim they are well suited to my situation. I am interested in their quality of cut, what brand you have used successfully, and any success you have had with a similar smallish router. I don’t want to invest in additional shaper cutters for this small job, nor a more powerful router.
Thanks!
Replies
The smaller routers should spin the vertical bit just fine. You'll need an extra tall fence, and I suggest you use feather boards.
There's currently someone on Ebay selling vertical ogee panel bits from "Magna", which are made in the US, but I don't believe as marketed any longer. They go for about the same price as the no name Chinese made bits.
Amazon has the Freud's for $40-$50 each. If you apply for the Amazon CC you'll get a $30 discount. (I just pay off the card and close it)
I've raised panels with both the vertical and horizontal bits in single speed routers. For many years, variable speed routers were not available. Given the choice, I would rather use the horizontal bits. The horizontal bits don't contact the wood with the entire profile like the vertical bits do. It's more of a shearing cut than the verticals make. Because it's difficult to hold your work piece on the vertical without rocking, special steps need to be taken to support the stock. When I use my vertical bit, I use it in a side mounted router table which basically transforms the operation to one that is horizontal. It think my vertical bit is made by Forest City. Most of the better names in router bits should be good quality, Freud, Whiteside, Amana, Jessada, etc. I prefer 1/2" shanks on my bits.
Anytime I mention running panel raising bits at high speed, someone is sure to post how wrong I am. I'm not sure what they expect the bit to do, explode, fly away or whatever, but after 35 years and hundreds of panels per year, I've never had issues except when running at low speeds, where the bit chunks or stalls. With any panel raising bit, you are better off to take a few small bites rather than a full depth cut. The quality of the cut will depend on the depth of cut, grain direction and the operators feed consistency. Before there were panel raising router bits, we raised the panels on a table saw. There's some extra sanding but the process is easy with a tall fence.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Ya cheating! You got a power feed!!! Gee.. I wish I had one!
Like Hamer, I prefer to use horizontally oriented bits. You can spin a panel cutter horizontally with a modestly-sized router, but you'll have to take several light passes - you can't just hog off material all at once.
If you have a variable-speed router, you may be able to improve its performance marginally my adjusting the speed to avoid resonance frequencies that cause conspicuous vibrations.
You might want to take advantage of Rockler's summer sale. According to the ad I'm looking at, their router bits are discounted through July 24:
Buy 1 @ 10% off;
Buy 2 @ 20% off;
Buy 3 or more @ 30% 0ff.
These may not be the world's best router bits, with with a 30% discount, you can buy several of the bits you know are likely to break - like 1/4" straight bits - or experiment with bits you might not ordinarily buy.
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask youself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
IF your router is at least 2 1/4 HP and made by a good company (not Ryobi or Craftsman) I would recomend using horizontal bits. They are much more versitile, Can be used for edge routing, and cathedral style doors, and are a lot easier to feed the stock through. Personaly I would not consider using anything less than a 3 horse router to raise a panel....... however I have seen too many people on this site claim that they get good results from 2 horse routers to not believe them. I would certaintly run the bit at its recomended speed. Regaurdless of what people might post here the manufacturers state those speeds for a reason.
Edit: I just saw that you have a 1.5 horse router. Even if you use a vertical bit the router will be unable to handle it. All you have to do is pick up one of those bits to know that the weight alone is a lot for a small router to handle. If you cant spring for a new router, consider using the table saw. The set up is a pain in the butt, but a table saw can make excellent raised panels.
Mike
Edited 7/8/2005 12:50 pm ET by mike
my 'not Ryobi' will spin them bits OK...
Sorry I had to..
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled