Ehh? 3 9/16 " enuff ?

Hi Stoutman,

Well, I'm not familiar with woodpeck (tho SWMBO is an avid bird watcher/rescuer/bird-audiophile(?)). Got two pair of cardinals at our feeder...but I digress.

It seems to me that carbide will win out every time vs. Aluminum.

As you progress in woodworking, it is surprising how large the small dimensions start to become. When I began cobbling about 15+ years ago, I was pleased if things were remotely square and flush (most often, not.) 1/16 seemed almost insignificant. Now I'm upset at the 1/32th's and whatever comes after that (geesh-give me a minute now!)

Now I am at this damn spot where my incompetence is in conflict with my awareness. It's a real tug-o-war.

I've got a huge raised panel bit in my shaper. It gives me a chill whenever I fire it up. But I keep pushin' stuff past it.

At least I recently got it sharpened.

Bottom line: 3 9/16 will *ABSOLUTELY* fit through a 3 1/2 inch hole. I stake reputation on this!

Lou

Uh, you meant to say that, right?

He probably did and I suspect he's right. Suspect I have the same drill=20 set he does. Wanna buy it? Cheap?

I need to drill some holes for compound M&T and I could use some=20 accurate drills...

:-)

--=20 Will R. Jewel Boxes and Wood Art

After reading that, I had to count the number of empty beer bottles next to me and then read it again.

Only a problem if you router is not centered in the hole. Or if your bit tends to stretch when it spins. ;~)

correctly -- and you haven't had that many bottles yet.

--=20 Will R. Jewel Boxes and Wood Art

If you have 1/32 of "wiggle", you have other problems.

And, as has been mentioned, the aluminum will be cut away just fine.

-Dan V.

I made a plate so I could use a 3-1/2" raised panel bit. The only hole saw I had at the time made a hole slightly SMALLER than the bit. I put the bit in the router, raised the bit until it almost touched the plate, turned the router on low speed, and slowly raised the bit through the plate. So in my case the bit is the same size as the hole. It works fine. Greg

Not if your shaft is true....

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

It's called zero clearance!!! Yes, you want the hole to be as close to the cutter as possible. This reduces chances of the wood going down in the cracks, helps with tear out etc... The router bit is chucked up into the collet and this is all centered in the hole. There is no reason that the bit should move out of this position. Think of blades on a table saw. When you cut dados you need to make a zero clearance that just perfectly fits the blades. Same principle.