Yeah thats right. I'm still talking about my new woodpeck plate.
The max opening is 3 9/16". Is that really enough room to spin a 3 1/2 " raised panel bit? Sure it will fit through the hole (I'm not dat stoop'ed, geesh!) but that only leaves 1/16" total. Or 1/32" away from scraping carbide on aluminum.
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!
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
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.
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