I always thought it would be great somebody made a bit that was a sort of oversized high speed steel rabbeting bit that you could grind the shape you wanted into. If it exists, I've never seen it. Duh, time to googlesearch "custom router bits."
such a thing will likely never be offered to the consumer market. the odds of getting the geometry wrong are high and the conscequences of that failure are gonna make the lagal department shit a brick.
If I remember correctly, Whiteside will make custom bits. But if all you want is HSS rod, McMaster-Carr would be glad to sell you some.
-george
Probably so. But you could make your own by annealing an existing bit. Grind the new shape into it, then harden and retemper.
Depending on what you are trying to do, you might be able to manage with a shaper head for a table saw. I have made very delicate moldings that way, by cutting one blade in "oil-hardening die stock" from an industrial hardware.
I put blank pieces slightly short in the other two slots to try to balance the head. Not perfect, but usable.
But, if you are not doing large production, making a scratch tool for the exact shape involves little setup time.
Between those extremes is making or modifying a wooden molding plane.
The hand-tool options have obvious safety advantages, and are really more pleasant if you don't have to do it all day.
Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a
"Curse thee, thou quadrant. No longer will I guide my earthly way by thee." Capt. Ahab
Do a google search for Ballew Tool, I'm 99% sure I saw them in their catalog.
not if it's high speed steel. the hardening and tempering process for HSS is pretty high tech.
that's a much better solution, assuming that the cut can be made that way.
SOP.
yep.
yepper.
J36 Gjo/a
Ever try that with high speed steel? If you had, you wouldn't say that.
Something that hasn't been mentioned. If you want to grind your own router bits, you better have a cutter grinder. If you try to freehand it, it may work but it will vibrate like hell and trash your bearings in short order. Consider the speed we are talking about here.
googlesearch
I've done it so many times with good results using a 1/2" HSS rabbeting bit, quarter inch shank. But I would like to see a larger blank bit with a half inch shank. What I do is to lay out the profile on a piece of stiff paper and cut it out with an xacto knife to match the height of the blank cutting surface. Then I transfer the profile from the paper to the bit using a fine permanent marker, then sit at the grinder or dremel with the reading specs on and a bowl of ice cubes next to me to quench the bit frequently as I grind away. Takes about 45 minutes.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.