Tried a plunge router bit with a bearing guide and got tearout city

I picked up a cheap Whiteside pattern bit last week for a cabinet door job in Boise and figured the bearing would keep everything clean. Nope, the thing chattered like crazy on the end grain and left these ugly burn marks I had to sand out for an hour. Anyone else have luck with spiral bits for pattern work or is it just my technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

casey_harris22d ago

Oh man, tearout city is right, isn't that the worst feeling after you think you've got everything dialed in? I ran a similar Whiteside pattern bit on some oak for a set of shelves and it left a mess on the end grain that looked like a beaver chewed it. Had to sand for what felt like forever and the burn marks were so bad I nearly had to start over with fresh stock. I switched to a spiral upcut bit and it made a huge difference for me, just kept the chips out of the way and left a way cleaner edge.

jamesm4822d ago

Tell me about it. The oak grain is a beast on its own, couple that with a pattern bit that's supposed to follow a bearing but instead just tears a path and you're in for a bad time. Had a job once building some cabinet doors and used a flush trim bit on some hard maple and it literally ripped chunks out along the edge where the grain switched direction. That beaver comparison is spot on too, I swear some of those bits just launch the wood fibers like confetti instead of cutting them clean. Switched to a compression spiral for anything with figured grain now and the difference is night and day.