Sawdust on the Floor

Like a lot of woodworkers, I am always looking for sources for information on one of my favorite subject, Woodworking.  One of those sources of that information is the multitude of woodworking magazines that are published each month.  I don’t subscribe to any of these magazines on monthly basis but instead I tend to purchase the ones that contain articles that are of interest to me.  Just like most things in life, some of these magazines are better then others.  Out of all those published, “Fine Woodworking” has always been on somewhat of a pedestal for me.  The articles in the magazine are normally chocked full of useful information.  Articles that help woodworkers improve their skills as woodworkers.   Articles that inspire woodworkers.   That’s why I was very surprised by an article in the December 2009 issue on” How to Handle Plywood”, by Gregory Paolini. 

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting out of the article, perhaps information on how to safely cut full sheets of plywood in a one man or woman shop.  Or maybe something on how to finish plywood so that it doesn’t end up looking like… well plywood with stain on it.  Instead the article had gems such as “you will need a truck to get full size sheets of plywood home from the store” Or “slide the sheets off of the racks at the store onto sheet rock carts”.  To me this is not information, these things are common sense. The article did contain useful information on using a cross cut sled for cutting plywood on the tablesaw, or using a router and straight edge to produce a clean cut on plywood that has been rough cut with a circular saw. 

Now I don’t blame Mr. Paolini, his article had to meet the requirements of the editorial staff at the magazine.  After all they, not the author set the tone of the articles.  Hopefully, this is not the direction that the magazine is headed. Looking at Mr. Paolini’s other articles and his workmanship I acknowledge that he is a skilled and informed craftsman so the tenure of the article surprised me. 

You know I have been thinking about the article, I do know what I was hoping to see in the article.  There are a couple of newer products on the market such as the EZee-Feed system that helps the one man shops to cut plywood in an accurate and safe manner.  Or the Gorilla Gripper  that is used for hauling plywood from your truck to your shop.  To me those are products that help in handling plywood.

There are basically two style of routers, fixed base and plunge routers. As the name implies with a fixed base router the depth of the router bit is set and remains at that position.  Conversely, with a plunge router, you position the router over the work, and with the router spinning plunge the bit into the work.  Plunge routers are the ideal tool for making cuts such as blind dado’s. Regardless the size of your plunge router, the concept is the same.  But the question that needs to be asked is, Are you using the correct bit for plunge work? 

When most of us think of a plunge router bit, we naturally think of the straight router bit, but the truth is that plunge bits come in many different designs. The Classic Fluted Plunge Router Bit from Rockler is a great example of that concept.

What makes this a true plunge bit is the fact that the cutting edge of the bit extends beyond the face of the bit. 

Take a look at the normal straight bit shown here at the left.  This bit has two flat edges that do the cutting, while some straight bits will have two points. Flats or points, the issue is the same.  These are the leading edges of the cutter.  When you plunge this bit into wood, it will cut only to depth of the leading edge cutters, after that it stalls. 

Not all straight bits make poor plunge bits.  Take a look at the CMT Bit from Woodcraft. Notice that here the cutter edge extends all the way across the face of the bit instead of just on the edge of the bit.  The center part of the bit is ground to  form a ridge.  While this ridge is not particularly sharp, it will remove wood very effectively when used as plunge router bit. 

The CMT Bit will work just as will as a conventional straight bit when used in a non plunge application.  While they may cost a little more, it seems to me that a bit that can do  double duty might be worth the extra costs.