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Stew Mac Hot-rod Router Bit Split.........


Our Souls inc.

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My router bit split in two today. right where the shaft clamps into the router chuck, it just sheared off. I don't force the router, or make it strain and I don't cut out much depth at a time either. I have a pretty steady hand and there was no adverse conditions in the board - knots or nails or what have you. just a normal piece of mahogany when - snap!

I've never sheared off a router bit before so - what are your thoughts? Faulty bit? I've only put maybe an hour total on it.15 or 16 truss channels. I might give up on the hot rod altogether - its a bit thick and you need this stupid bit. which I now dont have.

Grr. :D

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I used to buy these for the hotrod(7/32)

http://www.routerbits.com/cgi-routerbits/sr.cgi?1295692575_1659+9

But I just switched to the allparts rod,which seems just as good,and it only needs a 1/4" wide rout by 3/8" deep.I just got tired of getting screwed by having to buy such an oddball bit.

The LMI rod is horribly expensive,Twice as much as the allparts rod and does not seem to be any better

By the way,15 channels in hard woods without sharpening is a lot.If it was all mahogany I would say different,but since you keep talking about bloodwood...

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My router bit split in two today. right where the shaft clamps into the router chuck, it just sheared off. I don't force the router, or make it strain and I don't cut out much depth at a time either. I have a pretty steady hand and there was no adverse conditions in the board - knots or nails or what have you. just a normal piece of mahogany when - snap!

I've never sheared off a router bit before so - what are your thoughts? Faulty bit? I've only put maybe an hour total on it.15 or 16 truss channels. I might give up on the hot rod altogether - its a bit thick and you need this stupid bit. which I now dont have.

Grr. :D

Ouch! That's is pretty scary.

In terms of the hot rod, I never used it because of the extra depth and special size. I did order one a while back and I just gave it away.

I'm currently working on a couple of necks and ordered 6 of the Allied Lutherie rods. They're very well made and I can just route the channel with a standard 1/4" cutter (I use an up spiral bit). I was previously using those blue coated eBay dual truss rods but these from Allied are better quality.

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as if noone ever routed BW before.

Oh sorry,I forgot you already know everything :D See if you can get your money back after hogging out 15 slots with 2 in bloodwood.

By the way,denser woods can dull a bit in one use,and if you keep using it dull,heat builds up and ruins the temper of the bit,causing things to..well,break...

But you probably know that too,you are the expert. :D

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You two are so cute...

Wes - are the allparts rods the same size as the LMI ones? I have to admit they are my tr of choice, but only because I ordered a few of them along with a big order ages ago and I haven't found anything I like better yet. I don't like paying any more than I have to for quality parts, so I might give the allparts rods a go if I can ever manage to get back to building.

Cheers

B

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I have used some pretty crappy bits before but the blade would go long before the shaft broke(OK I have never broke a router shaft ever). I will surmize that SM buys their bits from china and then over charges you for that cheap chinese bit. I would call them as it is carbide and should last till there is no blade left not when it shears off. In the future I suggest buying a name brand router bit for doing the job. Other than the speciality binding bits LMI and SM sells I have stayed far away from what they offer as there is no manufactuer mentioned.

The other issue is shaft size. There is a reason 90% of my bits are a 1/2" shaft. Makes me feel safer.

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If they don't issue a refund, let me know. I think I may be able to find my two hotrod sized bits around here somewhere and will sell them to ya. I think they were each used once, and I don't use hot rods anymore. (Reason I have two if they were used to infrequently? I couldn't find the first, and had to buy a second... then found it lol).

Chris

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Thanks for the reply Spoke.... and for the offer of the bits Chris.

I've never had a bit shear either and I've put them through way more than this one had been through. If it had gotten dull, started bogging, hit something, I could see it, but it just went in an instant.

I probably won't ask for a refund from SM, although I appreciate the suggestion. Not likely to buy hot-rods again, so the odd sized bit isn't necessary anymore either.. :D

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Only bits (yes, BITS) I've had do this are Grizzly bits. Those things fall apart like WOAH! I've had the exact same things as with your's happen to a 1/4" bit where I was doing MINIMAL depth for example. And then on the other end of the spectrum, I've also seen their bearings just explode balls all over the shop as they flew apart after LITERALLY like 12" of the bearing following an edge. I don't buy them... but I once bought a big tool and one of the free things they offered was a full router bit set (like 20 some odd bits!) so I jumped at it. Worthless...

Chris

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+1 for the AllParts Rod... Not going back to the Hot Rod... just too many issues with it. No longer a fan.

When I do use a Hot Rod... I just use a 1/4" bit with it. It's not loose in a 1/4" channel. I've got the proper bit but don't use it.

Edited by 3DogNate
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  • 3 weeks later...

are you guys talking about the allparts double action truss rod? I recently had trouble with hot rod rods and was actually looking for an alternative myself... Sorry for the partial hijack!

I thought I was saving money when I switched from LMII to Allied Lutherie at 15 bucks a pop. I suppose I will have to try these now. Can many of you guys speak for their quality?

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are you guys talking about the allparts double action truss rod? I recently had trouble with hot rod rods and was actually looking for an alternative myself... Sorry for the partial hijack!

I thought I was saving money when I switched from LMII to Allied Lutherie at 15 bucks a pop. I suppose I will have to try these now. Can many of you guys speak for their quality?

I use the ALLPARTS rods. They are nice... you can buff them yourself on a wheel and they will look like the allied.

I just wax the threads and let them rip. They have worked very well on the last 10 guitars.

BTW I will be purchasing a bunch in the next few weeks so if anyone wants to do a group buy on ALLPARTS rods I can probably save you some money.

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It's cheapest to make your own. Just get a cold rolled steel bar, cut it into smaller pieces and drill two holes in it, one that goes all the way through and the other half way through then take a rod mark it where a bend would be and heat it with a blowtorch then fold it on itself, insert into the steel bar and there is a hand made dual action rod. That what I do and it works amazingly, I put one in my MN guitar and in the year I had it I chaged strings guages 3 times (heavier each time) and it went through a Minnesota winter and summer which are totally oposite each other (winter averages about -20 F and the summer averages 85-90 F) Either way the neck never moved.

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Just get a cold rolled steel bar, cut it into smaller pieces and drill two holes in it, one that goes all the way through and the other half way through then take a rod mark it where a bend would be and heat it with a blowtorch then fold it on itself, insert into the steel bar and there is a hand made dual action rod.

How does that make a dual action rod? How have you threaded the rod? Do you have a drawing?

Keith

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Just get a cold rolled steel bar, cut it into smaller pieces and drill two holes in it, one that goes all the way through and the other half way through then take a rod mark it where a bend would be and heat it with a blowtorch then fold it on itself, insert into the steel bar and there is a hand made dual action rod.

How does that make a dual action rod? How have you threaded the rod? Do you have a drawing?

Keith

Yeah I realized after I posted that that it might be a little confusing. The steel bar part works as a stopper, yes the rod is threaded (the threads go in the hole drilled all the way through the bar) I don't have a pictures right now but I will be making one sometime this week so I will post some pictures.

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I had just recently bought the stew-mac router bit for hte hot rod trusses and found that it gave too loose of a fit so it went back with no problem. I am planning to get a 7/32" downcut carbide to cut the channel.

Not to hijack the thread, but I have three of the LMI double Action truss rods for electrics (Part# TRED)for sale for $50 + Shipping. I was coming here to post it in the classifieds for I had them posted for sale in another forum.

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i have also been using the allparts rods for a little while now - easiest to install and i think they are more reliable then the hot-rods as well as the big advantage of needing to remove less wood/being able to do thinner necks (without routing a slot out the bottom of the fretboard, only way to get a skinny neck with a hot-rod)

i dont actually do skinny necks that often, but the rods are a lot more substantial and feel a lot safer and more responsive when adjusting. I wouldnt dare adjust a hot-rod with string tension on the neck for fearing of snapping the nut off, but its not a problem with an allparts rod (of course i still recommend newbies take string tension off for adjustments - safety first and all that)

sometimes they benefit from a little grinding down of the welds as RAD has shown in recent threads

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