I Am Digging These Router Bits

[erikbojerik]

Radius from left to right; 7-1/4", 9-1/2", 12", 16", 20" and 28". Cutting length is 2" long, 1/2" diameter shafts. They've still got the protective schmutz on them in this photo.

Special order deal, not cheap, but they are drop dead accurate.

Edited May 25, 2007 by erikbojerik

[Prostheta]

Very interesting....what would you do with such radii though? I hope you wouldn't trust a fingerboard to them! Still, a very odd find as i've not seen them before....any chance of a price and source for reference?

Edited May 25, 2007 by Prostheta

[Rick500]

I'm assuming they're for fretboards, considering the radii.

Why wouldn't you trust a fretboard to them, if you had a good method to keep everything in the right position? Not saying there's not a reason, I'm just curious.

[Prostheta]

There just seems a lot of depth to the bits. I'd naturally be cautious when that depth of cut is being used on such a tolerance-sensitive part of an instrument.

What are they getting used for then? :-D

[erikbojerik]

What are they getting used for then? :-D

They have several uses, fretboards included.

Drop it in a router on a router table, adjust the height so the bottom edge of the bearing rides just a tad above the centerline (you want the top of the cut to be just south of centerline), mount the fretboard blank centered on the side of a square hunk o' wood (which is higher than the fretboard width), rout, flip and rout again. Zero-to-radius in about 60 seconds. Knock down the tiny ridge in the center with sandpaper, then slot-taper-buff-fret.

PM me if you want more info.

Edited May 26, 2007 by erikbojerik

[marksound]

What are they getting used for then? :-D

They have several uses, fretboards included.

Drop it in a router on a router table, adjust the height so the bottom edge of the bearing rides just a tad above the centerline (you want the top of the cut to be just south of centerline), mount the fretboard blank centered on the side of a square hunk o' wood (which is higher than the fretboard width), rout, flip and rout again. Zero-to-radius in about 60 seconds. Knock down the tiny ridge in the center with sandpaper, then slot-taper-buff-fret.

PM me if you want more info.

Yeah, that's what I thought they were for.

[rjhalsey]

Ok, ill bite, who makes them and where did you order them from?

[Mattia]

Niiiice....get them from routerbits.com?

I'd be sorely tempted if I was still doing single radius boards, but right now, my quest is for the best compound radius jig possible...

[Kammo1]

Hi Erik sent you a PM, cheers Kammo1

[Woodenspoke]

Looks like a plan sounds like a plan, but something in the back of my head says its too good to be true and why isn't SM selling them already for double the price.

Have you tried them yet if so do you have pictures of the process. I would like to see the results first before I am convinced. If it does what you say I will be a true believer.

Woodenspoke

Seeing is believing.

[jay5]

I too am really interested in where to get them! I'd like to see your setup and the surface they produce as well.

[erikbojerik]

If it does what you say I will be a true believer.

Woodenspoke

Seeing is believing.

huh?

OK....FWIW I posted a tutorial about how to use these to radius a fretboard.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=30108

Edited May 31, 2007 by erikbojerik

[Logical Frank]

Those look real nice. I will file them under "When I'm rich" though...

[erikbojerik]

Yeah, if I wasn't "rich" there's no way I'd be able to build the kind of guitars I want to build inside of a year per.

[ihocky2]

While $200 a pop it expensive for a router bit, it can still be a bargain depending on how much and what you build. If you build only a few different radii, then you're at 400 or 600 dollars for something that will make life a lot easier and faster. Even if you don't trust the precision, it removes that majority of the material and you can adjust by hand. It's still the same as the radiusing attachment for a belt sander, and half the cost if you have to buy the sander as well.

[Woodenspoke]

If it does what you say I will be a true believer.

Woodenspoke

Seeing is believing.

huh?

OK....FWIW I posted a tutorial about how to use these to radius a fretboard.

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=30108

Ok I believe you it works and from your pictures extremely well. I bow down to the bits. Saves on shop space too.

BTW nice angled fret board in the post you linked, beautiful work.

FYI I would use a split fence with the bit one slip and the board is toast relying on just the guide bearing even with that huge block of wood. With a fence on both sides of the bit you eliminate any chance of damage to the fret board and you can eliminate the guide as the only point of contact (less work sanding afterward). My two cents for all its worth.

The only real issue here is price, even for a guy who dosent always care about price but quality, its a lot of cash for a few router bits. Plus if your sharpening service screws up, your screwed too.

Honestly if I had to choose between the bits and the grizzly radius belt sander the grizzly sander would win out. It does more and only the belts wear, If I only wanted to use one radius than buying one bit would be cheaper. So I agree with Mattia they are nice but it has its limits for some of us.

Woodenspoke

[Kammo1]

Hey Erik if the guy that made these adjusted his pricing I'm sure he would be innundated with orders for these, just seems alot of $$ for something that seems quite simple, again I am not disputing this guys work and I do believe that he has something there but on a programmed CNC machine and I would assume they all come from a standard blank these would literally cost a few dollars each. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing in making a decent markup but I would sooner make a little often than alot less often, JMHO.

[ihocky2]

If the guy who made them is interested in making a little side cash I am sure a few people on here would be interested if the cost was brought down, I know I would be. One thing that may help to reduce the cost is to eliminate the bearing guide. These bits need to be used in a table router anyway, and the fence will adjust where and how far the bit goes into the wood. Eliminating the machining and threading the end for the bearing guide.