"Leon" wrote in message
...

"Vic Baron" wrote in message
...
Most of the time that I've ever used a flush trim router bit has been to
trim a melamine edge or something like that, I'm in the process of
building an oak dining room table and chairs.

Decided to build the chairs by using a template to bandsaw the blank and
then flush trim to shape. Needed 8 legs and fortunately I cut 9.

Took the first blank and using a 1/2" shank 3/4 x 1 1/2 flush trim in the
router table proceeded to trim. Much to my surprise, actually scared the
hell out of me, as I was trimming down the slender part of the leg, the
bit dug in and split the leg along the vertical grain.

Seems I didn't pay enough attention to how close to the line I made the
bandsaw cut. Got a little sloppy and some of the cuts were over 3/8"
deep.

Needless to say I went back over the blanks and cut much closer to the
line. No problems after that.


I do the final cutting with a flust trim bit often. If I leave much more
than 1/8" to be trimmed and expecially on oak I often see tear out beyond
where I want when flush triming against a template.

To solve this , back route, go in the opposite direction. CAUTION the bit
WILL try to yank the work out of your hands so do this with a firm grip.
And naturally, the less material you have to remove the easier the
procedure will be. The cuts end up very smooth after you make the final
pass in the correct dirrection.




Thanx Leon, that's what I wound up doing and it worked like a charm.