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Lonsdale73

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Finding I needed a flush trim bit longer than any I had at my disposal, I ordered one of these:

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Can't remember where from, possibly amazon, probably the bay but not sure it matters as there appears to be loads of identical looking versions under different names, all about £7. At that price, I wasn't expecting it to offer a lifetime of excellent service but had hoped it would address my immediate need to shape a piece approx 400mm in length. It was the scariest router bit I've ever used, making a horrendous racket and gouging at the wood. It was tossed into a drawer when really it should have gone into the bin.

T'other day finding once again I needed a little more reach I gave it another go. I mounted my template to an oversized workpiece, hogged out most of the waste area with Forstner bits, leaving very little to be trimmed back. This is what it did to the workpiece:

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And to the insert:

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Not sure quite how it managed that but I've no desire to repeat the exercise to try and find out. It is now going in the bin.
 

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Bite the bullet and buy from Wealden. You know it makes sense
I bought one from Wealden but on use I found it to be very slightly tapered. They immediately sent me a replacement. They're my first port of call for cutters.
Brian
 
My original flush trim bits came from Rutlands and in fairness they weren't bad. I made a mess of one trying to trim a piece when the glue wasn't as dry as I thought. I replaced that with one from Axminster and the difference was like chalk and cheese. More recently, I need a 3mm bit but I needed it NOW so picked up an Erbauer from Screwfix. Was very cheap but it was only needed to cut a shallow arc in plywood so I figured if it got me out of a fix then it would do till I could buy a better one. Fitted it to a Katsu trimmer mounted on a makeshift circle cutting jig, switched on and proceeded to sweep through the arc. It didn't feel like it was doing anything so I swept it back, switched it off and checked the bit's depth. Seemed deep enough so I switched on and tried again. Still nothing so I checked again. The bit was still protruding beyond the baseplate so should have been cutting.

And it had, so smoothly and effortlessly that I hadn't been able to feel it working. Lovely clean cut too, no ragged edges even on cheap B&Q grade ply.

NB: I DO NOT, nor have I ever, work nor worked for Axminster, Screwfix or B&Q and none of these companies sponsor me in any way, shape or form however, as always, I'm open to offers!
 

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