Which bearing guided dovetail router bit?

[Raymond UK]

Hi all,

I have been making toy boxes for the last 6-7 years and use a dovetail jig to join the panels together.

I used to buy these in bulk as my first jig was a 300mm SIP with an aluminium comb. Later used on my new Axminster 600mm jig with 'plastic' comb.

https://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-01371-7-16i ... 01578.html

They were £3.88 when I first bought then they went up to £8.34 and then to £11.58. They were very sharp and made a clean cut but the bearings used to collapse prematurely.

I bought 20 cutters for last years Christmas period @ £11.58 which is quite a big outlay for me and the cutters didn't cut much at all but produced a lot of smoke. SIP were pretty helpful and after I returned the cutters they refunded in full. They also informed me there was a problem with the production of these and no ETA of a new batch. Probably why they have been discontinued now.

The Axminster jig came with a 15mm cutter (12.7mm bearing) which I have been using since the SIP ones. Very sharp cutter and the bearing outlasts the cutter. The dovetails aren't as smooth as I presume the blades are getting dull resulting in rough edges inside and getting damaged slotting the panels together.

I have bought a couple more Axminster cutters today @ £13.50 each so they should last me another few weeks but wondered if any of you sourced some cheaper ones.

I have bought some Chinese ones and they are sharp but the cutter is 12.7mm and the bearing is also 12.7mm so too big resulting in the tails being bigger than the hole they slot into.

Long winded message but hopefully it'll make sense.

If anyone knows where to find some cheaper 15mm dovetail cutters with a 12.7mm bearing I'd be very interested.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SteveF]

wealden tools do a 14.9mm with a 12.7mm bearing
https://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/On ... l_122.html
t1020b

 

[Raymond UK]

Cheers Steve,

I'll order one of those in to try.

 

[ApplebyWT]

Have you looked at CMT? Very high quality router bits, but not for a massive outlay, if not Silverline's range is great for on a budget.

 

[Raymond UK]

Thanks I'll have a look at both of them.

In the mean time I just had 2 Axminster cutters through the post this morning.

The SIP ones used to be good and cheap. Shame about the bearings that came with them.

 

[Raymond UK]

Well, the Axminster cutters came through the post really quick as per usual and I can say I’m quite impressed.

I did locktite the gub screw as that’s the only complaint on the reviews.

I ordered two cutter just in case but I have now made 19 toy boxes with the first cutter and it doesn’t seem like it’s ready for retirement just yet.

I like these. Blades are sharp and bearings solid. I’ve just ordered another 4.

 

[Trevsf1]

I have a SIP jig, what cutters do you use for the 7/16 template? I presume the 1/2inch won,t work.
Thanks

Trevor