Rabbeting on a Router Table?

[Art Mann]

A rabbeting bit has a bearing and is used for free hand routing. I don't see how it would be any better than a straight or spiral bit in a router table if you are cutting straight against a fence.

[pat warner]

Doc's right, rabbet bit, of radial design, is the most efficient cutter to cut a rabbet.
Moreover, it will yield the best result. Plenty stiff, + will not deflect like a straight bit.

[Mel Fulks]

I use the small climb cut first method,too. And single flute bits cut really fast.

[Art Mann]

Doc's right, rabbet bit, of radial design, is the most efficient cutter to cut a rabbet.
Moreover, it will yield the best result. Plenty stiff, + will not deflect like a straight bit.

If someone is deflecting a straight bit while cutting a rabbit, then they are pushing waaaay too hard. That would certainly explain why they are getting poor results. I don't understand this thread. People cut rabbits with a straight bit on a router table all the time. I am not the only one who doesn't have problems doing this. There si some other explanation than "wrong bit".

[Mark W Pugh]

Doc's right, rabbet bit, of radial design, is the most efficient cutter to cut a rabbet.
Moreover, it will yield the best result. Plenty stiff, + will not deflect like a straight bit.

Any recommendations on which product to buy? I'm looking at Whiteside 1955 or 1960 set, or both. Any comments?

[Jerry Miner]

Bit diameter can matter also--- a larger diameter bit will tear-out less than a smaller diameter one(all other things being equal). Rabbeting bits tend to be larger diameter, with a cutter geometry that is better for rabbets than a straight bit.

p.s. Don't know what you mean by "fluted bit." The flute is the area where the cutting happens. Some bits are single-flute, some are 2-flute, some 3-, and Freud makes some bits in a "Quadra-cut" form. Flutes can be straight or other shapes, but "fluted bit" doesn't communicate much.

[pat warner]

" Any recommendations on which product to buy?"
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I'd get something that will cut 3/8 -1/2 x maybe 3/4" in Y.
On the table, a cutter of that size, without its bearing, will cut from 0,0 - 3/8+ x 3/4. One cutter to do all that and do it well, awesome.

[Art Mann]

Heaven forbid having to route a 1/4" X 1/4" groove instead of a rabbit. Does that mean it is impossible to eliminate splintering?

[Greg Hines, MD]

Any recommendations on which product to buy? I'm looking at Whiteside 1955 or 1960 set, or both. Any comments?

Something similar to this is what I would use:

http://www.woodcraft.com/product/129688/woodriver-rabbet-router-bit-set-12-sh.aspx

[pat warner]

" Heaven forbid having to route a 1/4" X 1/4" groove instead"
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A slot with a straight bit is one of the most rigorous cuts for a router and its cutter.
A 1/4 x 1/4 slot, if done in one shot will measure >.250" wide.
The cutter is slamming into both sides of the path way and dragging along the bottom. No room for the chip; it fouls the foot way. It's web is often <.125"; not a lot of steel or carbide to resist deflection.
A 1/4 x 1/4 slot = .250" is possible, however, and in a single pass if you must.
A 3/16 CD cutter, cut down the center of the path way will wiggle, twist and deflect. However, as it wastes the remaining 1/32"/side there is very little deflection and a near perfect slot is possible.
Notwithstanding, if the slot were close to the edge I'd use a radial 3-wing slotter, cuts like a saw blade.