1/4" shank router

[ryan kelley]

I'm new to woodworking and only have some small tools, but I want to make a cabinet with raised panels. Is there a place I can find raised panel bits with a 1/4" shank. The only ones I can find are miniture, I guess these are for jewelry boxes. I was looking for something full size. I need the help.

[Greg Magone]

I'm new to woodworking and only have some small tools, but I want to make a cabinet with raised panels. Is there a place I can find raised panel bits with a 1/4" shank. The only ones I can find are miniture, I guess these are for jewelry boxes. I was looking for something full size. I need the help.

Congrats on being new to woodworking. It's a great hobby and pasttime.

The problem with raised panel router bits is they are very massive and quite a bit of the mass is located well away from the shank of the bit. You get a very large moment of inertia around a small shank. I don't believe sell them on 1/4 shanks because there is (the very real) risk of the head shearing off of the shank.

A router is a handy tool and you'd do well to upgrade to a larger model even if you're new to the hobby. I'm not sure where you live, but in the metropolitian parts of the country, Craigslist.org is a great place to find used tools and you can probably pick up a used router for less than the costs of the bits you're considering.

Good luck!

[Mark Kosmowski]

I wouldn't use a bit larger than 1" or so with a 1/4" shank. Too much stress on that little itty piece of steel. You might find some vertical panel bits in 1/4". You can get a reconditioned Hitachi 2.25 HP recon router for ~$60 now - might be something to think about.

Also, bits bigger than an inch or so in diameter ought to be used on a router table and not freehand for safety.

Good luck and work safely!

[Richard M. Wolfe]

The only one I checked was Woodline USA, and they market a number of 1/4" shank rail and stile and panel raising bits. There are probably several other sources. Half inch shank is the best option for rail and stile bits.

[Jim Becker]

Ryan, in addition to the issue of 1/4" shanks being a bit light for this kind of work, you also MUST have a variable speed router that can slow down to about 10K RPM to run panel raisers safely. Anything over about an inch in diameter starts to require that, too.

[Loren Hedahl]

You can do just fine with your smaller router and 1/4" bits. What you do is use your standard bits to make whatever profile you want in successive cuts.

There's no reason to think that the only way is to use a huge, expensive, single-purpose bit for a few cabinets.

The picture changes considerably if you are in a production shop. Then you just don't have the time to fiddle around with successive passes.

[Frederick Rowe]

Jim beat me to this point. A raised panel bit can be over 3" in diameter. That means the speed at the outside edge of the cutter is going much faster than at a point closer to the center (think of a phonograph record spinning on a turntable, faster on the edge, slower towards the center. Same RPM, different actual speed. Disregard if you were born after 1980). Even the best of bits aren't designed to run at that speed. That is why you'll need to run your router (if it even has a speed control) at 10K RPM or less. You can try a vertical panel raising bit, just make sure your fence is tall enough to control the material.

[J. Z. Guest]

Just doing the panel raising on your table saw, with a tall fence and feather boards.

Set the blade at the appropriate angle, and set the rip fence so the corners of the carbide teeth just penetrate the wood, then sand the shoulder square afterwards. Super easy, and no routing required.

Barring that, you could look for vertical panel raising bits to keep the diameter down, and just make the cuts little by little.