Which router bit better for edging?

[brooks]

I'm looking to make solid wood edges on plywood or melamine shelves, typically 3/4" thick. Would a regular tongue and groove be just as good as this specialty bit set from Pricecutter? I'm looking at Cutter set B.

http://www.pricecutter.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_P16-4040

It makes a sort of wedge looking tongue.

http://www.pricecutter.com/images/ar...040_cut_04.jpg

[WayneJ]

My choice would be "B". Less likely to move around when glueing and clamping.Seems like it would be a little stronger. Either one should work fine. If you have the tounge and set that should work also.
Wayne

[sweensdv]

There would be more area to glue with the Pricecutter bits which might make the joint stronger. Otherwise, I can't see why a tongue and groove setup wouldn't work just as well.

[brooks]

Is a "wedge" tongue enough better that it's preferable to using a regular tongue and groove set? If you already had a tongue and groove, would you buy this wedge set for edging? I'm not actually comparing A to B, I'm comparing B to a regular tongue and groove.

[bigsteel15]

I would suggest going with it unless you already have a T&G set.
It's only and edge and shouldn't be subjected to that much punishment.

I'm not familiar with the quality of those bits, so personally would spend the extra $ for this one.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...168,46176&ap=1
A little more work to complete the joint, but those pricecutter bits look to be too cheap.
In my opinion, for a bit that you will put a lot of material through you are better off not to scrimp unless you don't mind buying a second set.

[LarryG]

Of those two, I'd choose B, for exactly the reasons Wayne mentions.

But if I already had a T&G set, I wouldn't buy either because I don't see that they offer any significant advantage over a T&G set. (I'm not overly cynical, as a rule, but it seems to me that as woodworking has increased in popularity as a hobby, the manufacturers and vendors have gone overboard in coming up with new-but-maybe-not-really-improved "solutions" that seemed to be designed primarily to separate us from still more of our money.)

[Holbren]

I heard those bits are hard to align. I would just use biscuits. Set it up once and alignment should be dead on.

[Russianwolf]

You can do "A" on a tablesaw very easily. The first chessboards I made were done like that.

Use your T&G set. It won't make a difference.

[brooks]

I wasn't sure and wanted to order today, so I email Lee Valley about the situation. Within just a couple of hours, I got back a reply which made such an impression on me, I want to share it. Is this great or what? You can be sure I'll be a customer of theirs in future.

Thank you for your e-mail. We have had a chance to look at both bits that you have referred to and believe that the 2-Piece
Edge Banding Bit Set at Price Cutter would better suit your needs. We have checked the other router bits we carry and do not have a suitable substitute in our product line.

We should also mention that we are not familiar with these bits and we are not able to comment on their quality.

We hope this helps.

Cheers,

Jeff Curling
Internet Customer Service Representative

[RHunter]

I would choose 'B' myself, and I am looking at the same thing for the same reason as well...

But MLCS has their versions on sale in their recent catalog.

MLCS Edge Banding Bits

[bigsteel15]

I wasn't sure and wanted to order today, so I email Lee Valley about the situation. Within just a couple of hours, I got back a reply which made such an impression on me, I want to share it. Is this great or what? You can be sure I'll be a customer of theirs in future.

This brings up the question.
What is the quality like on Price-Cutter bits?

BTW, I see Holbren is selling Whiteside soon.

[brooks]

I first heard of Pricecutter from favorable mentions on rec.woodworking, I think. It was a few years ago. In this case, the bit under consideration appears to be identical to the one sold at MLCS, and they've been around a while too, and have favorable mentions in rec.woodworking. I'm not sure it makes much difference which store gets the sale in this case, either of them would do a comparable job - it really does appear to be the same bit set. I'd probably buy from the closest store if all else were equal, shipping times might be faster.

(In this case, one store is about $5 more. It's not enough to matter.)

[JimD]

I just glue on the edging without using any special router bit joint. Works fine for me. I have tried the tongue and groove method but it seemed like a lot of extra work for no real benefit.

Jim

[Tom Miller]

If you do go with those bits (either "A" or "B"), I'd suggest you reverse the pieces such that the plywood gets the convex cut, and the solid stock gets the concave cut.

The practical consideration is that the surface edge of the ply will be very fragile in the configuration shown, and will almost certainly break up during handling. The resulting joint between ply and solid edging will not look good on the surface.

A secondary consideration is that you'll have more solid stock where you need it for roundovers, etc.

Personally, I'd either use biscuits (for alignment purposes only), or nothing at all. Or a more simple T&G.

Regards,
Tom