 [Larger view] | Freud 60-102 5/16" Slot Cutter Arbor with 1/2" Shank
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 Freud Woke Up on This One | |
| FYI: Just to clear up any confusion. Bits that are designed to take 1/4" of material out and at up to 9/16" deep, on a single pass are not meant to be used, as a hand held bit. Just a slight off angle and this bit would go chewing into a more severe angle, possibly causing a kickback.
In plain words, like a raised panel bit, it is only meant to be used in a table. I believe that is the reason why Freud may not have left any room for a bearing. The problem with this longer shank arbor, I couldn't get it to fit in any of my router tables. It was way too long. Freud makes another one available here at Amazon, that is a lot shorter and does the job beautifully. I have some inexpensively made bits that are designed to create rabbets. They have a bearing. Since you are creating a rabbet instead of a groove, the bit has room to "escape" in the event of a slight off angle. I wanted to comment because I can see why many would not buy this bit after reading some other comments. The truth is that this is probably one of Freuds best buys due to the cost and quality of construction. If you read "Classic Joints with Power Tools" by Yeung Chan, you will see that a slotting cutter router bit is one of the essential cutters. He pictures ten router bits that he considers essential, and three of them are slotting cutters. Since the arbors are 5/16" in both the 1/4" shaft and the 1/2" shaft, I bought the 1/2" shaft for less vibration. Highly recommended. | |
 Freud Went to Sleep on this One | |
| If you are looking for a really handy substitute for a biscuit (aka plate) joiner, use a 5/32" slot cutter, with an arbor and a depth adjustment bearing (7/8" for #20 biscuit, 1 1/4" for #0 biscuit, etc). (You need to slide the wood back and forth around 1/2" to get the right width.) HOWEVER, DON'T EXPECT THIS ARBOR TO DO THE TRICK BECAUSE THE THREADED PORTION OF THE ARBOR IS NOT LONG ENOUGH TO HOLD A SLOT CUTTER AND A BEARING (unless you do not feel the need to put the nut on to hold them on). I have had good experience with other Freud products, so this was a bit of a surprise. |
