Vermont American 23155 45-Degree Carbide Tipped Chamfer Router Bit, 1/2-Inch Ball Bearing 2-Flute 1/4-Inch Shank

I used to work in a shop that made Formica counter tops and cabinets and this is the same bit they used when they wanted beveled edges instead of square. The benefit of beveled edges is that they do not snag on clothing, towels or other items.Make sure that there as little Formica overlap as possible. With Formica you need a bit with a bearing because a plain shaft will heat up enough to discolor the Formica. If you use this bit on Formica or any other plastic substance make sure that you keep the bearing well oiled or it will seize up quickly because the material will work it's way inside where it will melt if the bearing gets to hot. WD40 or any light machine oil is great for this but apply liberally every 3 to 4 feet. I'm sure letting th bearing cool would help too but in an industrial setting we didn't have time for that. Because if tight spaces we could not use a standard router. I wish I could have found a bit with and 1/8th inch shaft so I could have used my Dremel tool.but none were to be found. I also looked to see if there was a 1/4th chuck with and 1/8th inch shaft to use bits with the Dremel. I ended up having to purchase another Dremel type tool that uses 1/8th inch and 1/4th inch collets to use the bits.

This bit was less expensive than at any local walk-in retailer close to me.With the free shipping it was also less expensive than comparable bits on line.

The washer/bearing/bolt thickness added up so tall that when I was trying to cut a 1/4" chamfer on a 5/8 piece of hard wood, the screw head would touch the base piece of wood underlying the piece I was cutting and scar the wood. This wouldn't be a problem if you were just trimming the wood by itself on a table, but I didn't have that option. So I had to find another cutter with a smaller bearing stack. One with a 3/8" OD bearing worked. If they had given better dimensions of the bearing stack height, I could have avoided having this issue.

Received in the promised two days in perfect condition.I used it in a router table to put a chamfer on some redwood material that is about 3/8 inch thick. It easily cut a chamfer, just like it's supposed to. If you were to use this in a hand held router to chamfer a board by running it along the edge, I think 1/2 inch might be the minimum thickness because the design is such that the cutter is located relatively far from the pilot bearing. If you want to chamfer thinner boards, use an edge guide with your hand held or put it in a router table like I did and let fence control where your work piece is relative to the cutter.

I was duplicating some kitchen cabinet drawers fronts made of solid maple when I remodeled the kitchen. The manufacturer of the cabinets went out of business, so since I only needed a couple drawer fronts, I decided to make my own. This 45 degree bit was perfect for matching the chamfered edges on the existing doors and cabinet fronts. The cost was amazing and the ball bearing kept the bit from bogging down too deeply.I used this on a Sears router which was mounted in a router table. The combination of ball bearing bit and router table made the chamfering part of my work easy and precise.

In a world of lumber/hardware warehouses that carry ONLY the most common router bit designs, ordering this was a breath of fresh air. Not everything needs to be rounded over -- there is a call for a straight, sharp 45-degree chamfer bit.I purchased this particular bit because I needed a 45-degree chamfer bit and this was one was reasonably priced. I don't need this for professional purposes and so I don't need a high-dollar bit that more than likely will not stay sharp any longer than this one.Very sturdy, very sharp, and it does exactly what I need it to do!

I am using this bit to contour acrylic using a template and I needed a 45 degree bevel. Very difficult to do as the gap between the guide and the blade leads to dirty cuts.

So I rolled the dice and took a chance with a cheap router bit and this is what I got. Thank goodness for Amazon's simple return system because I sent this thing right back.The problem is the way the carbide is ground. The faces of the carbide are not flat but hollow ground. This makes a slightly concave cutting edge which cuts a slightly bulged bevel. This might not be a problem for rough work but I bought this bit for making accurate miter joints on thin stock and this just won't work.To make matters worse, the hollow grind on the carbide means it can never be sharpened. All router bits will eventually get dull and need to be honed. When the time comes this bit can only be thrown in the trash where it belongs in the first place.