re: Stupid question of the week

MontyJ:

It’s an excellent ‘stupid’ question – as it deals directly with 1) Safety, and 2) an inquiring mind – they are a terrible thing to waste; as there seem to be progressively few these days…

First, it’s paramount that any bit be firmly seated in the collet – all sorts of nasty things happen – there is no upside potential. Normally, I remove the collect split-nut from its retainer, then firmly seat the bit at the bottom: you can do this by simply setting the collet down on a table-top, and pushing the bit-shank down into the split-nut. My routers – PC892 & Bosch MRC23EVS – have ample room remaining between the bit-bottom and the router shaft – sometimes you do need to be concerned with bottoming-out the bit to the router shaft.

To your question, if you fully-seat the bit, add the length of the bushing collar, do you run out of cutter? Sometimes… as bits are only so long. You can ‘safely’ cheat-up the bit about a 1/4" (members, pleases jump-in here), but I wouldn’t go more than that.

My safety zone is fully-seated, and if the bit isn’t long enough (w/collar attached), I buy a new router bit that works within project requirements. Do Not take shortcuts on safety…
MJCD