I make a zero clearance fence by adjusting the cutter height and then pushing it through a piece of wood clamped to the existing fence. This supports the strip close to the cutter and helps reduce splintering. Also make sure you are not making the "horns" of the cove too fine.

Make sure your bits are clean and sharp.

Feeding with the rotation of the cutter will probably help but could be exciting. Take care with your setup and don't stand in the line of fire.

: Last weekend I routed the bead and cove in my WR cedar strips. About 40% come
: out perfect, about 30% are fit for use and the other 30% I endded up
: trashing. I keep the strips grouped by the boards they came from and it
: seems that some of them simply won't machine without splintering. Mostly
: when working the cove, but quite a few splinter when machining the bead.
: I'm using a 1/4" router with matching bead a cove bits (about 1
: 1/2" diameter). When I run into a stubborn set of strips I've tried
: different speeds, turning the strips around and running various feed and
: router speeds but nothing seems to help. This is my second campaign of
: making strips.

: I also did some pine strips and got close to 100% yield.

: Any ideas for improving my cedar strips? What kind of yields are other people
: getting with cedar? If anyone has purchased strips, are they all perfect?

: Dwight