: Maybe one more possibility...??

: Are you using infeed and outfeed extensions beyond your saw/router table..??

: Check the alignment of your fence with the outfeed table/fence. If you are
: using featherboards to hold against your infeed side and the outfeed fence
: is not exactly aligned with the router fence, when you pass the end of the
: first featherboard ( infeed side ) the outfeed side will take over and
: push the piece into the cutter a tad.. This works in conjunction with a
: large hole around the bit, so as Rob mentions, make a Zero clearance
: fence. It's best to do that on ALL of your tools and for all blades and
: cutters.

: Rehd

Yah, all this stuff gets complicated to explain, and after years of doing this
I don't even think about the real detail involved, but it is good to think about it to
explain to the non-woodworkers here.

Making certain the cutters are properly centered is critical to getting a good C&B.

Start by making a zero tolerance fence AND featherboard to press DOWN on the
strips over the cutter.

To make a zero clearance fence and featherboard, screw a new piece of solid wood/plywood
on your router fence, then clamp a solid wood feather board BLANK, the width of your strips,
in place over the fence in the path of the cutters BEFORE you cut the featherboard fingers.
Measure the thickness of your fence stock and the distance the cutter will protrude into the strip
and mark this on your fence adjustment shaft so you 'll know how far to push the fence and featherboard blank
into the cutters before backing the fence off.

Then turn the router on and CAREFULLY and SLOWLY pull/push the
fence and featherboard into the router bits until they cut through the
fence front and into the featherboard the desired depth then go just past
the depth needed.

Mark the location of the featherboard on the fence BEFORE removing it so
you'll know exactly where to place it over the cutter!
Remove the featherboard blank and cut the fingers of the featherboard.

Place a strip on the router face and set-up the featherboard on the fence
over this strip, to adjust the featherboard for the strip thickness. The correctly
set featherboard must only allow the strip to move in the direction of the cut.

Now you are ready to set the cutter depth.

Centering the Cutters in the Strip
Start by centering your COVE cutter.
To center your COVE cutter, start by taking short strips, perhaps 12", OF EXACTLY
THE SAME strip thickness you will use and pass them over the COVE cutter with
the cutter extended to approximately half the depth of the final cut.

Then use a very fine scale (1/64") to measure the flats on either side of
the shallow cove. Accuracy is critical, so use a magnifying glass if needed.
If the flats are equal your cove is centered.

Then increase the cutter depth SLOWLY until the flats JUST disappear.

THIS CAN BE A SLOW PROCESS, DON'T RUSH, GET IT RIGHT!!

NOW set-up featherboards, THE THICKNESS of your strips, in front of
the cutter to press the strip into the blades from the side and after
the cutter to keep the strip running straight.

Or you can use one wide featherboard to straddle the cutter.

If you have the luxury to have two routers you can set-up the BEAD cutter at the same time.

Use two routers, if possible, to mill cove and bead on the edges of one
strip at the same time. The cove and bead cutters I use have a 1/4” shank,
so you can use them in any router. Some cove and bead cutters are made
with 1/2” shanks and are twice the cost. If you own 2 routers or can borrow
one or two for the job, you’re more likely to find 1/4” collets than 1/2”.
Few cutters remove less material than cove and bead router bits. It seems
pretty silly to me, to put them on a 1/2” shank!

I thought about making a router table to set-up the routers but trying to build
a table with the needed adjustments is a whole nuther nine yards! I decided to
use the fences that came with the routers and mount the routers on a bench top to save time.

See illustration below.

Use hardwood blocking screwed onto the routers anywhere you can drive a screw
through. On one of my routers I removed the handle screws and used them to mount
wood posts. On another router I blocked up to the base and screwed down through
holes in the base plate. If you look at my drawing on this post you will see the objective
is to set up the two routers so their bases are up, and level with each other. Set the depth
of cut by using the adjustable fences that come with most routers. And align the strip path
by how the routers are clamped to the bench.

Caution: With this tandem router arrangement one router cutter will be turning in
the same direction as the wood is traveling. This is called a climb cut. Normally this
is very dangerous! The wood can be shot out like a missile if not held firmly against
the fence by featherboards.

However, so little wood is removed with the cove and bead cutters that it is not a
problem as long as you use two featherboards to hold the strip in place.

DON'T MAKE A PASS WITHOUT THEM, unless you want to start your own home missle project!

Test C&B for Centering
Do a number of test strips on the router set-up to ensure the correct alignment of
cove and bead. Both surfaces of the strips must be FLUSH when the cove and bead
edges mate. Mill test strips with cove and bead, and mark one side with a colored
pencil every 4”. Cut the test strip into pieces and mate the cove & bead edges by
turning one strip end for end so the marks on one strip are opposite the marks on
the other. Any misalignment will show up.

Of course, if you have only one router available you can only mill one edge at a time.

So you must mill the cove first and center it as suggested above. Then when you reset
your router with the bead cutter you will have to find the bead center by doing the "Test C&B
for Centering" method outlined above.

All this assumes your strips are a perfect and regular thickness. If they’re not, ouch!

Have I forgot anything Rehd?

This gets very complex. After a lot of years using B&C below the waterline of my boats
I’m just hand beveling all the strips. It’s much easier.

All the best,
Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.laughingloon.com