Almost everybody knows that the “proper” way to install a router bit is to bottom it out in the collet, then withdraw it 1/16″ to 1/8″ before tightening the collet nut. Almost nobody, however, knows why. We’ve never seen an owner’s manual divulge the secret, and we’ve seen the real story in print only once or twice in the last twenty years. The stuff you have heard is almost certainly hogwash: you pull the bit back to reduce vibration, or to decrease heat transfer into the motor spindle, or perhaps to keep fairy dust from getting in your eyes. Even though such things actually show up in print from time to time, they’re entirely nonsensical.
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