I have set my ft_min_word_len=2 but when I repair or even drop / create
my index I get no hits on queries 2 or 3 chars long that should have
variables. I have tried repair from mysql client, drop / create from
mysql client, and even with myisamchk --ft_min_word_len=2 from command
line

show variables displays :

ft_min_word_len | 2

so I am certain that I set it in my.cnf correct.

what am I doing wrong?