# need strategy for buying quality router bits



## floridagramps (Feb 16, 2010)

I am new to routing. I bought a Woodline master kit of 66 bits at Tampa woodworking show this past spring. Good way to get started, try out different profiles etc. I was pleased w my first projects but my Ogee bit dulled quickly as I cut many profiles in red oak..........1/4 inch at a time.Shims helped greatly.

It seems to me that I should start buying quality carbide bits (Freud or Whiteside) as needed. Shop Notes recommends 10 basic bits.

Would you experieinced users recommmend this strategy?


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

floridagramps said:


> I am new to routing. I bought a Woodline master kit of 66 bits at Tampa woodworking show this past spring. Good way to get started, try out different profiles etc. I was pleased w my first projects but my Ogee bit dulled quickly as I cut many profiles in red oak..........1/4 inch at a time.Shims helped greatly.
> 
> It seems to me that I should start buying quality carbide bits (Freud or Whiteside) as needed. Shop Notes recommends 10 basic bits.
> 
> Would you experienced users recommend this strategy?


I buy the profiles as needed...
often used style of bits and the more delicate ones I keep spares OH...


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## richjh (Jan 14, 2013)

I think you have a good plan. I buy higher quality bits that I use most often, roundover bits as an example, from Freud and CMT. I'm sure there are other brands equally as good. I have a 66 bit set from MLCS that has a lot of profiles I will probably never use but it has a lot of profiles that I plan for occasional use.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

I just buy one of the really good brand bits as I need it. Have a couple of door sets, on from Sommerfield, the other was MLCS. Half inch shanks on almost everything. Costs a few bucks more, but they really hold up.


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## Roloff (Jan 30, 2009)

Just a note in passing -- don't take 1/4" bites off anything harder than balsa. It's a dangerous practice, IMHO. Taking too much off at once ruins practically everything prematurely. Debulk with something cheaper, say a saw blade or drill.


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## freudman (Jan 2, 2012)

*quality cutter is well worth the extra cost*



floridagramps said:


> I am new to routing. I bought a Woodline master kit of 66 bits at Tampa woodworking show this past spring. Good way to get started, try out different profiles etc. I was pleased w my first projects but my Ogee bit dulled quickly as I cut many profiles in red oak..........1/4 inch at a time.Shims helped greatly.
> 
> It seems to me that I should start buying quality carbide bits (Freud or Whiteside) as needed. Shop Notes recommends 10 basic bits.
> 
> Would you experieinced users recommmend this strategy?


Yes, a good strategy, A cheap set is okay when starting out, but if you become serious about your hobby just buy quality cutters as you need them.

Although I live in England I now buy my router cutters as I need them from woodworkersworld.net in the USA. And that's because they repeatedly give me an excellent service and provide top quality Whiteside cutters at a very fair price and what I consider to be cheap shipping; quick too.

The marked difference in finish that you will achieve between using a cheap cutter versus a more expensive quality cutter is well worth the extra cost in my experience. And they stay sharper much longer.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

richjh said:


> I think you have a good plan. I buy higher quality bits that I use most often, roundover bits as an example, from Freud and CMT. I'm sure there are other brands equally as good. I have a 66 bit set from MLCS that has a lot of profiles I will probably never use but it has a lot of profiles that I plan for occasional use.


There are a bunch of bits there that you can try at minimal cost where you might not buy them if you had to pay premium prices. I have purchased some Yonico architectural bits that are good quality that were about 1/3 to 1/4 the price of CMT and Freud that I will probably never use that often. I probably couldn't justify buying them if I had to pay premium price for them.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Try some bits from 'Precision Bits' The ones I bought worked very well. N


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Yonico and Precision are the same company. Great outfit to deal with.


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## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

I agree with Stick; I get mine as I need them. I also get my bits from Performance Tool here by me. Once in awhile, 
my daughter or husband will get me one from Sears as a little "token" gift. I have one Amana bit that I simply 
ADORE that I wish Freud would make. Some of my bits I get sharpened, as well; the Performance tool here has 
a guy who picks them up and you get them back in a week (I have at least two of my favs anyway, so...)


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

OutoftheWoodwork said:


> I have one Amana bit that I simply
> ADORE


which one???


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## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

Stick486 said:


> which one???


I wanna say they called it a "triple flute" Stick. It goes right down to a point and is amazing for fine line work on my signs. I'll take a picture of it next time I go to Bentley and let you see it.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

G'day Barb haven't heard Bentley mentioned for ages. Is the fitting out finished yet?


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

old55 said:


> G'day Barb haven't heard Bentley mentioned for ages. Is the fitting out finished yet?


Yeah Barb. Since I named him I kinda feel like he's my godson.


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## Willway (Aug 16, 2012)

I normally buy Whiteside for replacements bits, one at a time. I have some Yonico bits that are holding up very well, time will tell on them. 

Dick


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## [email protected] (Nov 25, 2014)

*Quality router bits, dull router bits*

:no:


floridagramps said:


> I am new to routing. I bought a Woodline master kit of 66 bits at Tampa woodworking show this past spring. Good way to get started, try out different profiles etc. I was pleased w my first projects but my Ogee bit dulled quickly as I cut many profiles in red oak..........1/4 inch at a time.Shims helped greatly.
> 
> It seems to me that I should start buying quality carbide bits (Freud or Whiteside) as needed. Shop Notes recommends 10 basic bits.
> 
> Would you experieinced users recommmend this strategy?


I bought a set of 1/2" shank router bits from Axminster Tool. The 1/4 bit sheared off, the bull nose one would not cut properly, burnt the wood and ramped out and the 6mm straight scorched the wood. So a set is not such a good idea if they perform like these.
I have since bought some Silverline bits from ToolStation at Wicks Tools. I tried the 6mm straight against the one from the set and it worked fine.
So I sharpened the Axminster bit on a diamond stone and discovered places where the surface of the carbide was not touched. Not ground very well.
So even so the Silverline bits being budget price they are far superiour to the ones in the set.
So perhaps it is better to buy cutters as needed, or buy a quality set from trend if you are going to be doing a lot of routing or using exotic hardwoods. Expensive but prehaps an investment.
As for the ten basic bits. It depends what you are going to be making. If making set of shelves then straight bits or rebating bits are good, but if you intend to do some fancy edging on furnature the the round overs and roman ogee bit will fit the bill.

totallyhornby


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## Phil P (Jul 25, 2010)

Totallyhornby said:


> So perhaps it is better to buy cutters as needed, or buy a quality set from trend if you are going to be doing a lot of routing or using exotic hardwoods. Expensive but prehaps an investment.
> As for the ten basic bits. It depends what you are going to be making. If making set of shelves then straight bits or rebating bits are good, but if you intend to do some fancy edging on furnature the the round overs and roman ogee bit will fit the bill.


Hi Martyn

I'd forget Silverline or any other cheap brand other than as a "try-out" for a given profile. In the UK the main quality brands are Titman (manufactured in the UK), Trend (mainly Israeli so far as I can see - much of the range is identical to Amana's range in the USA) and Freud (Italian/Chinese). At one time I might also have said CHT, but availability is patchy and the prices aren't that competitive on a lot of the stuff (plus I've snapped a few). There is a Whiteside importer in the UK (beware! horribly slow site!) as well, but I've tended to only buy more specialised cutters from them, such as their Euro trimmer bits. Unless the job actually calls for something extremely durable (such as solid carbide) I tend to go with Wealden Tool which don't cost much more than Axminster's own brand, but are much nearer to Trend in terms of quality and they do one or two cutters which nobody else does, such as these Grecian Ogees. For my needs a big selling point is that most orders are delivered next day, too, which actually makes them a tad more reliable than using the local Trend stockist in my experience. They are well up to the sort of use (trade) which I give them.

I think when it comes to what to buy, that everybody has different needs. As someone who tends to install more than make (in US terms that would make me a trim carpenter, I suppose) I use a lot of straight bits, rebate sets, template trim bits (top bearing), chamfer bits, round-overs/ovolos, etc so they would be _my_ first choice. If you are making anything then surely you would be starting with a drawing, or even a sketch, so it should be possible to work out what cutters are needed _before_ starting and order cutters as required in the same way that you'd make up a cutting list or a hardware schedule? You can see from that I'm no organic woodworker and I don't believe in grabbing a cutter just for the sake of embelishment, especially as I feel it can often detract from the underlying design (shades of Morris or Krenov, there? ) 

Regards

Phil


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