# Best roundover bit set?



## ChadPMIK (Jun 28, 2013)

I have a project that needs a 1/2" round over bit. After making do on one board by making a deep cut with my 3/8" bit and then sanding the rest of the way I decided that it might be time to just get some new bits. I'm a big fan of a great value, so I know it's better to buy bits in a set. I couldn't care less about things like a Roman Ogee so I really just want to focus on the bits I would use, primarily roundovers and straight bits. I've looked at the following sets so far:

1. MLCS Katana roundover set - 1/4 3/8 1/2 - $64

2. MLCS roundover set - 1/8 1/4 3/8 1/2 - $30

3. Freud roundover set - 1/4 3/8 1/2 - $75

4. Skil - 1/4 3/8 1/2 - $25

5. Whiteside (includes a 3/4", I think I just made up my mind) - $95

I've got a couple of Skil tools and they've always performed well for me but obviously their bits aren't going to be in the same class as the rest but they're awfully tempting for that price, and still quite a bit spendier than the uber budget sets (Yonico or "HomePro" anyone?) on Amazon. It looks like sets with the 3/4" bit are pretty rare, so I call on my new friends at the Router Forums - anyone seen a sale lately, or know of a good bit set with a 3/4" roundover that I haven't found yet? I'm much more interested in the larger radii, I have a tiny roundover for my dremel tool already.


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## neville9999 (Jul 22, 2010)

Buy good bits Chad and you won't be sorry, people say that that could get a full set for that price, however they will also get many bits that they will never use so buy the ones you will use and buy good quality cutters, don't ask more of the cutter than it can do and you will not be sorry. NGM


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## IC31 (Nov 16, 2012)

I have all ranges of bits and often the purchase is based on cost. The round overs (Whiteside and MLCS/Katana) are pretty good ones but the bull nose are Yonico (which have turned out to also be pretty good). What I TRY to base my decision on is how often will they be used. If it's only a very occasional use, then the lower end will probably suffice. If it's something like a round over bit, used often, then I get the best I can afford


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Chad, the most commonly used round over bit is the 1/4" followed by the 3/8". If you are cutting a corner radius you might want an even larger round over bit like 1-1/4". It really depends on the projects you will be working on.


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## richjh (Jan 14, 2013)

I have a set of Freud that I have used for many projects. They are high quality but more expensive. I recently purchased the large router but set from MLCS and used the round overs from that set as test. The quality of cut was equal to the Freud bits but they may not last as long. We will see.
My tool philosophy is spend the money on the tools/bits I use the most and purchase less expensive ones for the infrequent use ones.


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

I bought this set from Grizzly when i was "bit-less" Grizzly.com and it has performed quite well considering how much i've used the 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8 bits. I don't recall having used the 1/2" yet. Now that i know how much use those bits get in my work, i may upgrade the quality when it's time to replace. 

Whenever i did that i had a few small parts to order from Grizzly for my jointer so i was already paying for the basic shipping, and some sort of discount code on the entire order so there was minimal additional shipping cost to do that at the time. At least that's the excuse i used!!

earl


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## ChadPMIK (Jun 28, 2013)

Thanks for taking the time to answer everyone.

@Earl - I did see the Grizzly set, I'm more interested in larger cuts though and it comes with a 1/8" that I'm not very interested in. You can get that with a quick pass of the 50 grit 



Mike said:


> Chad, the most commonly used round over bit is the 1/4" followed by the 3/8".


I quickly realized yesterday why the 3/8" is important, 3/8*2=3/4, a pretty common size of stock. Still learning the terminology, I used the ancient but still pretty new 3/8" bit I already have to put a roundover on both sides of some boards for a spice rack to get a half circle on the face side, I'm going for "soft modern contemporary" design  Why 1/4" though?

The wife is on board with getting the quality ones, she's seen me regret going the budget route before. I see the basic MLCS bits recommended here a lot, the question is how much longer will a quality bit last than their regular ones? I turn out maybe one project or two a month. The other question I had was if anyone has seen any other roundover sets with a 3/4" bit in it, I really like the idea of putting big round edges on some 2x4's


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## ChadPMIK (Jun 28, 2013)

Nevermind guys, I just ordered the Whiteside bits after re-reading a post about cutters flying off and cutting people's ears


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## greenacres2 (Dec 23, 2011)

Good call Chad!! I've got a few Whiteside bits and they are nice. My projects tend to be pretty simple so the straight and roundover bits are what gets used.

I'm "hip" to the sanding thing. Router table has better dust collection so if i'm doing more than a little bit i do use the 1/8" for that. For a few small picture frames, 100 grit on a sanding block is faster than changing a bit in the table (since i don't have a MuscleChuck--yet!!)

earl


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## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

greenacres2 said:


> Good call Chad!! I've got a few Whiteside bits and they are nice. My projects tend to be pretty simple so the straight and roundover bits are what gets used.
> 
> I'm "hip" to the sanding thing. Router table has better dust collection so if i'm doing more than a little bit i do use the 1/8" for that. For a few small picture frames, 100 grit on a sanding block is faster than changing a bit in the table (since i don't have a MuscleChuck--yet!!)
> 
> earl


I keep an 1/8" round over in my trimmer most of the time. The trim router cost me less than a musclechuck!


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## ChadPMIK (Jun 28, 2013)

Just checked out your profile Earl, sounds like we have a bit in common - I love a good steal on Craigslist. Here in Bozeman there are a lot of artsy crafty types so you see a lot of serious tools listed - I saw a bandsaw that must have been 10' high the other day. A little big for my shop though. I'd like to add a lathe someday but no room for it right now. Funny you mentioned the casters, the router table I just won at an auction has casters on it, when I got it home I took the router table off of the actual table it was sitting on, wheeled it out to the driveway and used it for sanding. It was immediately obvious, I need to put some casters on my main work bench 

Musclechuck, boy do they charge a lot for the privilege of not picking up a wrench!


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## whimsofchaz (Jun 6, 2013)

I saw a few bits and bit sets with Lee Valley. leevalley.com there is a range of pricing but that's up to you. Sometimes you get what you pay for.


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