Router Bit Quality

[alex grams]

In regards to router bit quality, i didn't see any thoughts on this when i did a search.

Do you have a preference, does it change per type of bit? Excluding bottom bottom line cheap stuff, do you consider all equal? (in terms of construction?)

This mainly is in regards to a rail/stile set i am looking for. I see a Bosch that offers the shape/size i want, but many people laud Freud and Whiteside.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[Greg Cole]

hey Alex,
I have a set of Bosch rail n stile cutters that have been just fine. I haven't done 5 kitchens with them or anything like that, but they're good and I've used them for 3 or so years.
I've had bad luck with some CMT dovetail bits, but I seem to be one in a million with that one. Two of the CMT DT bits have chips in the carbide, IIRC both chipped the first time I used them.
Infinity, Eagle, CMT, Whiteside are all top notch from whatcha see,hear & read.
FWIW I have some Lee Valley house brands that have been darn good too.
For router bits I've found it's better to buy good ones as ya need them versus a kit of a bunch.

Cheers.
Greg

[Bond Turner]

I purchased a great deal on the Bosch Ogee R&S set off of Ebay. It sells for $135 in Lowes, but I got it delivered for $54. Works geat. Used it for about 15 cabinet doors. I would not recommend it for freehand router work, but in a table it worked great. Clean accurate cuts and the blade showed no signs fo dulling. Hope this helps.

[glenn bradley]

My 1st choice is always Whiteside with Freud as a close second although I have had good luck with Amana as well. Those three (and probably others) come with enough carbide on them to get a few sharpening out of with the Whitsides holding their edge longer.

All the rest fall into the "also ran" category for me. As far as the really cheap ones go, the $5 Woodcraft sales are a good way to stock up on flush, chamfer, roundover, etc. stuff that you can either sharpen or not when they're dull.

[Michael Boyle]

I have had really great luck with CMT and Freud. They are usually more expensive than the house brands that I have purchased, but they also seem to hold up better. I have read good things about Whiteside as well, but I do not have any personal experience with them.

[pat warner]

Router Bit Quality.

[Peter Quinn]

I've used Amana, whiteside, freud for R&S sets. Freud I find to be the least flexible and the lowest quality bearings. Amana and whiteside are equal for me. The amana set gets the most use, stacks like a mini shaper, I can change door thickness, panel thickness etc. no problem with the multi piece shimable groove cutters. Their InStile set looks good too.

I like the Freud 2X2 cutters for panels and profiles, always had excellent results from those.

I have Infinity shaper cutters that are great quality and a good value, if their router bits are as good I would recommend those.

For small bits I've used about every major brand and never noticed much difference from one to the other. Ditto the woodcraft green bits...for $5 a good deal on a good bit.

[Joe Castellano]

I have always been happy with the Freud, Bosch and Rockler bits.

[Jim Becker]

For panel raisers, I prefer the Freud 2+2 design...which they have translated to a few other smaller profiles recently. For general router cutting, I typically by from Infinity or Eagle American now. Years ago it was Jessada when the original owners had a quality business. I could be happy with any quality cutter, however, including Whiteside, CMT, Amanna, etc., in addition to those I have been buying from.

I do on occasion pick up a cheap house-brand cutter for either a specific reason or just to have an interesting profile available. I will not buy large sets (outside of the complete Leigh jig set I have), but have bought matched sets of 2-4 of a particular profile (different sizes) from time to time.

[Wayne Cannon]

It's been quite a while (five years?) since I've seen a good router bit test/review; however, in the one I remember last, there were very significant differences. Tests primarily looked at cut quality (e.g., chip-out, fuzz, etc.) of rabbets in melamine, oak veneer, MDF, etc. for new bits, and how long they could cut before beginning to show problems in cut quality. At that time, Whiteside was significantly better than their nearest competitor. To the best of my recollection, Jesada and CMT led the rest of the pack of major brands, but only slightly. "Dime store" bits had poor cut quality from the start.

I've been very happy with Jesada bits, but rarely see them advertised anywhere today.

The bottom line: You pretty much got what you paid for.

[Jim Becker]

I've been very happy with Jesada bits, but rarely see them advertised anywhere today.

The founders sold the company/name years ago. When you do see them advertised now, it's not the same product as those you and I own from way back when.

[Johnny Fischer]

Peter,
Infinity does sell top notch quality router bits, not the cheapest in the world but you get what you pay for.. A couple of yrs ago I bought a couple just to see how they performed and was quite amazed.
They use 2.5mm micro carbide on all of their bits. They cut very smoothly and clean.
Just about every bit and cutter I own is from this company and have NO complaints.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

I don't have as much experience as some of my fellow Creekers, but here goes...

At first, I bought Ryobi because they were inexpensive. Then I learned inexpensive didn't last very long. So I started buying Porter-Cable. They're not terrible, but I think they're overpriced for the quality you get.

After reading a couple SMC threads about router bit quality, I gave Infinity, and Freud a try. I find both brands to be excellent. Infinity has some great deals on "overstock items," but I tend to lean towards Freud because I have an Amazon addiction and can get the Freud bits cheap and fast. LOL. I have Amazon Prime, so I only buy directly from Amazon.

I've also tried MLCS and Lee Valley bits.

My preferences based on my experience is:

1) Freud
2) Infinity
3) Lee Valley
4) MLCS
5) Porter-Cable
6) Ryobi

Paul

[scott spencer]

I like Whiteside, Infinity, and Freud for my premium bits. Price Cutter is Eagle America's top import line...their black bits are a step ahead of most of the cheaper imports, and I think their name understates the quality. My CMT bits are pretty good too but are as expensive as the Whitesides and not quite as good IMO so I don't find much reason to pick them over the other 3 premium bits I've tried. For decent value grade imports I like Holbren, Woodcraft, and MLCS in roughly that order.

Here's how Finewoodworking rated them last year:

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Ah! Whiteside is the other brand I want to try. Thanks Scott for the comparison table.

Paul