What makes a router bit a “quality” bit?
Streamline
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
I am building up my arsenal of router bits, but perplexed by the price range of seemingly similar bits. What makes a router bit a “quality” bit over another? Is there a particular brand that sell trusted quality bits, or are the coated with certain materials that make them last longer?
Replies
The quality and thickness of the carbide, consistency of quality control, are two factors. The bits that seem to rise to the top are CMT, Freud, Whiteside. Amana might be in there also. CMT (and at one time Jesada) have/had coatings. I don't know if they really make much difference. If you keep your bits clean, IMHO, you don't need coating, but perhaps it helps with woods such as pine or cherry.
I've gotten comfortable wiht the Freud bits, they often aren't quite as expensive as CMT but are very good quality.
Forestgirl, New here what is, C M T?, and M C L S?. I asked once before if folks here could spell things out for us new people that arn't up on all the initials. Thanks garyowen
Those are brand names, so if you search (say, Google) "router bits CMT" you will find that brand. In this particular case, no need to know what it stands for, as that's the brand-name people use. Same with MCLS.
I agree about spelling things out, at least when first used in a post, for instance "I use boiled linseed oil (BLO) in my favorite finish concoction."
Hi forestgirl, Thank you for the reply, I didn't know that. On the BLO, it took a wile but I got that one as well as many others. Again thank you for your reply. garyowen
Other than choosing a quality brand like Forestgirl mentioned, it's impossible to actually see the quality of the micro grain carbide itself without an electron microscope. There was an issue of Fine Woodworking a few years back (don't recall which issue) that had micrographs of the carbide from several brands. It was pretty clear that the higher priced brands had much tighter carbide grain.
Also as FG mentioned, you can see the amount of carbide used for the cutter, a quality cutter has more carbide. Of course, more carbide mostly helps only for resharpening, and sharpening is more likely on a saw blade than a router cutter.
Ditto both FG and Jointerman. The teflon coating does help keep resin and pitch off the body of the bits but you still need to keep the carbide clean. The thicker the carbide the easier to touch up with a diamond stone.
Did some tests a few years ago with CMT and a cheap Chinese one, the difference was cheese and chalk. The CMT gave a much superior cut and stayed sharper much longer.
I use the CMT bits, sawblades and spindle moulder cutter headand blades exclusively and never been disappointed.
wot
Stream,
The answers you have gotten so far on how what constitutes a good router bit are quite typical. You can read dozens or hundreds of articles on this question. I have listened to three talks about it, the most recent by a representative of Freud.
When you hear about the differences in the types of carbide and how they are honed and how they are attached and and and and and and.........,, your eyes glaze over. It sounds good, but you have no way of knowing how good the carbide is on any router bit. What are you going to do, buy an electron microscope and look at its molecular structure.
There is a much more practical approach to buying router bits -- GO SLOWLY. DO NOT BUILD UP AN ARSENAL OF BITS as you described. Only buy the ones you need for your present job.
If you read up on the tests of router bits that FWW has done, you will see that they start to lose their ability to cut without chipping very quickly. But some bits are only used for a few inches of work. You can buy cheap ones of these.
My suggestion is to buy cheagply. There are LOTS of places on the web which have great selections of bits. Go to Google, and type in "Router Bits", and you will find 969,000 hits. Try places like MLCS and Eagle. There are lots of others like them. Their bits are just fine. Rockler and Woodcraft have their own store brands that are inexpensive.
IF you find out that these bargain bits don't stand up to your heavy use, then try something like Whiteside. They do well in the competitions, but then again, so do some of the bargain brands. It is a hit or miss thing. Reviews of router bits only test one bit profile from different manufacturers. That doesn't mean that all of the bits by the "winning" manufacturer are better than everyone elses.
You can spend a small fortune on router bits. Don't! Just get what you need. Take a practical approach of starting off inexpensive and seeing if that works for you.
Have fun. Don't get caught up in issues like "router bit quality" as a duscussion topic. It is too easy to get lost in the words. STAY PRACTICAL.
The differences in the answers to your question point out the big problem of Knots. When you get differing answers, which one do you choose to believe? How can you tell who is giving you "good" information? How can you tell who is giving you "Useful" information? THose are two different questions.
Mel
Some figures of merit:
http://patwarner.com/routerbits.html
Routerman v. Mel....Wow, if that isn't a study in contrast, what is? LOL. Thanks, Pat, that's a good read!
I bought a few bits for my dining room wainscoting project. Freud bits come in fancy packaging and cost more. MCLS come in plastic envelopes. Bosch packaging was somewhere in the middle.
They all cut the wood cleanly. I think we're paying a lot for the name and packaging.
In the end what drove my decision was which company had the bit style I wanted for a particular piece of the project. Freud didn't have a bullnose chair rail bit, MCLS had a great one. Freud had a great set for raised cove panels, so I bought that one.
I side with Mel, buy only what you NEED. Stocking up will just cost money you will probably need to reequip for the next project.
My 2 cents.
Some of the less expensive bits come with a very small ball bearing on them which can be a problem or blessing. In one case the small bearing with very little surface area on the outter ring can cause the bit to leave a signifacint mark on the tracking surface on the other hand the small bearing lets you get in smaller corners. For general purpose bits I choose MLCS and for heavy duty use I choose Katana which is a better grade found in the MLCS catalog. Over the last 15 years I found no difference in cutting quality with these bits over Whiteside or Frued The MLCS usually has a smaller bearing than the Katana for the same profile cutter. Just my two cents worth.
I prefer to buy 1/2"shank
I prefer to buy 1/2"shank router bits whenever possible. 1/4" shanks often slip in the collet and I've broken quite a few. Here is a pic of three different bits. The vertical panel raiser is Whiteside, you can see how much more carbide is on this bit compared to the Rockler in blue. The other is a Forest City, probably 30 + years old, sharpened many times, to the point there is less than 1/32" of carbide left, it was as thick as the Whiteside, maybe thicker. Happens to be perfect for some 3/4" plywood that isn't, now.
Sharpenings will slightly change the size of a bit each time. Only the face of the cutter is sharpened, not the edge, the change is insignificant on most bits and only effect others after several sharpenings. Carbide bits can last a long time before needing attention. Your better sharpening shops do router bits.
There isn't any noticable difference in the cutting ability or quality of these three bits. You have to buy the inexpensive entry level bits, like Vermont American or Craftsman makes to get a lower quality bit. I'm not calling names, both companies may carry higher quality bits too. Many bits with different names are actually made by the same company. I know this from an insider. Mid price bits like Rockler, CarbTech, Woodcfraft, etc. are all fine, they just won't stand up to as many sharpenings as a pro level bit like the Forest City. That's not an important issue if you aren't in the business.
Bits are correctly sharpened with a diamond cup wheel on a specialized machine. It slightly hollow grinds the edge. You can't duplicate this with a diamond file. Personally, I don't think a diamond file does much to sharpen, at least when I've done it. Bearings don't necessarily have anything to do with bit quality. They are sized according to the profile of the bit and can sometimes be exchanged with other sizes as needed.
The real difference in carbide is in the sharpening life. A lesser quality carbide would not still be useable or safe on that Forest City bit. Coatings may make a small difference under production situations. If you are running resinous species, the bit will get gunk on it, coating or not. Coatings can help the bit run cooler, again, only important in production.
I'm on a few mailing lists, Rockler for one and there is a store locally. They often have 2 for 1 sales, coupons and other sales on their brand. For your average bit, I have no complaints with them. The premium bit companies offer more specialized bits as well as many more profile choices. For large molding bits, panel raisers and such, the top quality bits are the way to go. I would save your money on the smaller, common profiles.
I buy Whiteside, they've always done well for me and have the added advantage (to me) of being a more or less local industry, so I support the area economy at the same time.
That said, the thickness of the carbide used is a good indicator.
Thank you everyone. The information is very practical and educational. Go slow! Highest price may not be best for my applications!
What ever you buy, keep them clean. Popular Woodworking Vol 125, Dec 2001 "Why you should freeze your tools" discussed the pros and cons of super cooling carbide cutters. As a sidebar to the article was a comment by a lady who represented on of the major bit manufacturers. She stated that tungsten carbide will with stand a lot, but is extremely vulnerable to, of all things, wood resins or pitch.
If this is true, look at where the resin builds up on the bit - right along the cutting edge. Of course the additional heat generated by this resin will shorten the life as well.
I'll try and find this article to see who made the comment.
Don
Old post but I would say it will be very hard to beat Whiteside bits.
Marc Adams gave a workshop at our local Woodworkers Guild.
He said to look for the thickness of the carbide and how much of the face the carbide covers. He said for those of use who have home shops, the type of carbide didn't make a lot of difference.
I agree with buying bits as you need them. You will have learned which ones are good and not as you go.
Domer
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