Choosing the Right Router Bits: Cost Effective Quality Bits
The router is a mighty tool. You can cut profiles, grooves, dados, and mortises. You can use it to flatten large pieces with the aid of a sled. You can use them to inlay and other fine work. There are tons of attachments, jigs, accessories, and tables which will open up a world of ability and opportunity for your wood work.
Routers are great, when you have the right bits that is. If you want a bit recommendation, go to Bits & Bits.com for all your router bit needs. I am not sponsored to say this but I believe in bits and bits. I’ve bought a few bits through them and they are great. They have good quality bits, a friendly website, and fast shipping, what more could you want? Now on to the story.
Recently, I was working on a project where I had to cut a 1/2 groove in some white oak. It was a deep at 1 1/2 inches so I grabbed the longest bit I had. It was a straight bit with a pattern bearing (which means the bearing is at the top near the router instead of the bottom of the bit which would make it a flush trim bit.)
The big was brand new and I knew it's quality was mediocre but I figured it would get the job done. Boy was I wrong. Before I go into the problems with the bit, let me first wholeheartedly recommend you do not buy any of those yellow, cheap bits off of Amazon. They come in a few different brands, I couldn't find the brand I bought but there are other similar ones out there under the names Kowood and ToolDo. They have these too-good-to-be-true prices on their 35 bit sets for around $60. At that price it's hard to justify paying 60 bucks for one Whiteside bit.
Or is it? Foreshadowing
Cheap bits suck. They don’t cut well, and if they do, they won’t cut well for long. I made four 1/8 inch passes with one bit and had the most frustrating router experiences of my life. First, the bit slipped out of the collet. That could have been my fault for not cleaning the collet before I started, so I cleaned it and reset. Then the bearing fell off. The set screw came loose mid cut and rocketed across the shop. So I removed the bit again to remove the collar and bearing and reset for a third time.
By then I had made a few passes but the bit was getting dull and began chattering. I don’t know if it just built up heat and dulled it but 3.5 passes and light passes I might add shouldn’t have killed a bit. So I stop mid cut to take an even shallower pass when the bit slipped a second time.
Complete trash.
In my frustration I was rummaging through my bits which currently like under my router table where they get covered in sawdust. One day I'll change that. Luckily, I stumbled upon a bit I forgot I had. I can’t remember where I got it, but it is a CNC endmill upcut spiral bit. Solid carbide. I used it to cut mortises a couple of years ago and I haven’t used it since. It has a 1/2 inch shank and all of my other bits are 1/4 so I usually just go for 1/4 which makes it easier since my trim router can only take a 1/4.
The difference a bit makes. The top with those scallop marks were from the yellow bit. As you can see it started out okay but by the third pass the bit started giving me problems. The bottom groove was cut using the carbide spiral bit. See how smooth that bottom groove is? This is partially due to the sheering cut you get with a spiral bit leaving a cleaner cut as the bit slices through the wood fibers, but also, it is just a better bit.
Routers, I recommend getting at least 2. A larger router with a plunge base for big jobs, mortises, stopped dados, and more and a small trim router for doing edge details. The small router is easier to maneuver making it safer for small jobs.
I dusted off my 1/2 collet, put it on my Bosch 1617 and inserted the bit. What a dream. This thing cut like butter. I could take at least a 1/4 cut with ease. It blasted through everything I threw at it cleanly and smoothly. The result in the above picture speak for itself.
Lesson learned, don’t waste time on cheap bits. Buy quality and it’ll save you time and energy.
And please, don’t fall into the trap of buying that cheap set to upgrade the bits you use. The idea is rooted in good intentions, but it won’t save you any money. Here’s why.
First, you are in the market for a router bit to complete a task on a project, say a 1/4 round over for the edges of a table. So you buy the set of bits which includes that 1/4 round over thinking it’s a good deal and you’ll try out the other bits later.
You use said round over bit and after the one project it is dull. Sure you could probably sharpen it but for the price, you might as well upgrade and spend 30 bucks on a new bit that will last 10x longer (more like 100x).
Then the next project comes along and requires the use of a chamfer bit and a straight bit and the same pattern happens. Over time you have used and upgraded 4 or 5 bits leaving the remaining 30 sitting shiny and new in the box. But now you have experience with good and bad bits and know the good bits don’t leave burn marks as easily, they won’t chatter as much, and they cut faster and smoother. You no longer want to use any of those 30 bad bits so you leave them in the box in a drawer never to be used because you know to just go and buy the expensive bit when you need it to save yourself the frustration of using one of those cheap bits.
Now consider the cost of those bits. Roughly $2 each, cheap right? Wrong. When they last one project that’s $2 in bits per project. Or in my case 1/8 of a project requiring 8 cheap bits or $16 in bits. Considering a new spiral bit like I have is only $30 and I have already used it on two projects tells me it’s already been cheaper than those yellow bits. Plus it has no sign of dulling. I bet I could use it on 30 projects before I consider sharpening it and if that is the case then my cost per project is $1. Cheaper than the original $2 bit in the first place.
So please, for your own sake, buy quality bits.