Router bit experts please weigh in!

[Charlie Watson]

I'm going to be getting my son a router for his birthday and want to include an expanded set of bits to go along with it. What bit's would you consider to be "must haves" in the set I put together for him? Looking to get as complete a set as possible. Thanks all for your opinions!

[Mike Leung]

It sounds like a great gift. I bought a 15pc starter set from infinity but only use a few bits like the flush trim, round over, and rabbet bits. I bought specific bits along the way when my project called for it. I like to buy 1/2" shank bits whenever they are available. My most used bits are the flush trim, pattern trim, lock miter, and dovetail bits for my jig. I have an idea. What if you buy a few basic bits and a gift card for additional bits when he knows what he will need for his projects.

[Victor Robinson]

Are you looking to buy something that already comes as a set or piece the set together yourself?

My most used bits are:
Straight spirals, plywood-sized straight, a high-quality flushtrim and pattern, 45 deg chamfer, 1/8 roundover, and bottom-cleaning mortise bit

[Charlie Watson]

I'll buy as many in a set as I can and fill in with individual bits where necessary. He'll end up building himself a cabinet to store them in.

[Stephen Cherry]

1/4 spiral upcut, and 3/8, 1/2 if the budget allows. A pin router arm (veritas, daisy, etc) allows these to pattern rout.

[glenn bradley]

Great gift idea but, bit sets are rarely fully utilized. The craftsman may or may not do the kind of work you think he will and why buy bits just to have them sit there and look nice. There are the usual suspects when it comes to a basic bit set that most articles or experts recommend. I would start there and see where his adventures take him.

Of course you will go with a 1/2" shank plunge or combo router. That being said, this might be a "gotta have" set for many tasks:



1/4" straight
1/2" straight
3/8" cove
Rabbeting
3/8" Round Over
Chamfer
Flush Trim

[Steve Wurster]

Of course you will go with a 1/2" shank plunge or combo router. That being said, this might be a "gotta have" set for many tasks:



1/4" straight
1/2" straight
3/8" cove
Rabbeting
3/8" Round Over
Chamfer
Flush Trim



And Whiteside sells just a set: item number 401

[Charlie Watson]

Whiteside, Freud or ???, who's the best?

[Michael Moscicki]

Whiteside, Freud or ???, who's the best?

254341

Whiteside is the best value and overall, but people still like their Freud's.

Here's the link to the full article from Fine Woodworking:

http://www.whitesiderouterbits.com/ToolTestRouterBits.pdf

[Charlie Watson]

thanks for the article, I forgot about that one.

[glenn bradley]

And Whiteside sells just a set: item number 401


Whiteside, Freud or ???, who's the best?

Whiteside is my favorite with Freud right behind. On some bits I prefer Freud for some of their trick geometry (their 5/16" spiral comes to mind). As Michael M. stated, Freuds often test no better than some other names but. in practice, they really sing for me. After that CMT, Rockler, Woodcraft, etc. all wear about the same for me and I only buy them on clearance and then just toss them. The real cheapies I don't even bother with anymore. The fouled profiles make me forget all about the money I "saved". The Eagle America bits made by Whiteside test the same as Whiteside (no surprise there) but sometimes cost more(?). Holbren gives creekers a 10% discount, sells Whiteside, has fast inexpensive shipping and Brian is a class act.

[Jim Neeley]

Charlie,

+1 on Whiteside, when it comes to workhorse bits. Any bit can be burned due to misuse, however, so if he isn't router-savy I'd recommend getting him a few cheap bits to burn up learning how going to slow or going too fast can be bad.

Depending on how much you want to invest and how close you live to plentiful WW suppliers, there are other choices.

If you don't have a ready local supply or if he wants to always be prepared, one option is to pick him up a fair but not top quality (no flame war attempt here) larger set (30-60) of bits. Many he will never use however when he needs one he'll have it available and he can replace them with Whitesides as he wears the cheap ones out. By far I'm talking something like the 30-pc ($99) or 66-pc ($189) sets from mlcswoodworking. I'm not pushing that brand but it's something easy to look up.

I picked up a 30-pc set about 3 years ago and so far have only used a half-dozen of the unusual bits however it let me start on what I wanted to do right away rather than ordering it.

Jim

[Chris Fournier]

For a starter kit I would give him a gift certificate. Those combo kits are pure dreck. Encourage your son to buy the bits that he needs as he needs them. If he does so he will have a collection of bits that he actually uses not just a collection of bits.

[Tom Walz]

Whiteside has a seven pc and a 10 pc set of essential router bits.

Carbide Processors sells both. We have a 10% discount for Creekers as well as a price match guarantee.

www.carbideprocessors.com
800 346-8274
8 - 3:30 Pacific time

[Matt Meiser]

Two schools of thought--buy that small Whiteside essentials set which will be a great start and meet a lot of his needs and can be built-upon over time. Or buy one of the big sets from MLCS and over time he can replace the ones he uses a lot with better bits over time. I went the latter route (33 piece set) but both have good merit.