questions about rail and stile router bits

[Harold Lynch]

I've been looking at rail and stile bits, and would like some input.

They seem to come in three types, stacked, reversable, and matched pairs. Which are the easiest to work with and set up?

I've looked mainly at the mlcs katana, whiteside, infinity, freud and cmt. The price difference between the top and bottom of those is not as great as I thought it would be, about 30$ I think. Any opionions on these.?Are there other brands that are better?

Any information about experiences with these kind of bits would be appreciated.

Thanks

[John Dingman]

I have a three piece Door and panel Set from Freud and they work great. I got them at a WWing show in Chicago about two years ago. I am very satisfied with them.John

[Jim Becker]

Matched pairs is my choice and if you create setup blocks once you get your first joint dialed in, you'll be able to change cutters very quickly with a minimum of test cuts. I currently have Eagle America for the main set I use (USA-made) and also have a set of Freud in another profile that came with the Freud panel raiser I use. (I prefer the Freud 2+2 design on panel cutters due to the reversed sheer angles that give really clean cuts)

[Corey Hallagan]

I used a Eagle America Reversible set with good results. I will upgrade to a matched set when I upgrade my router table, but the EA worked nicely. I buy all my router bits from EA.

Corey

[John Keane]

I purchased a set of MLCS Katana bits to make doors. Best buy, pricewise and results wise. I bought a MLCS stacked bevel bit for making panels. Same results. If MLCS had a Katana bevel set I would have bought it. The raised panel bit in the set gives options. The learning curve is quick. MLCS provides great instructions as does Oldham.com

[Frank Carpenter]

Matched pair definitely is easier. Can't tell you about any of them except CMT. CMT makes a quality set. I have made lots of doors and the cuts are as smooth as when they were new. I always buy from Sommerfeld.

[Tom Hintz]

I also like the matched sets and find them far easier to set up and use. I have sets from Infinity and an old Jesada, both work well.
I also have a story about setting them up at the link below that might be of some help.

http://www.newwoodworker.com/ralstilbitset.html

[Dan Forman]

I can't answer your question, but I see this is your first post, so here's a big welcome to the Creek, a great place to learn, and you won't find a friendlier bunch of folks anywhere on the web, though we occasionally guilty of using run on sentences. ;)

Dan

[Alan Turner]

Welcome to SMC, Harold.

[Harold Lynch]

Thank you for the welcomes and for the information. This does seem to be a very friendly place.

[Eddie Valenzuela]

I have used a Whiteside set that has a match pair for stiles and rails and a panel raising bit. They have worked great. I have 2 PC 1 1/2 hp routers on one table for the matched bits and I have a 3 1/2 hp router on a seperate table for my panel bit and other router table operations. The stile and rail bits never move or get adjusted.