Whiteside Bowl and Tray Router Bit Review

[Brian Kent]

First of all, many thanks to Tom Waltz, who sent me 2 Whiteside router bits to test:

1376B Bowl and Tray Bit (reviewing now)

1411 Round Nose Core Box (trying and reviewing later)

First of all, I am very grateful for Tom's kindness. I started using Whiteside bits after the 2007 Fine Woodworking comparison. The Fine Woodworking test named Whiteside Best Overall and Best Value. I buy them whenever I have a choice. As a hobbyist, I have not worn any out or seen any degradation in performance in any of my Whiteside bits.

The 1376B Bowl and Tray Bit looks and feels substantial. It has a bearing the same width as the bit - 1-1/4". Shank is 1/2". Radius on the edge is 1/4" so it has a flat cutting spot of 3/4".

The only challenge I experienced was that the bearing starts about 5/8" from the cutting end. My template was made from 1/4" ply so I started with a plunge cut near the middle of the piece. The router was mounted on a 16" x 6" piece of ply so it could ride the edges of the highchair tray template.

[Brian Kent]

I began with a deep cut because the bearing was so high. I was very happy with the lack of tear-out. This is Beech wood, which has given a lot of tear-out with sharp lathe tools.

I did a couple more passes with a very slight increase of depth. I was very satisfied with the smooth finish. I started sanding at 150 with a ROS.

I'll round off the outer edges after re-sawing about a half inch off the back.

[Tom Walz]

Thank you for the review and the kind remarks.

This kind of a clear, straightforward, real user review is exactly what we hoped for.

I look forward to the next one.

Sincerely,
Tom Walz

[Tom M King]

I've only been buying Whiteside since I first found out about them-maybe in the late '70s, but don't exactly remember. They've made custom bits for me for various purposes, and mating pieces always fit perfectly. They also have a very quick turnaround on sharpening. I typically get one pass to finish with profiling bits, and the finish is remarkable.

Check out the Windows page on my website for a custom sash job, where a lot of the work was done by Whiteside custom bits: www.historichousepreservation.com (http://www.historichousepreservation.com)

[Brian Kent]

That's great to know, Tom. Beautiful work on the sash. I take it from what you said that Whiteside bits are made in the United States.

By the way, how did you make those clean mortises?

[Tom M King]

Thanks. Which ones? There are a bunch of different sizes of mortises. Probably with the finest grade of Iwasaki wood file, or float. Whiteside bits are made in N.C. Two day turnaround for sharpening for me.

[Brian Kent]

On http://www.historichousepreservation.com/
Windows tab.
Second picture from the top.

[Tom M King]

Oh, you meant the basement windows. Those were just done with full sized handsaws and probably touched up with a shoulder plane. Shoulders were probably cut on 12" Craftsman RAS. We had one jamb head, and one side jamb left of the originals to be able to copy. Those are exact copies including joinery. That house had four of those basement windows. That's been long enough ago, that I don't remember the exact details of how I did it. The wood is Redwood. We couldn't find any reclaimed Heart Pine that didn't have a bunch of splits in it for pieces that size. Window bars were White Oak. Those mortises were just cut with a regular mortising machine.

Scroll down that page to see the other project. There was a lot more work in the regular window sash, and that's the project that I had custom router bits made for.

[Phil Barrett]

Thanks for the review Brian. Router bowls are a lot of fun and make great gifts. I've made at least 10 router bowls and trays. Originally, I wanted to get the Whiteside bit but the Freud one was available locally for the same price so I went with that. It has performed really well, even in Jatoba.

I used a forstner drill bit to hog out most of the waste first. That makes it a lot easier on the router bit since you don't have to start with a deep cut first. You might want to try that on your next bowl/tray.

[Brian Kent]

So what is the cost range for sharpening and for making custom bits?

[glenn bradley]

I have also used the bowl bit with good success as is true of all my Whiteside bits. I use 1/2" MDF for templates when using the bowl bit for the reasons stated.

Like others, I buy Whiteside whenever possible. The quality is top notch and the sharpening is inexpensive making these an American made product that is a no-brainer quality-wise and price-wise.


So what is the cost range for sharpening and for making custom bits?

The cost varies with the profile complexity. I believe I paid $4-$5 for straight bits abd about $8 for a molding profile sharpening. A real human answers the phone who know what they are talking about. Very personable folks. I would not hesitate to call with the most minorof questions.

[Tom M King]

So what is the cost range for sharpening and for making custom bits?

Custom bits vary a lot depending on several factors. Typically, around 250. There is one guy there, Todd, who you talk to about what you want. A sample molding, or simple drawing is all you need. Sharpening is less than 10 bucks including shipping back. I don't remember exactly. When we did the floor milling job, we kept bits in the mail back and forth. I'd put a 10 dollar bill in the envelope going that way, and the sharp bit came back with change in the package.

[Marty Gulseth]

I am going to shamelessly hi-jack this very informative thread.

Have any of you made deeper bowls using these handy bits? Offhand, I'm thinking to cut multiple layers, take care in aligning the layers, glue them up, then sand. I want to try this sometime - words of wisdom, please?

Regards, Marty

[Brian Kent]

Great. Thank you.

[Brian Kent]

I am going to shamelessly hi-jack this very informative thread.

Have any of you made deeper bowls using these handy bits? Offhand, I'm thinking to cut multiple layers, take care in aligning the layers, glue them up, then sand. I want to try this sometime - words of wisdom, please?

Regards, Marty

Sounds fun, Marty. How many layers / how deep do you have in mind?

[Phil Barrett]

I am going to shamelessly hi-jack this very informative thread.

Have any of you made deeper bowls using these handy bits? Offhand, I'm thinking to cut multiple layers, take care in aligning the layers, glue them up, then sand. I want to try this sometime - words of wisdom, please?

Regards, Marty

I have only made from solid blanks and my deepest is about 2.5". I really don't like wasting a significant portion of wood when starting with a solid blank so gluing up a blank like that appeals to me. The trick is going to be getting the 4 sides to glue up perfectly with the bottom and each other so the seams are mostly invisible. I know turners do this regularly so it should be possible.

An advantage to this is you could create some interesting designs using different species.