Anyone use Yonico bits?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Are they garbage?

They are reasonable enough.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

My answer to your question is an emphatic yes.

I needed a bit in a hurry so I tried a 1/8" slot cutter on pine. It lasted less than 30' before the 1/4" shank bent. Lesson learned, I ordered a Whiteside.

[Jason Evans]

I used a Yonico 60 degree vbit to make 2600 or so little pyramids around a quarter inch deep into baltic birch when making a vacuum plenum for my cnc router. The pyramids were pretty clean after knocking little bits of tear out with some scotchbrite pads. It kept its semi "sharpness" long enough to do the job. So I tried the same bit, well a new one of the same bit on a v carving. It did a very bad job. Sharp as a bowling ball. It worked well for non precise work, but not for v carving. I have also used one of their compression bits, that actually worked pretty good. So my opinion is if it doesn't matter that much go for the Yonico, if it really matters I won't take the chance and use something better.

[Edward Weber]

I have a couple, I consider them single purpose bits they can usually get you by or might be enough for a single project. If I have a small job or want to test out a design, I might buy one of them for about 1/4 the price of a top brand. If I need longevity, I purchase a quality bit.
i should mention, I have only used them on softwood so far.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I bought one for a single use when I needed to cut a slot to put in a spline in a new design of banjo rim someone had asked me to make. It worked fine for the 2 or 3 minutes I ran it, in cherry as I recall.

[Mitch schiffer]

I bought a set of about 75 yonico bits a few years ago. For the price they are good for somethings. I find myself reaching for them when tying to match a existing profile or if I need a weird size that I don't use often. I also have a cope and stick set that hasn't seen much use. I wouldn't recommend the cope and stick sets as mine never really fit the best. I do find it useful to have a variety of them for profiles I don't use often. Out of the probably 90 or so of them that i have I have only wore out or damaged maybe 8 or so. If you are planning on using them often I would suggest you go for a higher quality.

[John TenEyck]

I've had nothing but good performance out of the Yoniko bits I have. I have a couple of molding bits I bought because they were far less expensive than name brand ones. To my surprise, they have cut just as well for the jobs I've used them on, always in hardwood. Most recently, I bought a set of window sash bits. They came in a nice wooden boxd no less, and I have no complaints at all with their performance. They cut great and the parts mated properly. I haven't run many linear feet with that set, but don't intend to which is why I bought them. For my needs they have been a very good deal.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXtqu34T04BN-YVmrGp1ht-YIJsssr0DVLOPkDKKSTqDt0wgioep--8Rfr3qaUVEtD5E7MGQxrQI0Cd4mD6T3hpAJy7WgjGWndsGjvHt 5wN4c2HJvu_QYU3VtG-nZ2RD-jkBsrGQG1AWhVdcKUPG1ifcg=w1470-h828-no?authuser=1

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AM-JKLXyyRLQ5dq_6NLuO9wSWfPKmhPJdYmGV2u8Ba2E60WzmSq-XduQqIRC3Fpyk_KaG0_cfqJueglgPfV7ckzVJPbtR3cwwI1cee RUEBgcwx2Un7JXGjlTlpM9zyU76ZlnsOsW7KlXqYnBcjGSVBBt YBl3Qw=w1470-h828-no?authuser=1

John

[Jim Becker]

I have quite a few of them and they have performed very well. I have had zero quality issues with this brand purchased from Amazon. I have both spirals I use with the CNC and some form tools plus a very long bearing guided straight cutter I use as a pattern bit for finishing off the ends of thick slabs. I am not a heavy user of form tools, so my results have to be balanced against that. They get limited, specialty uses. The spirals, however, are in my regular rotation and have been just fine.

[Steve Eure]

I've used them when I started out woodworking and was on a tight budget. You get what you pay for. For me they would not last long on hardwood. They are ok for ply edges, but will not stay sharp for long. Will burn the edges. Had a brand new edge trim bit bearing disintegrate on an expensive project within 4" from the start. Ruined the edge. Yonico sent me replacement bearings, not a new bit. Since then, I've ordered bits as I need them. Generally Whiteside and Amana.

[Mike Henderson]

No experience with Yonico bits but I have used MLCS bits, which are also an economy brand, and had good success with them.

Mike

[Curt Harms]

Like Mike, I haven't used the Yonico brand but have used MLCS, they're about 20 miles from me, I can order them and have them in 1 or 2 days. I wouldn't be surprised if, like much Asian machinery there's one or a few plants making them. Some get a coatings, others do not. The "if you use one type of bit a lot and the 'bargain' bit wears out, replace it with a better one" seems reasonable.

[Jeff Bartley]

I recently bought and used one of their compression pattern bits, 7/8” diameter, 1 1/8” tall. It worked really well for me. It was used on a small sink cutout in an oak countertop that I made. It was an under mount sink so the surface needed to be perfect. I still had to sand but it was minimal. Also used it on some table parts recently in walnut and there too it worked well. This was my first foray into compression bits so I have no other brands to compare to, but I’d buy it again.

[John Goodin]

I bought a large diameter one off Amazon to create a profile for a staircase handrail. Using light passes I routed about 150 feet of oak. Everything looked great. The price was about 30 or 40 bucks compared to many times that for a premium brand. I doubt I would buy the brand for a bit that would see a lot of use but for specialty profiles I wouldn’t hesitate.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I bought a set of about 75 yonico bits a few years ago. For the price they are good for somethings. I find myself reaching for them when tying to match a existing profile or if I need a weird size that I don't use often. 15 or more years ago, I bought a similar set of Ryobi 1/4" shank bits.
They saved my bacon on more than a few occasions by being right there when I needed one.

[Jim Tobias]

I bought and used a set of Yonico Birdsmouth bits and found them to be very good for my use. I've used them on a variety of wood and some veneered wood and got nice cuts.
Jim

[lou Brava]

I have but can only comment on there cove bits.
I'm on the fence about em but they got the job done & not sure a bit costing 4 times as much would have done any better. I used there large 2 /12" cove bit to dish out display trays for a chocolate shop. I tried out 4 of there bits 2 - 2 1/2" 1-1 3/4" & a 2" and from the 1st cut they all left burn marks pretty much at any depth I tried. So I think it was either the way I was using the bit maybe it's not designed to do what I was doing ? I had router mounted to table and plunged the wood into the bit. I couldn't figure out any other way way to produce these dished out trays. I ended going full depth at one time about 5/8" deep because I had to do hundreds of them and no matter how shallow I went or how new the bit was it still left burn marks. And it was a lot of work to sand them out.
Since writing this I'm wondering if any of you guys would have a better way to cut these bowls out ?
474114

[Mike Henderson]

I did a bunch of Wahoo games which required plunging a cove bit a lot of time for each game. I didn't have any burning. The trick was to plunge and then quickly let it come back up. I use quite a number of woods, including cherry which is easy to burn. Here's a web page (https://mikes-woodwork.com/WahooBoard-01.htm) describing what I did.

I think I had a Freud bit.

In the web site I'm not using cherry but have done so in the past - several times. If you scroll down on this page (https://mikes-woodwork.com/)you'll come to one or more that I did in cherry.

Mike

[sean meltvedt]

I use Yonico solid carbide down cut and compression cut bits almost exclusively with great results. Depending on the number of parts, I typically get 10-12 sheets of prefinished 3/4 ply per bit before changout. This is the same bit life I used to get from my Freud solid carbide. I have not put any real use on their composite carbide bits.
Cheers
Sean

[Derek Meyer]

A few years ago I bought a Kreg router table package, and they gave me a free set of 30 Yonoko router bits in a nice wooden case. I've only used a couple of them, but the cut nice and work well in my Dewalt router. I normally buy Milwaukee bits as that is what we sell at the store I work at, but I will look at the Yonoko set and try those first before I buy any more.