CMT vs. Whiteside (Router bit standoff)

[Brandon Shew]

Any to choose the "orange" over the apple? Both seem good quality, but the particular flush trim bit I am looking at is @ $5 more in the CMT version. I have always bought Whiteside in the past and don't see any reason to stray unless someone can provide me with a good one.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Even if the Whiteside was $5 more than the orange one, I would probably purchase it.

I do own several CMT bits, and they are good. But I always liked how long the Whiteside bits retained their edge better.

Take care, Mike

[Tom Araya]

I don't mind paying premium for whiteside :) ;)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I picked up a set of "no name" raised panel rail & stile cabinet bits - R-E-A-L-L-Y cheap ( $30.00 new).

I just ran 'em. They cut fine. I'm keeping them.

Am I a baaaaaad man?

[Tom Peterson]

I took the last two CMT bits back to Woodcraft because the carbide edges were destroyed from triming laminate. I don't have a macro feature on my camera so i can not post pictures. There were going to contact CMT. The edge was cupped out on both cutting faces where the laminte was trimming. The plastic laminate is about .028" and the groove in the bit just a little larger. At this point I would not buy another orange one.

[John Miliunas]

I've had decent luck with CMT but, IMHO, Whiteside still rules and, when I have the choice for a profile I need, Whiteside gets the nod. :) :cool:

[Brent Harral]

Anyone say whiteside? :D They win hands down..

[Randy Denby]

Me too! Whiteside or Amana. Freud 's pretty good. My CMT tablesaw blade didnt stay sharp long.

[Steve Clardy]

Whiteside hand down here:)
CMT may be just as good, but they will not ever be in my shop.
I have never run them, so cannot compare.
I had an issue with their arched door rail patterns, that I never got resolved.
I won't go into that here.:mad: ;)

[scott spencer]

CMT "might" be fine, but I "know" that Whiteside is....works for me.

[Reg Mitchell]

from my time with a router cutter it's whiteside. Even though a cutter cuts good a few times, its the smaller grain of carbon in whiteside that keeps it sharper. Or am I dreaming. :eek: Oh my goodness todo this doesn't look like Kansas

[Ken Garlock]

I have a drawer full of Whiteside, because when given a choice, and things being otherwise equal, I will go with a tool made in the USA.

Having said that, I recently bought a panel raising monster, and a pair of rail and stile bits from Eagle America. I have no idea where they are made, but they just walked through 8 doors.:cool:

[Keith Outten]

Are the Whiteside bits C4 carbide and the CMT bits C2 carbide?

If this is true it might explain why Whiteside bits stay sharp longer.

[Dev Emch]

I own about 1/2 CMT and 1/2 Whiteside. I have two token Freud bits. The vermont americans found the circular filing cabinet long ago and the viper bits wound up on ebay.

One of the most useful bits I have ever come across is the 3/8 in sprial two flute solid carbide straight cutter. I use this bit about 80 percent of the time when I am using a hand held router.

The whiteside bits seem to work a hair better than the CMTs and I tend to replace with whiteside as needed. First of all, they are overall excellent bits. Secondly, they seem to last longer. But also of import is this. The use of teflon (PTFE) to coat the router bits in LSD type colors is nonsense. Its done to differentiate the bit from other companies. The fact is the edge which is brazed on carbide is many thousandths off the main steel body so the rational for using PTFE is really not there. If this was so useful, then Whiteside would use PTFE on their bits. Instead, they take the money for PTFE and invest a little in better carbide and pocket the rest as profit. But in so doing, they are making a pro level bit sold to pros who have exacting expectations. You had better deliever when you enter this market......

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Fo the BIG Three I would give a tye to Freud and Whiteside and CMT in third place.

Just the HO from someone who HATES router.

Bruce

[Bruce Benjamin]

I've only used a CMT bit once and I wasn't impressed.
Right out of the box I was doing a little flush trimming
and lifted the still spinning bit off of the work and right
into the router cord. It cut right through the cord and
popped the breaker. The brand new bit was somewhat
melted in spots. You'd think that they'd be tough enough
to stand up to a little welding, wouldn't you? :o
Ok, I'd never done that before and learned to be more
careful since. But I was usually only using Whiteside
bits and was very satisfied until I tried Infinity bits. Now
they're all I buy. In my experience the quality is at least
that of Whiteside, they're made in the USA, and they're
usually less expensive. But my collection of Whiteside
bits are still going strong too.

Bruce

[joseph j shields]

FWW did an extensive router bit test a couple a years ago.

As I recall, the Whiteside bits outperformed all the others.

-jj

[Rob Wilson]

Has anyone tried the Woodcraft bits that they have on special now for $5 each. Seems to be quite a selection too.

[David Rose]

An "arc test" is not a true bit test! :eek:

A couple of things that I notice with Whiteside is that they will easily cut you when you handle them. :o Many others won't. Also, I have never had a newish Whiteside burn anything unless I didn't do my part. Some others will burn wood really easily. A few will burn anything everytime!

I've only bought a couple of Freuds but they seemed very sharp and held an edge also.

I did have trouble with a small profile set of rail/style bits from Whiteside. They worked and worked, several sets sent, until I got a satisfactory cut. They said they were dropping it so what I got was grace. I will stay with Whiteside.

David


I've only used a CMT bit once and I wasn't impressed.
Right out of the box I was doing a little flush trimming
and lifted the still spinning bit off of the work and right
into the router cord. It cut right through the cord and
popped the breaker. The brand new bit was somewhat
melted in spots. You'd think that they'd be tough enough
to stand up to a little welding, wouldn't you? :o
Ok, I'd never done that before and learned to be more
careful since. But I was usually only using Whiteside
bits and was very satisfied until I tried Infinity bits. Now
they're all I buy. In my experience the quality is at least
that of Whiteside, they're made in the USA, and they're
usually less expensive. But my collection of Whiteside
bits are still going strong too.

Bruce

[Per Swenson]

Hello All,

Whiteside if possible.

The truth is I really don't care, cause its always the profile I don't have that in the long run is the most expensive. Our primary tool is the shaper,
with cutters from freeborn and schmit running $100 to $500, when
it comes to a $25 to $50 router bit it only has to run 25 feet to pay for
itself. I think this same formula works for the hobbiest too.
Just check the price of premade hardwood moldings.
$8 to $10 a foot for 2 1/2 crown.
Sorry, rambling, its early.
The best router bit on the market is the one thats in the spinning router.

Per

[Keith Outten]

Has anyone tried the Woodcraft bits that they have on special now for $5 each. Seems to be quite a selection too.

Rob,

When WoodCraft puts their bits on sale I buy them by the handfull. For 5 bucks you can't beat the price and they perform well enough in most wood species to make them worthwhile. Stay away from Cyprus though, it seems to be rather hard on most carbide bits. I also use them to route Corian, the lifespan decreases to some extent but that is to be expected.

[Charles McCracken]

The use of teflon (PTFE) to coat the router bits in LSD type colors is nonsense. Its done to differentiate the bit from other companies. The fact is the edge which is brazed on carbide is many thousandths off the main steel body so the rational for using PTFE is really not there. If this was so useful, then Whiteside would use PTFE on their bits. Instead, they take the money for PTFE and invest a little in better carbide and pocket the rest as profit. But in so doing, they are making a pro level bit sold to pros who have exacting expectations. You had better deliever when you enter this market......

Dev,

In theory you are correct about the coating and the clearance of the cutter vs. the body but if you look at a coated bit after some use you will often see where the material has rubbed. Other benefits include rust resistance and easier cleaning. The fact that Whiteside doesn't coat could be due to many factors such as the cost of implementation, marketplace perceptions, etc. Speaking only for Freud, the fact that we do coat has nothing to do with the quality of carbide we use. If you think in terms of investments we are the only ones who have our own carbide manufacturing facility. All others buy theirs from a handful of suppliers.

[Brandon Shew]

Interesting to see so many of you don't recommend the CMT. Based on their pricing you would think that they would be comparable to Whiteside.

I ended up w/ the Whiteside bit yesterday and it cut smoothly as expected.

[Larry Fox]

I vote for Whiteside as well. I have a CMT raised panel set and it does a fine job. I have had a few issues with the set but all have turned out to be my fault in the end.

However, CMT customer service SUCKS and I will never buy another of their bits based solely on that fact. For my $$, There are just to many options out there to deal with crappy service.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Dev,

In theory you are correct about the coating and the clearance of the cutter vs. the body but if you look at a coated bit after some use you will often see where the material has rubbed...
Not just to nit-pick, but if there is rubbing, it would seem either there is not enough clearance or that fiberspringback is the issue.

On all the bits I have, I have noticed resin build-up, but nothing which would indicate actual contact with wood. In fact, due to the resin build-up, any rubbing or other contact [fiber springback] would actually remove or at the least burn the resin.

Either coated or non-coated bits require cleaning. They also need honed occassionaly. I use DMT diamond hones, taking a few swipes when I put them away everytime if I have used one for a prolonged period, or every X number of times if used occassionaly. All it takes is a couple passes to clean up an edge. The difference in cut and or burn is apparent.

Take care, Mike