Why are these so much money???

[Mark Rios]

These are really expensive. Can someone explain?

http://www.routerbits.com/cgi-routerbits/sr.cgi?1153624477_25288+2031

Thanks.

[Bruce Page]

Mark, carbide and it's all in the grind. These are pretty complicated geometry, e.g. complicated/time consuming to grind.

[John Kain]

Grind, accuracy..........yeah OK

I don't really see the need for this type of bit in my hobbyist shop. Even if I took my hobby to "more than a hobby", I still don't see the need. I envision this type of bit for the industrial computerized router that works all day long, everyday.

[Keith Christopher]

And besides, they're HUGE. up to 3".

[Ian Barley]

At the risk of stating the obvious - economics.

These look like a pretty speciality item. They probably will not sell many of them but the tooling etc that needs to be set up needs to be aid whether they sell one or a million and one. I have several custome made moulding heads that I use and they typically cost me 5-6 times the cost of a standard moulding head. They are still worth it because they do the job better and quicker. These bits will be sold to somebody whose need for them outweighs the cost of buying them. It just isn't likely to be me.

[tod evans]

mark, if you get a chance to try forrest citys bradpoints ( the little ones aren`t to high) you`ll be amazed at the quality! personally i can`t justify the cost of those forstners for what i`m doing now but if i ever need a top quality-no holds barred forstner that`s where i`d look.....02 tod

[Jim Becker]

These are also specialty cutters and folks who want/need them will not blink at the price for the carbide and design.

[Dana Van Pelt]

Mike here:

I sold Forest City drill bits for years. I know the owner of the company and his dedication to quality and customer service. You can not buy better. These bits are made for production and in a production environment well worth the cost, I had a customer, Express Package, who manufactured special shipping crates and boxes. They went to these carbide bits and were very pleased with the cut and the life of the cutter. They are not expensive when you need them, junk cheap ones are the ones that cost the most in a production setting.

Mike
American Sycamore

[Frank Fusco]

I'm glad Dana emphasized a "production" setting. For many, a middle, or even discount priced cutting tool is satisfactory, even over a long period of time. And, sometimes, price does not translate into quality. The one high-priced forstner bit I have did a lousy job of boring and burned almost instantly. I was doing end-grain boring into hard-hardwoods (proper slow speed) and, apparently, it was not designed for that. I have always thought a good, objective test for things like forstner bits would be valuable. Take a high priced one like we are talking about, a middle price range high speed steel and a low priced asian import. Make sure all are properly sharpened then start boring holes and report on which dulls first. My guess is that the high priced one will go longer, but even the el cheapo import will go many thousands of holes before failing. But, that's my guess. I would like to see a good test.

[Travis Johnson]

Take a high priced one like we are talking about, a middle price range high speed steel and a low priced asian import. Make sure all are properly sharpened then start boring holes

What makes a quality tool bit and a cheaper tool bit is the steel they are made up of. Carbide, A-2 steel, annealing, heat treatment, cynogentic treatments...those are what makes a bit stand up over repetitive borings and what makes a bit expensive.

Having a bit that is already sharp is the second part of the equasion. Myself, I see little point in buying drill bits that need sharpening before use. I really have better things to do in my shop than sharpen a bit that is already difficult to sharpen.

The last point is hole quality. Cheaper bits are fine if you need to drill a half inch hole in wood. If you need to drill a .500 hole in wood, possibly embedded with steel (nails, creasote, ect) or need a hole that has clean, smoothly bored, you would gladly pay for better bits.

A smart person once said, always buy the best you can afford.

[Mark Rios]

Thanks for all the replies.

So these are just regular bits made very well and out of great metal, Not actually for drilling holes in the space shuttle dashboard or something?

Okay, well, I can understand that. My rollaway is full of only Snap-on tools so I*can relate to using th best quality to do your job. I just didn't know if they were made for some super special, extra detailed, precise type of work or what. However, for that price they should be so good that I would expect to be able to hand them down to my yet unborn great-grand kids. :D