Woodline - great customer service, great warranty, disappointing bit.

[Dave Falkenstein]

I have always advised buying intermediate priced router bits for a home shop, and replacing them with higher quality bits if you wear one out. It's time for me to follow my own advice.

A few weeks ago I was working on a project that required cutting a number of 23/32" dados, 1/4" deep in birch plywood. I was using a Festool router and guide rail and a Woodline straight bit from their Master Dado Set. Along the way, the bit started leaving fuzz at the edges of the dado. Upon examination, I saw that the bit had developed a small nick on both cutters at the top of the cut. I completed the project using my table saw. I called Woodline the next day. They sent me a replacement bit and I received it in a couple of days. Great customer service. Great limited lifetime warranty.

Today I used the brand new Woodline bit on another project, cutting the same 23/32" dados, 1/4" deep in birch plywood. After cutting less than 50 linear feet of dados, fuzz started to appear - again. Examination of the bit showed small nicks in the carbide, at the top of the cut. Bummer! Same problem with a brand new bit.

In fairness, this is the first time I have experienced a failure of a Woodline bit after a short amount of use. I have quite a few Woodline bits and they generally perform well. Cutting birch plywood is evidently hard on these bits. I was careful to make the cuts slowly to avoid damaging the bit - didn't work.

Tonight I ordered a Whiteside bit from Holbren to replace the prematurely worn out Woodline bit.

[john frank]

Dave; It'd be interesting to see how the Holbren bit holds up doing the same job. I have quite a few Woodline bits too and they seem to work fine for me.

[Jim O'Dell]

Could it be something in the ply causing the problem? Maybe even the glue? Are you taking the the cut 1/2" deep on one pass, or 2 passes? I cut a piece of HD BB ply for drawers for my router table, and on one piece there is a definate small round shiney piece of metal showing. It appears the wood is formed around it, not the nail being driven into the wood. I haven't found the other half yet. You might be getting something similar that is damagine the bits. Jim.

[glenn bradley]

Dave, your advice is sound and I give the same; once you know a bit is a solid player in your arsenal, go with a good one. This is also to say, don't spend $80 on a bit you don't know if you'll ever use again, eh?

[Dave Falkenstein]

Could it be something in the ply causing the problem? Maybe even the glue? Are you taking the the cut 1/2" deep on one pass, or 2 passes?...Jim.

I suspect it is the resins or other non-wood materials in the plywood causing the problem. I did not notice any metal in the plywood. I'm making one pass at a depth of 1/4", not 1/2".

[Jeffrey Makiel]

I too am wondering if there's something inside the plywood. I've heard horror stories before like sand in the glue that holds the plys together. Here's a picture of what I recently found in some mahogany plywood...small brad nails just below the surface of veneer!

-Jeff :)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y84/Beff2/NailinPlywood.jpg

[Dave Falkenstein]

I too am wondering if there's something inside the plywood....

I hear what you guys are saying, but... There were two different bits that both failed the same way, on two different projects a couple of weeks apart, using two different batches of plywood, some from Home Depot and some from Lowe's. Sounds like a bit failure to me, with a common factor being "birch" plywood.

[Bruce Benjamin]

My only experience with Woodline bits has been with their rail and stile glass panel bit set. I got the first set and waited a long time before I gave it a try. When I was comparing the two bits I discovered that the two bits didn't quite match each other. The quarter round profile was different. As I said, it was quite a while after buying it that I discovered this problem but I decided to give them a call anyway. They had no problem sending me out a new set and didn't even want me to send the old set back. Great customer service. However, the second set also didn't match. It was closer than the first set but when I tried it out it still didn't quite match. I used it once to make a sample door and with some careful sanding I was able to get a semi-acceptable match but it was a lot of work and it wasn't something I'm likely to ever use again. I'm sure if I called them they would have no problem sending me a new set again but I really don't see the point in doing that. If the first two weren't right why should a third set be right?

I haven't completely written them off if I ever need a cheap bit where a precise profile isn't important but I don't buy cheap bits too much anymore. The only bits I buy anymore are either Infinity or Whiteside, (Usually Infinity--Great Quality Bits!) and for cheap bits I buy from MLCS. The MLCS bits are great for the money but they don't seem to be quite as sharp or last as long as the Infinity or Whiteside bits.

Bruce

[JayStPeter]

To me you're pointing out the problem with the buy inexpensive bits strategy. I've had similar results with the inexpensive bits I've bought (although the Woodline bits have been better than others). I bought a bunch of bits from MLCS early on based on recommendations from an audio speaker building forum. Half arrived dull and by the end of my first set of speakers using them they were burning black edges. The 1/4" bit broke after about 6" of a 1/4" deep groove in MDF. A set of good bits (Jesada at the time) lasted another 4 sets of speakers plus a few years of other projects. In fact, a couple of those are still going strong.
I have used Woodline customer service and find it outstanding. But, I still only buy inexpensive bits when I know it is a specific profile that I'll probably only use once (or at least very rarely).