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Thread: Favorite Brand of Router Bits?

  1. #31
    Whiteside. High quality bits made in America by a family owned business. Very nice people as well.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    DFW, TX
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    176
    I've started seeing some YouTube makers using bits from Bits & Bits. They take Whiteside bits and add a special coating to them.
    According to their website "These tools are coated with a proprietary high performance *Astra coating* that allows higher speed & feed rates as well as 2x the extended tool life & increased lubricity in abrasive material"
    It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
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    Sacramento, CA
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    2,005
    Whiteside is all I own. Love em.
    If at first you don't succeed, redefine success!

  4. #34
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    Fripp Island, SC and Darien, IL
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    41
    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Marinari View Post
    It looks like Whiteside & Amanda are the favorites.
    Thanks for the input.
    Not me. I guess I am the exception to the rule. After using Whiteside, I became a dedicated Freud user. I also have a collection of their table saw blades.

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Dickinson, Texas
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    Actually, these are decent bits. If I was doing production work, I might go with something more.

    https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-Sh...R151/205626187

  6. #36
    I try to stick with Amana for all my tooling.

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Tampa Bay, FL
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    3,895
    Whiteside, Amana, and Infinity Tools (a local company so I can drive 30 min to pick them up, plus have been high quality).
    - After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
    - It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  8. #38
    Not sure it's needed but I will offer my 2 cents worth. For most bits, MLCS is plenty good enough for me and are a good buy. But I was disappointed the first time I tried a cheaper dovetail bit. My jig needs a 1/4 shank bit due to the required template guide size and the cheaper bit, I don't think it was a MLCS, failed at the neck down before the carbide. So now I buy better bits for this, latest is CMT. I wouldn't worry about a Freud or Whiteside. So for me, it depends on the bit. Things I think might require really good metalurgency/heat treatment I go with brands I think are better. For most bits, MLCS.

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,389
    The finest router bit that i ever used was made by Kanefusa. (That was 25 or more years ago)

    The problem was, i could find no one that could or would sharpen them to the same level of the original.

  10. #40
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,676
    Mark, it's a lot easier to get sharpening these days because of how the CNC movement has affected the tooling market. Companies like Vortex and Connecticut Saw are easily accessible, for example. As I wear something out, I put in in a "holding bin" and when I have a reasonable number, I plan on sending them in for sharpening...at least the expensive ones. For many of the typical spiral cutters I buy now, they have become almost commodity, get purchased in multiples and retired as a cost of doing work.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  11. #41
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
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    1,389
    Hi Jim,

    I am planning of getting back to some woodworking soon, so i will be looking to see whats available at this time. The Kanefusa was the first true micrograin carbide, mirror finish bit that i had seen and used, and it blew me away. That will be my yardstick for new tooling. It will be interesting to get back into it and see what has changed.

  12. #42
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Inkerman, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    1,389
    Jim, the problem was not a lack of ability but a lack of demand.

    I approached many router companies about making me custom router bits, discussed materials, sharpening and design.
    I found no one that could provide the sharpening or the quality of carbide or even make true custom bits. What they actually call custom is variations in size of their standard designs and process.

    They were able to make them in Japan. They had the equipment and the materials, and most importantly...the demand.

    I had a conversation with the owner of one sharpening shop; after showing him the router bit and being told that he could not do the same quality; I asked him to explain why not.
    He said that he had the best grinders from Germany, and that they were capable of that quality of finish but, it would require two operations, a "rough" grind and a fine hone. it would require two wheels, a very expensive micron honing wheel and twice the amount of time. And that in 15 years in business, no one else had every requested it. All of his customers were happy with the standard sharpening.

    It was like a bullet to the brain. A window to understanding, to realizing that there was a whole world of "better" out there yet to be discovered. That we were being sold only what we accepted, no more! There was more, lots more, you just had to look and question and ask and push to find it.

    I decided to sharpen my own tools, i bought a grinder, did some research, found that i needed a better grinder, got a better one, ( A 2000lb Hembrug) then went searching for superfine grinding wheels; I had rep from a Swiss company come to my shop to show me the wheels. I wasn't impressed and asked if they had any superfine wheels.... and guess what he said.............sure we make them, but we only sell them in Europe!

    I had a chat with a sales rep for a machinery sales company after he returned from a big European machinery show, he said that they had great new technology at the show, but nothing he could sell in North America.
    It became quite clear to me that North America was years, maybe decades behind the current best technology available in the world.
    It will be interesting to start poking around and seeing if things have changed.

    1-hembrug.jpg

  13. #43
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    Whiteside has a very good sharpening service, with quick turnaround. It probably helps being in the same state, but I get them back four days after I ship them out with regular shipping. They used to make custom bits one-off for me, but these days they only make multiples of six each. They sent my last order down the road to Hickory Saw & Tool, who does make singles. They may not be the fanciest in the world, but the sash I make, to be exact matches to old ones, are finished off the bits in one pass.

  14. #44
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    calif /sonoma county
    Posts
    154
    OP asked about bits relative to tearout .Mostly [my thinking] tearout is about set-up or how you use it .,not so much the bit . I do not believe my best bits can save me from tearout .Some woods just splinter . Not to say bit quality is not important.

  15. #45
    Hi Erik. This is off the topic & I am brand new to SMC, as in a newborn of about 2 days. Not sure of the proper way to ask but I noticed you were with both SCM & Felder. I was just wondering if I could pick your brain on the A3 41. I just bought 1 about 2 months ago and surprised of the warps in the beds, "all 3 actually". anywhere from .002" to .018" concave warps. Is that normal as the supplier says it is within specs. I am from Lloydminster Saskatchewan so it was purchased from a Canadian supplier. Just curious of your thoughts. I hope this isn't out of line. Thanks Dwayne.

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