Royall Clark
Member
- Messages
- 1,355
What company or brand gives you the best bang for the buck. I need a 1/2" down cut bit for making dado's in plywood. Should I buy two for a big project or do they last quite a while?
Thanks
Thanks
What company or brand gives you the best bang for the buck. I need a 1/2" down cut bit for making dado's in plywood. Should I buy two for a big project or do they last quite a while?
Thanks
The glue in plywood tends to wear the bits abnormally fast, so having extras on hand is a good idea.
As for overall value, any of the 'name' brands are good, but for 'expendable' bits I usually end up ordering them from MLCS. The bits are of pretty good quality, and usually cost about half the cost of a Somerville or Bosch.
BTW, you do know that half inch plywood isn't really half an inch? Nearly every company that sells bits has "plywood bits" that are appropriately undersized for cutting dado's in Plywood. Nearly all plywood seems to be metrically sized these days, so the "ply" bits are something like 6mm, 12mm, and 18mm.
Royall,
You may wish to glance at this article:
http://www.whitesiderouterbits.com/ToolTestRouterBits.pdf
Thanks,
Bill
Thanks everybody. Lot of places to check out. After looking at Whiteside's web site, I started to get confused as to what I really wanted. (not hard for me to get confused)
My thoughts on a down cut is when the bit is in a hand held router, the spiral in cutting or shearing the edge of the wood down and away from the router, correct?? I've never had one of these bits before and want to be sure I get the correct one. See above statement
Your THINKING on the shear action Downcut bit is Correct, Royall, and rout in a clockwise direction around the inside of the guide.
Hartville Tool Has Whiteside bits on sale. 1/2" dia. 1/2" shank $33.98-$44.18. Not only are they very good bits but, they are made in the USA.
Regards
Jerry