Thread: Router Bits?

Timbecon have 25% off their range of Torquata bits until midnight this evening. I like the torquata bits, they work well for me.

A set like this sounds like it would be suitable for your needs. 1/2" shank is better than 1/4" because you get less chatter/vibration/breakage. It has most of what you would need for edging cutting boards (champher, roundover, cove, corebox, ogee). And then the straight bits are good for grooving and dado's/housings, they "can" be used for morticing but they aren't great or designed for that. I sharpen my own winged router bits using a credit card diamond stone. An upcut spiral bit is much better for morticing, especially deep morticing. I buy upcut spirals individually and chuck em in the bin when blunt.

Although I haven't bought any in some time I always used to buy the Carbitool ones CARB I TOOL Australia Pty Ltd.:.Sharpening services, Saw Blades, Router Bits - Catalogue. I as living Melbourne then and would get them direct from the factory.

Also being a total newbie I didn't know where to start. In the end I had a specific groove I wanted to create first so I bought a Bosch bit just for that. Then a cheap bit from Bunnings for something else. I figure that once I work out which bits I actually wear down then I will know which bits to buy quality.

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Carbitool all the way

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

Carbitool all the way

I have been using Carb=I=Tool router bits for over 30 years Made here in Australia and consider them to be the best on the market.

Carbitool for anything that I know is going to get a lot of use - mainly straight bits, straight with bearings, a couple of commonly used roundovers. Infinity and Whiteside are other favourites, but only if I need enough from the US to justify the freight costs for an overseas order.

For other profiles that I don't expect to get much use (possibly just for one specific job), McJings are perfectly fine. I'd rather pick up a few individual bits from McJings than get a generic set containing lots of bits I'll never ever use, and of dubious quality.

Incidentally, if you're not in Melbourne and want to order Carbitool online I've found this crowd good to deal with:

Australian router bits and cutters at apworkshop.com.au

They keep a lot of Carbitool in stock, and also have their own economy range of bits for the lesser used items.

My experience is that kits are usually pretty ordinary.

They certainly look like great value and they will certainly cover off 95% of your needs in a single box. Great as a beginner set, but don't buy the lowest priced, for they are worse than junk.

A modest priced kit from a good company is a good choice. They will get you off the ground.... But please don't buy one of those 50 bit kits for $100. You will loose an eye or tooth.

Ive found, however, that over time I've replaced each bit with a fairly expensive one. As they wear or a special comes up, I'll take one or two from my wish list and buy them.

Whiteside, Freud, Carbitool and the carbide spirals sold by our forums own Aldav are tremendous.

In reality, I keep going back to a few very basic bits. There are certainly some fancy ones for banisters, boxes and windows/doors, but they are specialised. The ordinary ones are a simple 1/4" round-over with bearing, a 3/4" "proper" roundover, top and bottom bearinged trim bits, small and large key way cutters.

Carb-i-tool in Melbourne are very helpful if you phone up. They have a catalogue online and will express post to you. AS Mr Brush says, AP workshop are also excellent to deal with for Carb-i-Tool bits. By the way, don't confuse these with Carbatec bits. Had very good experience with Carb-i-Tool, not so much with Carbatec bits.
Whiteside bits from the US are excellent and I also like the CMT bits from Italy. Amana in the US also have some good stuff and they often have specialist bits that the others don't make.

I'd avoid box sets as they are usually cheapies and you end up with bits you'll probably never use.

Brian

Finally purchased a Triton router that took 1/2" bits, I tried an old box set of unbranded 1/2 bits that were given to me a few years back - bits still sealed in rubber - I think they were designed to burn their way through timber rather than cut.

So following the consensus of accumulated wisdom on the forum and not blowing over half my remaining budget on a box of 10 bits, I was planning on spending my huge budget of $90 on 1 or 2 individual bits to start with and just use the 1/4" bits in the meantime.

However for my limited budget, I managed to pick out $450 worth of brand new individually boxed Bosh 1/2 shank bits discounted by 80% at Masters – Now despite the forum users dislike, like or ridicule of Bosh bits, I just couldn't pass up on them.

I mainly use Carbitool (love them) but have, on occasion, bought Diablo bits from Bunnings when I need a bit urgently. They have been great - no complaints. Their low priced Ultra brand are not in the ball park. For some reason, my local Bunnings has stopped stocking Diablo.
Like Kuffy, I keep a credit card diamond board to touch up the bits from time to time.
APWorkshop is also my Carbitool supplier - Stuart is always helpful.

Since discovering Timbecon I now almost exclusively buy Torquata, previously also Diablo from Bunnings and Bosch from Masters, and a solid carbide upcut bit a couple years ago from Carbatec - not sure what the brand is (apart from being rebranded Carbatec). I'm pretty happy with all of them, mix of 1/4" for my Makita trimmer and 1/2" shank for my TRA001 though I sometimes use a downsizing collet in the Triton, rarely.

Hi All,

Just an update, I bit the bullet, and purchased a 13 piece set of CMT router bits from Carbatec today.

The pricing was attractive at circa 1/2 price of the retail price if I had purchased each bit individually. Just hope that the baby Triton router that I have will be able to cope with them....

Thanks for all the advice.

Originally Posted by cava

Hi All,

Just an update, I bit the bullet, and purchased a 13 piece set of CMT router bits from Carbatec today.

The pricing was attractive at circa 1/2 price of the retail price if I had purchased each bit individually. Just hope that the baby Triton router that I have will be able to cope with them....

Thanks for all the advice.

Possibly the only regret you will have is that the kit was only 13 and not more.

Enjoy, don't forget the earmuffs and use a safety shield instead of glasses.