Thread: Safety concern - cheap router bits

I guess a good question is "Has anyone had a cheap router bit explode"?
Maybe its an urban myth.
There are lots of 'A friend of a mate had a father in law who had a boss that died from....."
I've never had my cheap ones come apart, explode or fail in any way.

I bought dozens of cheap bits during a closing down sale a while ago, paid about $3 per bit. No failures so far and they have done some cutting. If in doubt just make sure you think about where the bit will go if it gets loose or disintegrates (which is just about everywhere, at high speed). Safety glasses for sure with a solid shop apron and a full face shield may keep you in your comfort zone.

Just remember that bits as big as you're talking about will have to be used at a pretty low speed any way.
Regards

Thanks guys keen to hear about any other success or failure stories to gauge level of danger.

The router I have goes down to 9000rpm is that slow enough?

Might keep an eye out for a good apron as I need one from time to time when grinding.

Now I buy all cheap router bit and keep the name brands ones for special jobs. I have never seen a router bit expensive or cheap explode. Had one that i dropped on concrete and a couple of small pieces of carbide flew off that. The difference between the name brands and the cheapies is as near as I can find out is thinner carbide and sometimes a lower quality carbide. I get mine my cheapies from Super Carbide Tools and have never had a problem with them.

Regards
Harold

I've had a couple of heads break off some fragile looking 1/4" contour bits that you can buy in box lots for a few dollars, when ploughing into brushbox, but I think a 3" roundover would be on a more substantial 1/2" shank and you will be doing edges that can be nibbled away in a few lighter passes.

I never did find the head of one bit but the other one bounced off my jeans and didn't penetrate or otherwise do damage. Don't skimp on safety gear. My problem is the safety glasses always seem to fog up when I have the dust mask on as well.

If your safety goggles fog up, gently wipe the insides with a thin film of baby shampoo.
The soap/detergent will collapse the little water droplets.
Test on the bathroom mirror = write something for anyone who takes too long and uses too much hot water.

Thanks for the feed back guys I think I will go ahead with using them and just keep an eye on them for signs of fatigue.

Just received three of the cheap cutters from overseas (quicker than expected)... the cutting area is covered in wax showing some thought went into the product. From a totally uneducated buyers perspective.. they look ok. Guess time will tell.