Need router bit advice

Tornadoboy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
9,112
Reaction score
1,412
Location
North Attleboro, Massachusetts
I've just discovered my new favorite tool - a router with a flush cutting bit. Problem I'm having is I'm burning through bits WAY too fast, first flush trimer was a cheap piece of crap from China I got for $5 off of Ebay and wasn't surprised the bearing on it wore out so quick, but the second was a $17 Diablo bit from Home Depot and it wore out almost as quick, with the guts of the end bearing falling out leaving nothing but the outer shell.

So what is a decent brand of bit I can get which won't wear out doing one measly panel and from where can I get them? Or am I possibly doing something wrong that would kill bits so quick? I thought I was being pretty gentle with them. Am I supposed to clean out the bearing every so often or oil it? Would a router using 1/2 shaft bits instead of the 1/4 I'm using last longer?
 
Last edited:
What are you cutting? You said flush trim bit so I am assuming you are taking something like the side panel of a machine and trying to copy it with a router, letting the original panel be your guide. Is this correct? If not, tell me what you are using/doing.

A router bit with a carbide blade(s) will last for a really long time. "High speed steel" blades are just about worthless on everything but light routing on pine or something equally soft. Even then they will still burn after a while. They sell them because everybody buys them first since they are cheap. They don't work, and then you come back and buy a second bit.

I have carbide bits that I have used for years that are still usable, regardless of brand. I have never had a problem with a bearing, even on a cheap bit. You would have to be chewing through TONS of material to bog up the bearing and have it come undone. That is why I am curious what you are cutting and how you are cutting it.
 
What are you cutting? You said flush trim bit so I am assuming you are taking something like the side panel of a machine and trying to copy it with a router, letting the original panel be your guide. Is this correct? If not, tell me what you are using/doing.

I'm reproducing all the panels from a water damaged Centipede cocktail in MFD, I'm using the originals as templates. It's the stupid end bearings that keep wearing out and falling apart, the blades themselves seem ok.
 
Last edited:
A trim router is not appropriate for trying to cut 3/4 material.. trim routers are for trimming liminates. They just don't have the speed or torque to keep a bit fast enough to not burn it and ruin it fast.

Get a real router and a real bit (whiteside is decent, CMT is good and ONSRUD or Amana step it up a notch) But for just cutting a cabinet side, a cheapo freud will do the trick. Make sure you're not trying to plow through 3/4 inches of material , trace your cabinet side onto the wood with a pencil then use a jigsaw to cut the tracing out getting about 1/4 inch away from the line. Then clamp the now trimmed piece to the side of the cabinet and run your router around THAT. Routers run much more efficiently when they have somewhere to go with the waste material and are trying to take off half the width of the bit or less in one pass.
 
I'm reproducing all the panels from a water damaged Centipede cocktail in MFD, I'm using the originals as templates. It's the stupid end bearings that keep wearing out and falling apart, the blades themselves seem ok.

This is definitely why I asked how you were doing it. Routing 3/4" material is no big deal, but if you are asking the router to push the entire bit completely through it without one open edge, it will bog it down terribly. Even a larger router will make a slow pass through that.

The bearing is being overun with the MDF dust being cut away. As prok mentioned, make a rough drawing onto the MDF first and cut it close to the line with a jigsaw to remove as much as possible before using the router. You can then rout it no problem.

The material being routed away will now have somewhere to "go", instead of bogging down the bit and the bearing. It will also keep the bit cooler and it will last longer.
 
Thanks for the great advice, now that you put it that way I can see the big mistake I've been making is not trimming all the excess before routing, I'll grab another bit and see how well it goes the next time.
 
Took everyone's advice this weekend and used a jigsaw to remove all bit 1/4" of wood from the cuts and that made all the difference in the world, I've got the cab parts about 75% finished and I haven't yet killed the current bit I'm using, thanks again the parts are coming out near perfect so far.

Another quick router related question :D:

I've got to route out some recessed areas for square speaker grills which have got to be about 1/8" deep, what's the trick to doing neat square, non-full thinkness cut outs in MFD?
 
Another quick router related question :D:

I've got to route out some recessed areas for square speaker grills which have got to be about 1/8" deep, what's the trick to doing neat square, non-full thinkness cut outs in MFD?

Are you using a plunge router?

If you are not using a plunge router and you're are only going 1/8" deep then just set the bit depth at 1/8" and lean the router to one side a little so the edge of the router in on the surface and then set the router down flat with it running. 1/8" deep shouldn't be a problem. If the depth needs to be more than 1/4" then drilling a pilot hole would be the best way.

For getting the "neat square" you will nee a template or a straight edge you can clamp for each side.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Back
Top Bottom