Router Bits Reviews

Works great, just what I wanted. Wished that changing from vertical to horizonal was provided by pushing a knob or moving a lever. Otherwise very good workmanship.

It's perfect for small jobs when a full size drill press wouldn't be needed. It's compact design is great if your work space is limited. My son and I use it for making his Pinewood Derby cars.

I received this item and Dremel sent me an adaptor free of charge to allow this item to work with the xpr.
Great item

I purchased it primarily for Mortising loose tenons on my furniture work. It cuts very clean. I am using it to cut 1" deep 3/8" wide tenon stock recesses using a 5/8" template guide and patterns that I make from 3/8 plywood. I use a plunge router using the steps to cut about 1/4" each pass and it works great. Be careful and take your time when using solid carbide because they tend to break if you cut to much on a pass. I have not had a 1/2" shank break on me but 1/4" shanks have broken on me before.

This review is going to sound funny from someone who broke two 1/4" shaft 1/4" upward spiral bits. In plain words, I wouldn't be without them. As a matter of fact I am adding a 3/8" to my 1/4" and 1/2" bits. When people use the phrase the "break in period" take that literally when you use spiral bits. The problem is that it is not designed for freehand use. If you plunge it deep and try to freehand it into some wood, the edges can grab and instantly create a ricocheting effect, which will whip into an instant frenzy and snap the bit. These bits are designed to be used in a table, with a fence guiding the work against the bit, or in a jig to make mortises for example. They are ideal for use with a plunge router with a three step adjustable turret. Also great with a regular hand held, with successive depth adjustments. Fully burying the bit and going for it is not advisable even in a table.
Another consideration is although these bits are solid carbide, I doubt they are the same grade in hardness of the standard double flute straight bits with welded on tips, that are so popular. So they shouldn't last as long.
So after all of that, why buy an upward spiral bit? Simply this: If your creating a pocket, like a mortise, even though you are doing it in successively deeper passes, it will create a perfectly smooth surface, both on the walls, and the bottom of the pocket. If you are creating an opening all the way through your work piece, it will create a perfectly smooth wall.
When making mortises, it is possible, with dial caliper level measuring, to make a mortise so perfect that you almost don't need glue. You may want to for example use doweled pegs only to hold the joint. If you were doing heirloom antique level joinery with no metal hardware, such a joint would be beneficial. What is often done is the mortise is made with a machine or fixture with a chisel and drill bit at the core, making a pocket that is uneven in its edges, and even more so at the base. You may say who cares, I use urethane glues, which foam up to fill the gaps, and that would be a valid argument. What this spiral bit gives you is the option of building a jig that will fit a range of wood sizes that will give you instant mortises that are perfect, with less time, less effort, and perfectly made, and a lot less expensive than a dedicated machine. Wood mating surfaces can be done to perfection, instead of the standard glue up, and then having to sand out the surface irregularities. I am not knocking mortise and tenon machines, they are great, and quickly usable, because mortise and tenon joints don't show so they don't need to be perfect aesthetically.
One other thing worth mentioning, is that it is a good idea to get upward spiral bits with the same size shaft as the head of the bit. For example a 1/2" shaft 1/2" bit, and a 1/4" shaft with a 1/4" bit. That way you can make very deep mortises that go beyond the depth of the bit surface. So why am I buying a 3/8" spiral bit as well? Because I needed a 3/8" slot in the face of a project and wanted to do it with the spiral bit that I didn't have.
I just made some custom router table fences, and I needed to make a 1/4" slot along the backing board of the fence. I wanted it to be even and smooth and look great without any tear out on the edges, so I used the 1/4" spiral bit. Now I have exposed slots that are perfect. That is what a spiral bit does.
I have routers made by Porter Cable, Fein, Makita and several Bosch models, and each of them receives, both spiral bit size shafts of 1/4" and 1/2" effortlessly. They slide in without any play and do not bind on the way in or the way out. Knowing that router collets have a safety factor of needing a second tough release on unscrewing the collet is key. Additionally the Freud routers were having some problems with the bit fit, some say it is because they were being shipped with metric collets. Be that as it may, these spiral bits go into your router without any size-fit problems. I have never had a problem with any of the Freud router bits fitting into any one of my routers.
In conclusion, I would use the heck out of your standard carbide tipped double straight flute bits, and save these upward spiral bits for your exposed surfaces, or when you want a perfect surface-fit. Highly recommended, I wouldn't want to be without them.

This review is going to sound funny from someone who broke two 1/4" shaft 1/4" upward spiral bits. In plain words, I wouldn't be without them. As a matter of fact I am adding a 3/8" to my 1/4" and 1/2" bits. When people use the phrase the "break in period" take that literally when you use spiral bits. The problem is that it is not designed for freehand use. If you plunge it deep and try to freehand it into some wood, the edges can grab and instantly create a ricocheting effect, which will whip into an instant frenzy and snap the bit. These bits are designed to be used in a table, with a fence guiding the work against the bit, or in a jig to make mortises for example. They are ideal for use with a plunge router with a three step adjustable turret. Also great with a regular hand held, with successive depth adjustments. Fully burying the bit and going for it is not advisable even in a table.
Another consideration is although these bits are solid carbide, I doubt they are the same grade in hardness of the standard double flute straight bits with welded on tips, that are so popular. So they shouldn't last as long.
So after all of that, why buy an upward spiral bit? Simply this: If your creating a pocket, like a mortise, even though you are doing it in successively deeper passes, it will create a perfectly smooth surface, both on the walls, and the bottom of the pocket. If you are creating an opening all the way through your work piece, it will create a perfectly smooth wall.
When making mortises, it is possible, with dial caliper level measuring, to make a mortise so perfect that you almost don't need glue. You may want to for example use doweled pegs only to hold the joint. If you were doing heirloom antique level joinery with no metal hardware, such a joint would be beneficial. What is often done is the mortise is made with a machine or fixture with a chisel and drill bit at the core, making a pocket that is uneven in its edges, and even more so at the base. You may say who cares, I use urethane glues, which foam up to fill the gaps, and that would be a valid argument. What this spiral bit gives you is the option of building a jig that will fit a range of wood sizes that will give you instant mortises that are perfect, with less time, less effort, and perfectly made, and a lot less expensive than a dedicated machine. Wood mating surfaces can be done to perfection, instead of the standard glue up, and then having to sand out the surface irregularities. I am not knocking mortise and tenon machines, they are great, and quickly usable, because mortise and tenon joints don't show so they don't need to be perfect aesthetically.
One other thing worth mentioning, is that it is a good idea to get upward spiral bits with the same size shaft as the head of the bit. For example a 1/2" shaft 1/2" bit, and a 1/4" shaft with a 1/4" bit. That way you can make very deep mortises that go beyond the depth of the bit surface. So why am I buying a 3/8" spiral bit as well? Because I needed a 3/8" slot in the face of a project and wanted to do it with the spiral bit that I didn't have.
I just made some custom router table fences, and I needed to make a 1/4" slot along the backing board of the fence. I wanted it to be even and smooth and look great without any tear out on the edges, so I used the 1/4" spiral bit. Now I have exposed slots that are perfect. That is what a spiral bit does.
I have routers made by Porter Cable, Fein, Makita and several Bosch models, and each of them receives, both spiral bit size shafts of 1/4" and 1/2" effortlessly. They slide in without any play and do not bind on the way in or the way out. Knowing that router collets have a safety factor of needing a second tough release on unscrewing the collet is key. Additionally the Freud routers were having some problems with the bit fit, some say it is because they were being shipped with metric collets. Be that as it may, these spiral bits go into your router without any size-fit problems. I have never had a problem with any of the Freud router bits fitting into any one of my routers.
In conclusion, I would use the heck out of your standard carbide tipped double straight flute bits, and save these upward spiral bits for your exposed surfaces, or when you want a perfect surface-fit. Highly recommended, I wouldn't want to be without them.

The Jess Em Mast-R-Lift arrived with out any manuals or supporting documents. The template was also ordered and is nothing more than a 16 X 19 in. by 3/4 in. thick MDF board with a hole in it without instructions. The $9.90 cost for the template is excessive as a 4 X 8 foot sheet of MDF can be purchased for less money.
The use of the template requires the hole to be cut with a 1/2 inch bit with a with a 3/4 inch bearing, none of which are supplied by the vendor.

I have to say that although this is a great product, the poor documentation and support will lose Jessem customers. They lost me.

The lift itself is a great product from what I've seen of it so far. I got mine for Christmas, but it's taken me weeks to get it installed into my router table. The documentation that comes with the lift assumes you will be mounting it into a table with a pre-fab hole, in which case it's just drop it in and go. But if you are making your own table, like myself and many other woodworkers do, you are out of luck unless you've installed one before. The instructions with the lift don't address the installation process into a table at all, and only mention that there is a template you an buy from Jessem for installation into custom tables. I went to the dealer where my lift came from to look at the template to see if I wanted to buy it, and it's just a piece of MDF with a hole cut in it, and no instructions. The dealer also told me I'd have to buy a bushing to use the template. I passed.

When I emailed Jessem to get help on the installation, it took over three days to receive a reply, and when I did it was a simple 'If the instructions aren't with the template, you can find them on our web site'. He didn't give a link to these instructions, and when I searched their site, I couldn't find them. I ended up doing a web search and building my own template that didn't require a bushing.

The lift itself functions great, and I'm looking forward to working with it now that my table is nearly complete. But based on my experience with Jessem, it's highly unlikely I'll buy any more of their products. There are other companies out there with similar products, who actually care about helping their customers after they've gotten their money from the sale. Those are the companies I'll buy from in the future.

The rout-r-lift is an excellent product that can be difficult to setup. Too bad because Jessem will lose customers this way.

The template this company provides is an mdf template which is okay. It's just a template anyway. But, what I really needed was detailed instructions, a kit, something. I had just spent over $200.00 on the lift, the least Jessem could do was help me successfully install it. Jessem really needs to put a kit together, or a brief pamphlet inside the rout-r-lift box that provides detailed instructions, a list of tools and template part number information to make it a little easier for some of us who are "less than mechanically inclined". And, how about making the information available on the web site. This is one company that thinks sharing information with customers will cost them money. Pretty archaic thinking. Jessem, this is an opportunity to increase revenues.

I spent considerable time building a router table and a nice table top which I didn't want to ruin. Jessem's instructions for installing the rout-r-lift were so weak that I had to search on Google for good detailed installation instructions.

Having said all this, the Rout-r-lift is well engineered and works as advertised. Now that I've successfully installed the first one, I'd do it again. It's a nice product.

I need to know the specific depth of cut. This product does not list it.

The bit arrives sharp and well balanced. Always use at a very low speed like a 2 on a scale of 5.
Only in a router table and only when the router and table are securely matched. This puts out a lot and I mean a lot of vibration. If you don't have a better than average table and support system there may be trouble like: The router lock will vibrate loose and the router will slip down into the table so as to put the bearing off your pattern = gouges and flying wood. Then there is the possibility of the vibration loosening the screws that hold your router to the plate in the table. The router will fall into the table and while running tear anything it touches into pieces while you are protecting your eyes and groping for the power switch. Yes! it happened to me and the bit was ruined. I got another one because no one else makes such a heavy duty bit for a router. No problems now that I know how to use thread loc.

The depth of cut is 1", look at the image.

I purchased a "D" handle PC 691 to use with the PC 24" Omnijig. Because I have a small shop dust collection is a major objective. This dust collection system works, at best, marginally when using the Omnijig. The lower collection enclosure cannot be used. The side port collects minimal shavings. I still use the system and from time to time turn off the vacumm to gauge if it is worth the setup. Yes, it does collect some of the chips, but probably not worth the price if the dust collection system is exclusively used with an Omnijig application. The PC 691 is exclusively used for dove tail work in my shop. If I'm missing something here I'd welcome correction.

I hooked it up to my vacuum and it eliminated virtually all mess! That's so pleasant given the tremendous whirlwind of debris generated by routing.

You have to think ahead and determine just how the cuts are going to be made and where you need to look. This hood can get in the way of your cut, either hitting some other piece of material, the blade, blocking your vision etc. It takes a little time to get used to but as long as you think ahead it can make a difference.

I've been doing a lot of MDF work lately and using my flush trim bit A LOT. The dust MDF creates is incredible and I got tired of being covered in it and having it cover everything in my garage. Hooked up to my Ridgid shop vac, not one speck of MDF dust escaped this PC dust collection system. WOW! On a side note, I do recommend getting a softer, less rigid hose as the stiffer ones typically provided with shop vacs can interfere with smooth handling of the router. I am comfortable with the price.

I purchased the Bosch 1617EVSPK router kit and the Bench Dog P-PC200 phenolic plate at the same time. I need the plate for a special jig. Bench Dog claims the P-PC200 plate is predrilled to fit all Bosch 1617/18 routers. I spent at least 1 hour trying to fit the plate onto the plunge base and was unsuccessful. The hole pattern on the plunge base matched a set of holes on the paper template included with the plate, but the plate was not predrilled with those holes. I called Bench Dog twice, and they kept telling me it should fit. Fortunately, Tool Crib was kind enough to let me ship the plate back at their expense.

The quality of the plate appears fine, but I am rating the plate only 3 stars because of Bench Dog's package claims and the technical support I received from them.

I use this ProPlate in my Bench Dog cast iron router table wing. So far the only router I have mounted to it is the DeWalt DW618 fixed base model.

Though it took some head scratching and studying of the paper template provided, I eventually figured out which holes to use to mount the plate to my router. My belief is that if Bench Dog says this plate will fit your router (with the predrilled holes), then it will fit. My main confusion was that my router's clear base mounts with four screws but the ProPlate only uses three screws to mount to my router. Once I realized this, putting this plate into use was a snap!

I highly recommend this product for its quality, performance, and decent price.

DO NOT POST THIS REVIEW... it's intended for your staff...

Suggestion: Provide more information about the Jesoda 600-502 product...for example, are the shanks 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" or combination thereof...are they carbide tip'd, etc.

I can't say I bought these as a set but it would have saved me some dough if I did. I probably own 35-40 Jesada bits, and as many again from other manufacturers. I've tried many brands - CMT, Whiteside, Amana, MLCS, PC, and even foolishly chucked up a Craftsman bit for a good two minutes before it burned up. Jesada makes a big deal about their carbide and their grinding and sharpening process. I know my first reaction was that this was some kind of fancy sales pitch, but now that it's a few years down the road from that first impression, I'll stand by them and say that Jesada bits really stand up. They come to you sharp as sin and keep the edge longer than anything else I've found. I recently did an enormous blanket chest out of 5/4 Honduran Mahogany (if you've worked with it, you probably know why this is significant) and cut 112 dovetails with a fairly dated bit without having a single one splinter on me. They are admittedly pricey up front, but my experience is that bad tools make bad work, and bad work doesn't make for many return customers.

Lever release height adjustment dosnt buckle to well, have to play with it to get it to snap. No instructions or paper work for edge guide that was included with router. Once lever release buckle was snapped unit performed well. I see Buckle release being a problem in the future.

Bought this router last week. A very nice piece of equipment. Solid, well put together, everything you expect in a Porter Cable Tool. With more power than my old 690 router I haven't been able to stop it yet. The collets change in a snap, and the motor won't fall out when inverted in a table. The edge guide is a great bonus, making this router not only the most widely accepted for aftermarket accessories, but a great value as well.

I'm slowly going through and replacing many of my cutting tools with Freud products. Every Freud saw blade and router bit has held its edge better than other maker's products. Freud tools cost more, but since I get to leave them on the saw longer, it's worth it to me. I wish they made drill bits!

The freud bits are as always great. The problem is that I ordered two item at the same time. I paid extra for two day delivery. I see from the tracking # that the second part of my order is still 100 miles away and won't be here until Monday or Tuesday. So much for the two day shipping. Pay extra and get nothing. I also used my amazon business credit card(just ran it through the shredder) which is supposed to have a $30.00 credit on the first purchase according to my invoice I received a credit of $26.80. I never had any problem with Lee Valley Tools who will continue to get all of my business for now and in the future. Instead of amazon.com it should be gypsies.scam

THIS IS THE BEST BIT SET THAT I HAVE EVER USED