Router Bits Reviews

I agree with the last reviewer 100%. I looked near and far for template guides so I could route out the hinges on some doors I was hanging. This tool would be ideal for the light routing work involved. I looked everywhere for template guides. The manual stated that the same guides that can be used on the 1600 series routers could be used on this trimmer. No universal guides would fit so I went to an authorized Bosch distributor to get them. Even the guides that the employees told me would work did not work. I had little choice but to go out and purchase a new router that could do the job and that had the accessories available. The quality of this trimmer is 5 stars all the way. The accessories are what keeps it from being great all around.

I AM A FLOORING SUB-CONTRACTOR AND HAVE USED THIS LAMINATE TRIMMER WHILE INSTALLING LAMINATE FLOORS. I OWN 4 OTHER BOSCH PRODUCTS BECAUSE OF THIER QUALITY AND RELIABILITY. THIER TOOLS PERFORMANCE AND DURABILITY ARE SECOND TO NONE AT THIS PRICE RANGE; BUT THE COMPANY GETS LOW MARKS FOR DIFFICULTY IN OBTAINING PARTS AND ACCESSORIES IN THE AFTERMARKET. THIS IS THE ONLY REASON I GIVE THIS PRODUCT A 3 STAR RATING.

I dont understand amazon people dont have, the right pacage for this bit, because the bid are bery destroyed.

This bit cuts smoothly and the joints fit perfectly. This is the quality that you expect from Freud.
Amazon needs to package small, dense items like this much more securely. Although my bit was not damaged, it was placed loose in the box with no padding and easily could have been.

This is a flat and sturdy plate for the fine BenchDog table. The lack of interchangeable rings is a real weak point, however. I've had to purchase two seperate plates with different size openings and then alternate my router between them. That's a real hassle when you are busy and in a hurry, not to mention expensive. The new aluminum plate is supposed to have different sized rings, however I have not yet seen it available.
-This product would have merited a "5 Star" rating were it not for this oversight in design.

To say the retail price is 317.55 is misleading at best. The normal price is 199 and always has been. It is sold at 189 at woodworking shows. Amazon should insist on prices reflecting the actual advertised price. When displayed this way they would appear to be some special markdown.

I have no quarrel with the quality of Woodline bits, however the pricing listed here is misleading. The NORMAL price in the Woodline catlog has been for as long as I've had a catlog and still is in their current catalog 199. You could of course buy it here for 219 but I have no idea why. The retail price that is listed is bogus.

I read all the review in Amazon.com about this bit and hesitated to order it. I've had good luck with all the Freud blades in the past so I gave it a try despite all the bad reviews. I put the bit to test as soon as it arrived. Everything fit perfectly. Cut was very good and it is all made in Italy. There is nothing written on the bearing as one reader mentioned that it was made in China. I think may be because of the bad reviews Freud might have made improvement. One thing I still don't know it how long it will last. But looking at fit and finish it looks like a good product.

I have used this bit plus bearings many times now. It peforms quite well for its intended purpose.

I found this in a local store and was able to check it before ordering. The bearings are now all sized to fit the bit without the reducers and associated parts mentioned by earlier reviewers so it is definitely improved. The package has locations to hold each bearing when not in use and the cut is excellent. I have now made hundreds of cuts at various depths and it still cuts beautifully.

Purchased this system about 2 months ago from Woodworkers Supply. Have had nothing but problems. The motor itself is great but it ends there. Fence system must be removed every time you want to remove insert plate, which is a necessity just to start getting the bit at some kind of height. It is impossible to adjust the height of the bit from underneath the table. The fence system binds on one side so that throws off any micro-adjustment capability. Constantly need to square the fence system. Because of constantly having to remove the motor and insert plate, you cannot screw the assembly to the table flanges, therefore the motor/plate move when the fence is set up square. I have had most of the pieces back where I bought the system and they tried to be helpful, spent 2 1/2 hours making adjustments, still no good. The router "expert" is now coming to my house to see what can be done. As far as I'm concerned, the only way I'll be happy is to take the system back. Freud will be at this particular location with their traveling dog and pony show withing the next week and they will get an earful. This system should have been left on the drawing board.

I too have found the plunge action to be stiff, at least at the top of travel. If I use the adjustment knob to limit the maximum "raised" position to about 70% of maximum the plunge operation is smoother. It is still pretty stiff though - I'd like to cut the spring strength in half. This is the first plunge router I've ever used so I wasn't sure how strong the springs should be. I've since tried a few other brands on store shelves and have to say the Freud is much stiffer than most others. Disassembling the unit is not an easy option either; much of the base and plunge mechanism is pinned together rather than screwed/bolted together.

I too was annoyed with the bit changing in the table - the table opening is too small for the router to pass through. Now when I mount the router to the plate I first remove the plastic handles from the router body. This way it will fit through the table opening. A kludge but it does make it easier.

The collets that shipped seemed to be the wrong size - the half inch one especially. It wouldn't grip the few 1/2 inch bits that I already had... a short e-mail to Freud and they telephoned me... after verifying that I was using the collets & nut correctly (they snap together and it takes a bit of force to get them together the first time) they agreed something seemed wrong and they priority mail shipped me new collets & nuts that worked perfectly. So I can't fault their customer service in that regard.

I haven't experienced the fence troubles posted in some of the other feedback; mine has been smooth and accurate right out of the box.

I just picked this kit up last week from the local home center with the big blue signs (it was on clearance after Christmas so I paid less than Amazon's price). Here are my first impressions:

Putting it all together was fairly straight forward but no thanks to the instructions which are weak at best. The box comes with the individual units independently boxed inside of it - so there is a one-page sheet that is supposed to tie together all of the independent owner's manuals, but it didn't really cut it.

Metal tool stands like the one that comes with this kit are always fussy and require tinkering to level and square. This one is no different - a bit of a pain to set up. If you get this, I found it helpful to center, square and mount the stand to the bottom of the table BEFORE tightening up the bolts.

The table itself is large and seems perfectly flat with a very solid miter slot. It's predrilled with sinkers for the fence system - that works great.

The fence system requires some calibration but is very solid and well constructed - also, looks great. The dust collection works VERY well with a standard shop vac. However, the MDF fences themselves are weak and, on mine, the pre-drilled slots to screw the fence in place are sloppy, making the fence really difficult to get true. I'll look into replacing the MDF fence boards with something more accurate but that will, of course, add to the cost.

My big beefs, however, are with the router plunge action and the mounting plate & inserts. The router's power is awesome and more than I'll ever need. The fit and finish is great, the switch is easy to use, and I had no problems at all with the collet on 1/2 inch bits - works great (older reviews of the router show a problem that Freud must have fixed - Kudos to Freud.) My problem is with the plunge action and the micro adjustment feature. The plunge action is just too stiff and it seems to bind and pinch so that there is no way to make a smooth plunge. Under the table the plunge action is nearly impossible to work. The micro-adjustment knob just adds to the problem, binding the plunge rods even more and cocking the router so that the bit is no longer straight up and down - that's obviously a major problem.

The other problem is that the mounting plate and inserts are just not flush with each other which creates a ridge that stock hangs up on right in the critical area next to the bit.

The plate itself can be made to be mostly flush with the table using the included spacer washers. Again, a bit of a pain to set up but solidly in place once flush with the table itself. Now, if you are used to keeping the router attached to the plate and pulling the two out of table to make bit changes, etc, you'll have to teach yourself something new here. The router is too big to come up through the table and with all of the leveling washers to contend with you wouldn't want to remove the plate anyway. There are three screws that hold the router to the plate; you have to remove those and bring the router out from under the table by itself.

I will come back to edit/augment this review after I've tinkered with this setup a bit more but since this package is new on the market, I wanted to post my first impressions.

Update: The jury is back and this thing stinks. The other reviews tell the story... nothing but problems. I have to spend more time fussing with this than any other tool I use. The concept seems good, but having the left and right sides of the fence controlled independently simply makes it too dificult to get true. The router is impossible to adjust because, even with the springs removed, the action along the plunge shafts is choppy and using the micro adjustment cocks it to the side. I so wish that I had spent the money on a PC router in a Rockler table. This is a disapointment all around and I'm amazed, considering the reviews on this site, that Amazon sells any of these things.

Recieved my Router Bit set today and it was 1/4" instead of 1/2". As stated in an earlier review, the stickers were coming off and the hinges on the outside of the box are actually installed backwards so they open a little awkwardly. Just sent an email to Amazon to see if they would refund the difference between the 1/4 and 1/2" shanks and will have to wait to see what they say. I live in Hawaii so cannot afford the extra time for shipping back and forth this mistake has cost me.

Received item, bits are clearly 1/4" bits. Not sure if I was shipped the wrong item by mistake. The bits were all out of their spots, and the sticker that shows the cut each bit makes had already come off. Looks like it may have been returned before...I realize that its cheap, I didn't expect them to last a lifetime, but I did expect it to meet its description.

I cant say enough about the quality and preformance of this set
I used the roman ogee bit to run 63 pcs of 8' birch trim and the bit next smoked or burned once! It still looks like new!
I own a router, Mitersaw and some bits from this maker and I am really impressed.

I will begin this review by stating that this is my only disapointment with Freud brand Bit's to date and I would rate it a negitive 1 if it was an option . The first issue is that the over all height is short by a minimum of 1" to use with any kind of sled or carriage to safely guide the front and side drawer pieces. Freud warns to collet the bit a minimun of 80%, and I agree. But with a mere two inchs in length and half of that securred in the collet, there is not much height left to work and adjustments or clearences. The remaing height between the top of the collet and the top of the bit will barely allow the use of 1/2" stock. Don't even think about 3/4" material or working with safety jigs such as a sled or a vertical carrage. To use this bit without a sled or a carrage is awkward at best and dangerous just the same.
The second issue is that Freud does not include any set-up min / max suggestions.
Finally, do not....use this with laminated stock such as Baltic Birch or red oak plywood. Any cross grain cutting will ruined the material.
I will eat this experience (time, raw material, purchased price and shipping) and the bit will forever collect dust unless Freud will accept it back. I will go back to using reliable pocket screw and glue methods for now and seek more dove tail education.

Jim Jones,
Rochester NY

Honestly I'd give this 5 stars because of the nice joints it makes, but it loses one for absence of documentation. Normally I would not expect documentation with a router bit but this one is pretty tricky to use and should come with instructions.

First, nowhere in the packaging or on Amazon's site does it tell you that the drawer front MUST be 3/4" and the side can be either 3/4" or 1/2".

Second, it comes with no instructions and the setup is not straightforward. I found good instructions on the web site of a different manufacturer of drawer lock bits.

Third, nowhere is it mentioned that one has to use a sacrificial zero clearance fence when making a drawer lock joint in cabinet grade plywood. I used a spare piece of poplar. My tip: get the height set using one sacrificial fence, then cut a new one for the cleanest joints, because it is crucial to have zero clearance between the top of the bit and the fence. Even 1/16" will result in significant tear-out.

Last, because the setup is so fiddly, I do not recommend you use this bit for just a couple joints. If you are going to do a run of drawers its worth the effort, but not for one or two.

Freud 99-280 Recoverable Bead Glass Door Bit Set, do a beautiful job once you have zeroed in on the right settings. However doing that is a VERY difficult job, and is really frustrating. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that Freud mysteriously provides no instructions , diagrams or even any recommendations for their use. I have tons of Freud blades and router bits, and my biggest complaint is they almost never have any instructions. The biggest problem with this bit set is when you remove the glass bead. If you are of a 32nd of an inch the tenons will be either to short or to long, and in the earlier case there is no way to correct it. I will still buy Freud products, but I wish they would spend a few bucks and create an instruction manual. Many of their competitors have already done so.

I just used these bits last night and had a heck of a time setting them up. When I finally did get them set they did a great job. Here is what I did - for the stick cut I lined up the black middle cutter with the center line of my 3/4" stock and made my cut. You can adjust from there if you wish. For the cope cut I had to use trial and error until I had a proper fit. Using a router lift like a JessEm works great for this. 3 stars to Freud for not including any instructions, 5 stars for the way the cutters cut. Don't bother calling Freud, they do not respond. HEY FREUD, HOW ABOUT SOME INSTRUCTIONS!!!!! CAN YOU HERE US NOW!!!!