Blew $150 on a fancy router bit set that chattered like crazy

Bought a 10 piece set off some website for the price of two good bits and every single one left burn marks on my oak. Has anyone else had luck with cheap router bits or am I just throwing money away?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel_walker23d ago

Those $150 router bit sets are basically a gamble. Tried a set from one of those cheap import sites and every single one left a burn mark like it was trying to toast the wood. Turned a nice piece of oak into a campfire souvenir.

claire_ramirez23d ago

Could it be the feed rate or your bit speed was off instead of the bits being the problem? I've picked up cheaper sets from a few places and as long as I take lighter passes and slow down a hair on the final pass they cut clean with no burning. @daniel_walker probably ran into the same issue with his oak since that stuff really punishes you if your setup isn't dialed in just right.

derekjenkins23d ago

Hang on, you spent $150 on a 10 piece set and you're calling that cheap? Man, for that kind of money I'd expect each bit to come with its own little polish cloth and a handwritten apology note. Oak will punish a dull or unbalanced bit faster than anything else too. I've bought cheap bits before but never spent more than like thirty bucks on a set, and even then you get what you pay for. $150 is like middle ground pricing, not cheap at all. You could have bought two really nice Whiteside bits for that and not had a single burn mark.