Best budget 1/2" router bits

[Jacob]

The thing I don't understand about Trend sets is that I had a look at one earlier and the average price of a bit was £1.68 incl VAT. You go look at individual bits and they're £12 for something similar. The set says it's TCT cutters? What am I missing?

It's a common sales tactic/rip-off. Have stuff available at different prices/deals and somebody will be caught out buying the highest priced.
You get it with variations all over the place; book-dealers are bad ; out of stock items get listed at a mad prices and if somebody pays up they will scour the country for a copy.

 

[shed9]

CMT is a good brand in terms of router bits. You can often find good deals on the Internet if you look for them.

 

[billw]

It's not just the lastability Bill, it's the safety aspect too. There is a good chance that with the "low cost" bits that the TCT can very often come off at high speed, they also tend to chip far more easily due to being much thinner than a quality bit and therefore weaker. Esp if you are working in knotty/gnarly material.
I've had tips come off and go through cabinet sides in the past and now will only buy what I know to be a decent bit.

Yeah don't get me wrong I'm definitely not looking at buying something that's cheap and it turns out its made of cat hair and recycled hypodermic needles held together with marmalade.

However, as nice as some of the quality bits are (I have one from Trend Pro and one from Wealdens so I agree they do a great job) I'd like to have a play around with some of the bits on some scrap and see the results for myself, for which I would think a set from Trend suffices? I read a good tip on the internet to buy a set then if you use a bit frequently buy a better quality one that will last, the others might just sit in the box forever or get used once.

I've watched a few videos to get an idea but when they start talking about spiral updraft morticing I glaze over.

 

[AJB Temple]

It's a common sales tactic/rip-off. Have stuff available at different prices/deals and somebody will be caught out buying the highest priced.
You get it with variations all over the place; book-dealers are bad ; out of stock items get listed at a mad prices and if somebody pays up they will scour the country for a copy.

This is a bit misleading.

Most of the sets that Trend sell are consumer grade and whilst it is true that the cutters may be TCT, they are small TCT inserts. I don't know where they are made but they need treating with care (shallow depth of cut and care with speed of rotation and feed). Then they have the "trade" range, which usually have a green paint finish. These are a lot better. Then they have the proper professional or industrial range. These have a grey finish and tungsten carbide throughout blades. These are a lot more expensive and a lot better.

I think the consumer ones are no better than any cheap stuff on Amazon or wherever. The trade ones are OK for basic consumable such as worktop trimming. The industrial ones are totally fine but the price reflects that. I use Wealden personally when I buy new cutters now.

 

[Jacob]

This is a bit misleading.

Most of the sets that Trend sell are consumer grade and whilst it is true that the cutters may be TCT, they are small TCT inserts. I don't know where they are made but they need treating with care (shallow depth of cut and care with speed of rotation and feed). Then they have the "trade" range, which usually have a green paint finish. These are a lot better. Then they have the proper professional or industrial range. These have a grey finish and tungsten carbide throughout blades. These are a lot more expensive and a lot better.

I think the consumer ones are no better than any cheap stuff on Amazon or wherever. The trade ones are OK for basic consumable such as worktop trimming. The industrial ones are totally fine but the price reflects that. I use Wealden personally when I buy new cutters now.

Well yes if they are different that's different. But it should be clear from the advertising - works both ways some people go by low price but may be better served going a bit upmarket.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

My Trend set has been used and abused for decades, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. I've bought Wealden for things that get used more and are a bit more specialised, but I cannot fault the Trend for either quality or value. Speak as you find.

edit - mine are old, of course - they may be different now.

 

[billw]

Another question - for small bits (eg a 6mm straight cutter) does a 1/2" shank actually make any difference over a 1/4" shank? Wealden's 1/2" 6x20 bit is £19.80 and the 1/4" 6x19 is £8.83. OK yes there's a mm difference in length I know, but that's a big saving.

 

[Spectric]

Hi

Decent cutters are not just safer and give good clean cuts but they continue to deliver decent cuts wheras with cheaper cutters you soon notice they get dull and need some honing to put the edge back.

 

[Nick_D]

Another for Wealdon. Bought some fantastic spiral downcut bits from them recently. As opposed to the rubbish I bought on Amazon which too a few weeks to arrive and went straight into the bin after first use.
Just buy what you need when you need it...

 

[AJB Temple]

My Trend set has been used and abused for decades, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. I've bought Wealden for things that get used more and are a bit more specialised, but I cannot fault the Trend for either quality or value. Speak as you find.

edit - mine are old, of course - they may be different now.

I suspect that they have changed Phil. My experience is I was given a Trend set 1/2" as a present a couple of years ago. All the bits they sell in the boxed sets are the consumer grade ones. Both of the straight plunge bits (different sizes) broke at the weak point where the blade part meets the shaft - I was not abusing them. I also had chips on an Ovolo cutter. At the time I had no idea that Trend had different qualities of bit and found out when I spoke to them about the failures and researched more online. They clearly trade on the brand name, which is fair enough, and the sets are obviously built to a price. If you bought yours decades ago I would guess these marketing differentiating factors had not yet emerged.

 

[recipio]

If you mean mitre lock bits then the answer is very difficult ! They require multiple test pieces to get the settings just right. When you finally get the two parts fitting snugly. keep the test pieces as an aid to setting up next time. It all depends on the thickness of the wood of course.