Did a search and found a lot of people like Whiteside bits but most of the information was published 4-6 years ago. With the way companies go & come I was wondering what people liked today. I have used Liberty-Line, MLCS, & Freud, but never Whiteside.
Whiteside, Rockler, Amana, and Freud are all good brands. I have had more chipout issues with CMT so I don't buy those anymore.
If they weren't painted, I doubt I could tell the brands apart. I certainly couldn't tell you which bit made the cut based on performance. They all cut great without chatter and hardly any tearout.
I like Amana, and whiteside bits. They seem to hold an edge really well, and have a really good selection. The only others I have bought are the Freud straight trim bits from the big box store. They seem to perform well too. I believe Whiteside is still made in the USA. Not sure about Amana. Never tried out the MLCS, or rockler bits. I can't get them locally, and figure if I have to order it. May as well be Amana or Whiteside. Trusted brands thst have never let me down.
I received a set of 70 bits, Yonico brand, as a gift. 1/2" shank, quality is nice, maybe not as premium as the more expensive brands but the 70-bit set cost $130 or $140 or so. I would buy more individual bits from them. MLCS is supposedly good budget.
I might dish out more $$$ for a bit that i'd use a ton, like a 1/8" roundover or a flush trim bit, since those tend to get a lot more mileage than most.
I always clean and touch up my bits with diamond paddles after use. Yep! I'm an anal sorta guy, but all brands seem to work well after a good cleaning and sharpening touch up. I lube the bearings as well.
Simple Green is my friend.
Bill
Whiteside is pretty much the standard to which other router bits are compared if you want quality go whiteside if you want quantity buy a 90 piece router set on ebay for $90.
Tough to beat Whiteside for overall quality….top notch steel, brazing, carbide, and bearings throughout. Most of the Eagle America are made by WS. Infinity bits are really good too. For cheaper bits I like the MLCS. Have also had good experiences with Freud, CMT, Katana, and Price Cutter, but it's been a while since I bought any, and as you pointed out….things do change, so check the country of origin. Chinese made bits can be fine, but manufacturers with a stellar reputation rarely move manufacturing to China to improve quality, if you get my drift….they send them to China to cut costs, so I wouldn't pay a premium for those.
I have a CNC router and go through a lot of bits. By far, my favorite for sharpness and durability is Whiteside. I don't recommend MLCS. They have now become the cheap Chinese version of bits from Eagle America. My most often used bit is a 1/4 inch 90 degree v-bit. I decided to find out how they compared to Whiteside, so I bought a package of 5 of them. All but one were absolutely unusable. One had a great big burr from the machining operation. A second one wouldn't even fit in the collet because the shank diameter measured 0.265 inches. Two more were dull and cut worse than the worn out Whiteside they were supposed to replace. The fifth one was usable but it didn't last very long. I didn't expect these bits to last as long as premium bits but I expected them to at least work new out of the bag. I probably could have complained to the company and gotten replacements but I'm no longer interested in that brand at any price. I can't afford to waste time and ruin good material just to see if they can make good ones.
Whiteside, Freud (for profiles they make in quadracutter) and South East tool. South East tool is lesser known than Whiteside in the hobby community but generally speaking they are equal to Whiteside (and made just a few miles away, also in NC), they make a much larger range of tooling and accessories and are generally cheaper than Whiteside. Carbide Processors carries them as well as Whiteside and they are my go to unless I need it fast then it is local.
When I got my first router, way too many years ago, I used Craftsman bits and fell with those out of love very quickly.
Then I went to American Eagle but haven't bought from them since MLCS bought them.
Roger Clark aka Rex, who is surely missed since his passing in 2014, got me started buying milling cutters as they were less costly and higher quality.
So now I use a lot of Onsrud, Niagara, Amana; and Rex was correct
And I also use other shank sizes for my CNC. Amana has a site that links to some very good videos.
Add another for Whiteside. I miss Woodcraft's Whiteside bit of the month where they mark one router bit down for the month. I've built up my collection of needed bits because of that sale. Worth every penny, IMO.
I would like to thank everyone for your recommendations. With the price of everything now days if you can get quality for a few dollars more it cheaper than buying the cheap ones 2 or 3 times IMHO.
I go to whiteside first, and if they don't make it, I like MLCS, and CMT. I've got a small fortune in whiteside.
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