Router bit set

I'm on the side of no big sets. A small set of roundover bits as suggested is a good basic item (picture below), as are changable bearing bits for rabbets. I have a lot of Freud bits that I really like--good brand. For door sets, my personal preference is Sommerfeld and I have a couple with different profiles. His sets are top quality, but for the ones used most he has a yellow star shaped jig that make setup pretty easy (picture below), and there are very detailed videos on how to get the most from them. The videos are online or you can buy a set. I have the DVDs for convenience. He also shows great router technique as a skilled cabinet maker was his first career.

The Sommerfeld bit sets for door making have matched shanks. Drop a small grommet into the collet, set the first bit and the rest of the set is set up as well. I know that Freud now makes matched bit sets that are probably very good.

Pattern bits with half inch shanks, mortising bits (picture below) for dados and mortises, and trim bits are also basic, but you can buy them one at a time, many at HD. Lowes has dropped Freud and has Irwin bits, which brand I don't much like. Sommerfeld also makes that star shaped easy set jig for Freud bits (picture below). The jig adjusts for thickness of the workpiece and makes easy work of setting up tricky and precision set bits. The easy set star shaped jig is about $30 and well worth using on certain Sommerfeld and Freud bits. The Freud jig is red, the other is yellow. Pictures below

Table vs freehand: Each has its own advantages and uses. There is no "one size fits all" answer on this. When starting, I found a used copy of Bill Hylton's book, "Woodworking With The Router." There's a newer Hylton book, but I don't like it as much as the older one. Lots of great information in there.

This string covers the matter of cutter hardness, which is the first time I recall seeing that information on the Forum. Thanks Stick for posting that. I found out the hard way that harder also means more fragile. Storing bits so they don't hit against each other is a good idea. Stick suggested using a foam filled case to do this, and others suggest drilling half and quarter inch holes in a board and seating the bits in that, and placing that in a drawer or some other protective cover. Sommerfeld's door making bit sets come in a very cool wooden box that was made on a router. This keeps them together because I don't use them often enough to recognize which bit goes with each set, and I don't risk mixing them up.

I have to agree with the non-set folks. If you buy a set of 15 - 30 bits for about $50 to $100, you're paying about $3 to $4 per bit. With any profit built in, those bits are probably about $1 - $2 each - what kind of quality will you get for that small amount of money.
Disclaimer - I do have a "set" of 16 bits but they came along with a used PC690 router I bought (they were thrown in). I've probably used only 1/2 of them or less.

Here's a link to a presentation put on by Jim Heavey of Wood Magazine at a woodworking show - it's a bit lengthy but if you go to about the 20 minute mark, he discusses the basic bits one needs: cove, roundover, straight, chamfer, rabbetting, flush trim


Router table or hand-held?? I do most of my routing on a table, but..... there are some things you can't do on a table - grooves/dados in wide pieces just one example. So then it's hand-held with a jig. Is one more dangerous than the other. Not in my view - neither is more or less dangerous than the other - the danger is in your experience (or lack of) and your technique. I think both methods are safe, as long as you respect the equipment and use the right technique.

I started out buying individual bits. Then about 15 years ago I bought a 12- 15 piece set (its at home and I’m not so don’t remember exactly). It’s roughly Sears quality. I paid $35 on sale, so $3 or less per bit. True as others have stated I haven’t used them all but I’ve used over half and true they don’t do as good a job as a Freud quad cut but they do an acceptable job and I still haven’t worn any of them out. It has a couple of cove sizes, a couple of round overs, a couple of straight bits, a rabbeting but, a dovetail , and an ogee I think. There might be a couple of others. At $3 a bit it won’t matter if you never use a couple but you’ll have them to try if you want. The entire set only cost what one good quality bit would cost and as already pointed out, if you do wear one out you can replace it with a good one.

Of the people who have said they wouldn’t buy a set I wonder if any of them ever did when they were starting out? The reason I ask that I’d that I have never seen anyone who did buy a set say they regretted it that I can recall.

When I first got my router I bought a Bosch 1/4" shank 15 piece set from the UK, it comes in a green plastic case and sells on Amazon UK (I would post a link but I don't have enough posts for that) for around the 40 GBP mark so 2.66 GBP a bit, I have used those bits over and over, like Chuck said above the sets may not be the same quality of the top of the line bits but are better than the cheap Chinese sets IMO. It's a great starter set.

If you want to see it go to Amazon UK and search for: Bosch DIY 15tlg. Fräser-Set HM (1/4"-Schaft)

Here's a tip for later on, I now buy individual bits from China, not the no name ones from Ebay but Huhao ones from AliExpress, you have to wait a couple of weeks to get them but they are really well made and sharp as a razor, and I haven't worn one out yet, I am not saying that they are the same quality as Freud but if like me you are not a professional or using them every day they will out last you. They are better than the Bosch ones and cost around 1/4 of the price of a Freud bit. I just did a book case for my son and doing mortises and tenons for the shelves there were no little feathery fingers that you get with cheap bits on cross cuts, they cut like a hot knife through butter.