Where to buy router bits

**feldah** · 07-01-2019

Oh sorry location is not Antigua ;-).

I guess it was randomly picked by me. I am from Germany so location shouldn't be an issue. I will then follow your advice. The APT shop seems to be a good middle way to thae really cheap ones from Bangood. I think I will buy a mix between both. So I can play with the ones from Bangood and then use APT ones.

Maybe an additional question. As my first task will be to mill my MDF spoilboard. Dimension will be 3,8m x 1,2m. The spoilboard bits especially have a huge variety in prices from 4- 250$. I think as I have a bigger table I should use a bit with at least an Inch diameter? Any recommendations which one is ok and doesn't break the bank?

**Clive S** · 07-01-2019

Originally Posted by feldah

Oh sorry location is not Antigua ;-).

Maybe an additional question. As my first task will be to mill my MDF spoilboard. Dimension will be 3,8m x 1,2m. The spoilboard bits especially have a huge variety in prices from 4- 250$. I think as I have a bigger table I should use a bit with at least an Inch diameter? Any recommendations which one is ok and doesn't break the bank?

You can change the location as that helps others when suggesting things.

I use one of these https://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Surface-Trim.html

**Wal** · 07-01-2019

>I use one of these https://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Surface-Trim.html

+1 on this. A decent cutter for the money. Stay shallow with it and don't run it at 24K..!

**paulus.v** · 09-01-2019

Originally Posted by feldah

Maybe an additional question. As my first task will be to mill my MDF spoilboard. Dimension will be 3,8m x 1,2m. The spoilboard bits especially have a huge variety in prices from 4- 250$. I think as I have a bigger table I should use a bit with at least an Inch diameter? Any recommendations which one is ok and doesn't break the bank?

For my spoilboard cleaning I bought this one. I've got a few other Arden tools as well. Not cheap but very good quality, made in Taiwan.

I bought before a similar one but cheap Chinese make and after surfacing a 20x10 cm piece of pinewood it went blunt. I think the inserts were just mild steel, not even HSS or something. Or they tried to bind the tungsten carbide particles with super glue? :)

**feldah** · 09-01-2019

Thank you guys. That's already a good selection. And good to see that I don't have to buy a 25$ bit as my first router bit. I started to get nervous that it was that expensive ;-)

**paulus.v** · 09-01-2019

I have edited the ebay link as the one I pointed has ended while writing the post. Not to be confused with the cheap Chinese yellow bits that ebay suggests! The Arden bits are sold only by one vendor, bestones2010

**feldah** · 09-01-2019

Originally Posted by paulus.v

I have edited the ebay link as the one I pointed has ended while writing the post. Not to be confused with the cheap Chinese yellow bits that ebay suggests! The Arden bits are sold only by one vendor, bestones2010

Oh thanks. I just saw the Chinese ones. How long do these Arden bits stay sharp. As the expensive ones have exchangeable blades.

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**cropwell** · 09-01-2019

Originally Posted by paulus.v

I think the inserts were just mild steel, not even HSS or something. Or they tried to bind the tungsten carbide particles with super glue? :)

A lot of the cheap tools are sintered Tungsten carbide and they don't have the strength to hold an edge.

**paulus.v** · 10-01-2019

Originally Posted by feldah

Oh thanks. I just saw the Chinese ones. How long do these Arden bits stay sharp. As the expensive ones have exchangeable blades.

I don't know how long will they stay sharp. I didn't used them a lot and are all still sharp. I used the most a 1' dia round nose bit cutting about 500-700 meters in MDF and it is still very sharp.
I was also looking at CMT tools with replaceable inserts but I think the price is justified only if you are routing MDF as a business, which would mean cutting maybe 500 mtr per day or hour.

Originally Posted by cropwell

A lot of the cheap tools are sintered Tungsten carbide and they don't have the strength to hold an edge.

I think all tungsten carbide in tools is sintered. Mixed with cobalt and liquid sintered, where the cobalt melts and fills the space between the carbide particles. Most likely those Chinese inserts had no tungsten carbide in the composition, they looked more like cast iron, maybe had some iron carbide inside :)