Tried a router bit from a big box store vs a CMT bit yesterday

I needed a quick flush trim bit and grabbed a no-name one at Home Depot for $12. It burned the edge of some walnut plywood and left a rough cut after just 3 feet. Has anyone else found the price gap worth it on carbide bits?

2 comments

2 Comments

julia_fisher281mo ago

Wow, burned edge on walnut plywood? That's TERRIBLE. I've had the exact same experience with those cheap big box store bits and it drives me crazy. The no-name brands just don't have the same quality carbide so they get dull way faster. I switched to CMT bits a couple years ago and the difference is NIGHT and DAY. They stay sharp for so much longer and leave a clean cut every time. That $12 bit probably cost you more in wasted wood and frustration than a good bit would have.

skyler_white1mo ago

Used to be a total cheapskate about router bits, figured carbide was carbide and the brand markup was a scam lol. Then I grabbed a Whiteside flush trim for a big plywood project after a cheap one chattered and burned through a sheet of prefinished birch. Julia_fisher28 is spot on about CMT, that first cut was quiet and glass smooth, zero tearout. My cheap bit definitely wasted more material in that one bad pass than the cost difference. Never going back to mystery metal now.