8mm or 1/4" router bits

[joiner1970]

This is aimed mainly at people this side of the pond.

I have recently been buying 8mm bits and found they are less noisy and with less vibration with my of1010 but I was just about to buy some twin flutted straight cutters and wondered is it still worth getting 8mm shanks on the smaller say 6mm cutters. I know there is the obvious thing that the 6mm cutter with  an 8mm shank will only plunge the length of the blade because the shank is wider than the blade.

Just wondered what other people thought.

Chris

 

[nickao]

The common view is always use the biggest shank that your work allows for(even if the cutter is smaller than the shank).

With that being said in my actual use with good quality router bits(Whiteside, CMT, etc) I notice no additional or excessive vibration from the smaller 1/4" cutters that the larger shanks don't have. I have never broken a small cutter at the shank either(other than solid carbide).

 

[ajones]

with any cutter used correctly it should be impossible to tell any difference in use as they cannot be that marginal that said I always go with the largest shank possible.

 

[jvsteenb]

Most manufacturers of high quality router bits in Europe don't offer any significant line-up of 6mm or 1/4"shanked bits - so don't bother.
Go 8mm ( abundantly available our side of the pond ) or bigger if the bits are large diameter and your router supports it.
All else being equal: thicker shank = more mass = more dampening = cleaner cut. When you're in Europe, there's no valid reason to buy 6mm or 1/4" bits.
Some old stock might have found it's way over here and be pleasantly affordable, but other than that: decent quality 1/4" and especially decent quality 6mm bits are very few and very far between in the Netherlands.
Being from the UK, YMMV.

Regards,

Job