Festool Router Bits

[Neill]

Although I have yet to fire it up, as of a week ago, I am the proud owner of a OF 1400 router.  I have a number of 1/2" and 1/4" inch shank router bits, primarily for edge work and for my Leigh and Katy Jig dovetail jigs.  They are an assortment of brands such as Craftsman, Freud, Oldham and Whiteside.  They are all in pretty good shape.

I am sure many Festool owners have faced this same dilemma.  I know that as I add bits they will likely be the Festool brand.  But what about my existing bits?  Should I consider replacing them now or just wait for them to wear out and replace them at that time.

And just to speak some heresy, what about other quality brands such as Whiteside, Infinity or Freud?  They are certainly less expensive, especially when you buy them is sets (assuming you Will use the profiles that are in the set).

Any advice will be most appreciated.

Neill

 

[greg mann]

Use 'em if you got 'em. My approach is to buy from Festool what is exclusive to them. I have their rail and style, roundover, and panel raising bits that make a door look I can't find anywhere else, as an example.

 

[Cannuck]

I agree with Greg. 

I consider my Freud bits to be of a high quality, and would continue to use them until they are beyond usable.  I would likely replace them with the same in the future too.  I would only consider Festool bits where I can't find a similar bit from Freud - such as the hand hole cutout "roundover" bit, or even the 5mm line hole boring bits for the LR32 set.

 

[Jim Becker]

I can see no meaningful reason, including financial, to replace router cutters before they need to be replaced. At that point, you can choose what you need. I'm sure that the Festool cutters are excellent quality, but with tooling like this, there are a lot of great choices. Profile and quality are the number one decision points for me on these things.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

No reason to toss those old router bits, if they are quality bits!  I still use my old ones mostly.  As others have said, Festool does have some unique bits, and when I'm using the VS600 dovetail jig, I'm pretty much locked into the Festool copy ring/bit pairs.

I really like the 8mm shanks.  They seem to fill a nice void where 1/4 seems a little flimsy and 1/2 is overkill, but maybe thats just psychology...

I am reallywary of bit sets.  The best cost comparison is to the specific bits you actually need right now.  I'll confess that I have a few bits that have never been used, but they were "cheap" because they came in a set.  That's the most expensive tool - the one you buy and don't use!

 

[ken257]

Keep your old bits. One of the great things about the 1400 is its flexibility to use most any bit. I still use and buy non Festool bits. For example I just bought 6 Whiteside bits for box joints and dovetails to use with my Incra fence on the router table. But on the other hand I have a good collection of Festool straight bits because they can be plunged which is something that many will not do. The Festool bits also are easy to use with the MFS and Festool guide bushings because all markings are in metric. I like to work in one system or the other at a time and not mix them. The bit is determined by the task, so buy as you need.