Who is the BOZO...

[Black wallnut]

...that convinces retailers to stock mostly 1/4" shank router bits! There I was yesterday in need of a 3/8" beading bit. I'm closing in on the final stages of building a corner wide screen tv cabinet for a co-worker. I have what I thought was a good assortment of router bits. I thought I had a bearing to convert my 3/8" round over into a beading bit but do not after searching for a while. I needed a few other supplies and a handful of hardware and fasteners so off I went to my local lumber yard. They stock Frued cutters and blades so I thought I'd be in luck. After browsing over their selection and noting the prices I started to actually look for the bit I wanted. All they had was a 1/4" shank bit. I, believe it or not, am not totally opposed to paying $30+ for one router bit if it is of top quality but there is no way I'm paying that for a 1/4" shank. Sure I could have just removed the bearing from my 1/2" shank round over and chucked it up into my table mounted router but I was dong this with a hand held. I had other stuff on the saw cart that I'd have to move to use the table mounted one. Oh well. I had a 1/4" one that had a beading bearing that came with the Marvel 60 router I purchased a few years ago. I just used that one. It worked, no chip out so I guess it's time to bite the bullet and buy one on-line for the next project.

Hindsight is that I think I've noticed before that my local lumber yard does not stock 1/2" shank bits; well at least not in the profile that I was wanting. Oh well, it is they who lost a sale!

Later in the day as I was glueing up an additional part of the cabinet I discovered that I'm plagued as most of us are with the not-enough-clamps syndrome! I made do with what I had but it just is not fun to use a 50" Bessey to hold a box no bigger than 14". Guess I'll have to buy some more clamps while I in the spending mood.

[jackellis]

Guess I'll have to buy some more clamps while I in the spending mood.

Please!! Spend a lot! It's good for the economy

[cabinetman]

A lot of the retail outlets are usually stocked with 1/4" shanks as they are what fits most routers. IOW, they are more popular with the average hobbyist who may be just doing light use. More serious users will likely shop at more industrial oriented outlets or order online.

Most profiles that are designed for 1/4" shanks work very well with that shank. Half inch shanked bits do cost more and are more difficult to find in the average lumberyard. So, That BOZO is likely the guy that knows what will sell more easily. This is why I rarely see shaper cutters at those retail outlets.

Then there are those beauties that only are available in 1/2".
.

[LCHIEN]

its a fact that virtually all woodworking routers take either 1/4" only or 1/4 and 1/2" shank bits. So if you are going to have limited stock do you want something you can sell to everybody or just 1/2 of the buyers?

And to make it worse the weekend warriors who go to the hardware store for routers (no offense BW) they own most of the 1/4" only routers.

True WW buy fom specialty stores and on-line specialty dealers. They don't buy bits from big box HW stores unless they need something in a hurry then they can't afford to be choosy about 1/4 vs 1/2" shanks.

so they stock what will move. I haven't bought a router bit from the HW stores for years and years.

P.S. I can get the exact bit i want (size, profile and 1/2" shank) for 1/2 the price of the closest similar (but not exactly what i wanted) bit from the box store delivered for free with no tax in 2-3 days from someplace I won't say who but their initials are MLCS.

[Uncle Cracker]

its a fact that virtually all woodworking routers take either 1/4" only or 1/4 and 1/2" shank bits. So if you are going to have limited stock do you want something you can sell to everybody or just 1/2 of the buyers?

I think that's it in a nutshell. The people who make these decisions are more concerned about floorspace in the store than about what a serious WW'er (with perhaps a 3-1/4 HP router) will want.

[shoottx]

This is not intended to be a negative comment so please don't take it that way.

I am very surprised you would find what the hardware store stocks not appropriate for your urgent need. We on this site spend a great deal of time searching out deals on the internet or alerting members about close outs at BORGs, usually equipment that did not sell well to the general public.

Rarely do we talk about supporting the local hardware store and discussing with them what would increase our purchases through them. Most of the discussion is where to buy cheaper and what online sources have an item the cheapest. I find it as no surprise the local hardware store does not have a semi special bit on short notice. Nor am I surprised that they stock what sells.

So I might be the BOZO, But expecting the local store to have a special item on short notice at a favorable price might also describe the BOZO.

[jonmulzer]

A while back I needed a router bit and did not really have time to wait for an etailer so off I went to Lowe's. It was a simple 3/4" straight cutter so I assumed that if they did have one it would be 1/2" shank. That is a big cutter for the smaller shank to handle. I was wrong. I found a ton of the cutters I needed, with 1/4" shanks. So I started rummaging and lo and behold, in the back was the bit I needed. A 1 1/4" length, 3/4" diameter, 1/2" shank Bosch bit so I snatched it up and went to the checkout only to find it was not in the system. Numerous managers and way too much time later I think I ended up paying $10 for it IIRC.

Based upon what others have said, I believe they are right. They quit carrying 1/2" shank bits because of two reasons. The first that they pointed out is that the smaller shank will fit almost any router whereas the larger will not. The other that I wish to add is, 1/2" shank bits are more expensive. If you are the common hobbyist that does not use a router on every project and might only have one because it was a gift, and you need to use it for one specific task, are you going to spend the extra $5-$10 for a larger shank? Probably not, you are going to go with what is cheaper. So the larger shank bits sit on the shelves. Inventory control software points this out and then they get closed out, never to come back again.

[BobSch]

Inventory control software points this out and then they get closed out, never to come back again.

That's it! It's the %&^$ computer's fault!

I've run into problems like that in several types of stores and have been told some version of, "We just didn't sell enough of those, so we stopped carrying them."

[Black wallnut]

The why this is my current pet rant is that there are many different brands that the local store could stock. The fact that they are selling a good brand instead of a cheap brand is the difference. They also stock some lower cost bits, also carbide. They are already taking up space with a $30~40 router bit. I doubt the occasional user is going to spend this amount of cash. I would also bet that most of the folks that buy these bits own a 1/2" router. But hey, ya'll are probably right.

[Hoover]

I believe Willard Scott would be offended!!

[LCHIEN]

...

Based upon what others have said, I believe they are right. They quit carrying 1/2" shank bits because of two reasons. The first that they pointed out is that the smaller shank will fit almost any router whereas the larger will not. The other that I wish to add is, 1/2" shank bits are more expensive. If you are the common hobbyist that does not use a router on every project and might only have one because it was a gift, and you need to use it for one specific task, are you going to spend the extra $5-$10 for a larger shank? Probably not, you are going to go with what is cheaper. So the larger shank bits sit on the shelves. Inventory control software points this out and then they get closed out, never to come back again.

You know, it always surprises me but when MLCS offers the same bit in two shanks, the 1/2" is almost always the same price as the 1/4".
True for individual bits as well as their 15-,30-, 45- and 66-piece kits. A lot of individual bits are not offered in 1/4" and some bits are not offered in 1/2" due to the mismatch in sizes of the shank and bit, or the fact that making larger diameter bits in 1/4" shanks would be foolhardy and unsafe. But if you look for comparable bits in sizes that are suitable for either shank, then the prices are almsot always the same. It's like, maybe they are pushing the large shank bits because the customers have fewer problems with them.

[Uncle Cracker]

It's like, maybe they are pushing the large shank bits because the customers have fewer problems with them.

Probably has something to do with that. The slightly higher manufacturing costs one might expect for the 1/2" bits is probably offset by a higher take-back rate on the 1/4" bits. It's probably a wash.

[leehljp]

As to local shops - much of it is the perception and knowledge of the local shop owner/manager. I went to my local (US) hardware store back in 2005 looking for a Bosch ("T") type of jig saw blade. I happened to have my broken one with me. They looked at it like they had never seen anything like that before. I looked at their 4 jigsaw selection and understood where they were coming from.

[LCHIEN]

Probably has something to do with that. The slightly higher manufacturing costs one might expect for the 1/2" bits is probably offset by a higher take-back rate on the 1/4" bits. It's probably a wash.

Does anybody know how router bits are made?
is the shank a separate machined item from the body and welded to the body or is it all one piece
where they turn the shank and then NC mill the cutter wing gullets and then the carbide tips are brazed on?

if its all one piece they have to remove less material (less work) for the larger shanks. But if the shanks are made separately then the materials costs for the 1/2" shanks would be higher.

Seems liek they'd be better balanced (important at 23,000 RPM) if machined from a single solid piece rather than two piecces welded together.

[leehljp]

Does anybody know how router bits are made?
is the shank a separate machined item from the body and welded to the body or is it all one piece
where they turn the shank and then NC mill the cutter wing gullets and then the carbide tips are brazed on?

I am sure that at least some 1/4 shanked bits are "cast" and then turned. I have some older bits that show the "casting" radius at the shank and then the "machining" to bring it to tolerance.