Router collet question

[Trick]

Hey everybody new to working with routers.
Question I have is: I bought the Hitachi M12V on Amazon the other day which everyone said was a great deal at $111. It is a 1/2 collet. My dad had a router that is 1/4 collet, for the sake of saving some money I was considering splitting a large set of router bits with him. If we were to get the 1/4 size, he could use these but will mine also take 1/4 as well as the 1/2 inch size? Is there any disadvantage to this if this will work? We could get a large set and we could both use if this is the case.
Love the site and look forward to any advise.

[L. D. Jeffries]

Congrats on ur choice of routers! Have loved mine for past 8 yrs-still going strong! Yes, u can use both 1/4 & 1/2 with a collet reducer. Just be carefull when using 1/4 in urs..gentle cuts, etc. since the smaller shank is not as strong as the 1/2. I'd buy individual bits since a lot of big sets have bits u will probably never use. Good luck!

[LCHIEN]

Congrats on ur choice of routers! Have loved mine for past 8 yrs-still going strong! Yes, u can use both 1/4 & 1/2 with a collet reducer. Just be carefull when using 1/4 in urs..gentle cuts, etc. since the smaller shank is not as strong as the 1/2. I'd buy individual bits since a lot of big sets have bits u will probably never use. Good luck!

we don't particularly like 1/4" shank bits....

been discussed before.

[RodKirby]

Well, I love 1/4" shank router bits. That's coz I'm gentle with them

[JimD]

For me it depends on the bit. A 1/8 round-over might as well be 1/4 inch shank, for instance. I also have a solid carbide spiral bit that is 1/4 inch. On the other hand, I would not want to try a 1/2 round-over in a 1/4 shank. I had a 1/4 shank bend one time (it was a panel raising bit). It is scary. I made a mistake but still I prefer 1/2 shanks whenever reasonably possible.