1/2" or 1/4" shank router bits, and why?

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  • dbhost
    Slow and steady
    • Apr 2008
    • 9209
    • League City, Texas
    • Ryobi BT3100

    1/2" or 1/4" shank router bits, and why?

    So what's your preference in router bit shank size and why?

    For all but the most delicate, tiny profiles I personally prefer 1/2" shank.

    I started out with a basic Ryobi 1/4" shank non plunge router, as basic as they get, and a Skil I think it was a 12pc basic profiles bit set. I was edge routing a roundover in a table top I was making for a friends camper when I tried routing over a fairly mild knot on the edge, and the stupid shank bent.

    Ever since then I have absolutely hated using 1/4" shank bits, and will refuse to buy them unless that is the only way I can get that profile. I have a couple of them, but less than a dozen total at this time. Oh and that Skil was well under the warranty / return period from Lowes. I got a replacement set no problem. And I haven't bought a Skil bit, or blade since. Come to think of it, I bought a bunch of Skil stuff around the same time, 2004, jig saw, sander, those bits, and they all failed quite spectacularly, causing me to gain a pretty bad view of Skil as a brand... And by now everyone here, or at any forum I am active on should know, I am not a brand snob, and am perfectly happy with bargain priced/ consumer oriented tools as long as they are decent quality.

    I still really like my 1990s Skil USA made circular saw though. It's after they off shored to China when it all went to fertilizer.
    Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Please check out and subscribe to my Workshop Blog.
  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20914
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    #2
    My first router was Craftsman in the 1970s and only took 1/4 shank bits. Most of them were HSS Bits.
    I upgraded to a Bosch 1617 and also upgraded to carbide bits and decided to use all 1/2" shank bits except for a few special purpose bits... And especially for larger bits.
    This is why - didn't happen to me but I saw pictures on the web.
    Click image for larger version  Name:	bent router bit.jpg Views:	0 Size:	70.0 KB ID:	848324
    1/2" shanks are not twice as strong as 1/4" but at least four times stronger because the cross section area is four times more. And the added diameter also resists bending moment.

    They spin at speeds of up to 23,000 RPM where the centripetal forces are incredible when off-center, so you don't want one that can come unbalanced and throw pieces of carbide around.

    So all my bits are 1/2".

    Well. up until a few of years ago, anyway. I bought a Bosch trim router and they only take 1/4" shank bits so I have been building a small collection of 1/4" shank roundover, chamfer and round nose for edge finishing and sign lettering work for small projects. The trim routers are much easier to work with one hand and support work with the other.
    Last edited by LCHIEN; 02-12-2022, 02:49 PM.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

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    • dbhost

      dbhost
      commented
      Editing a comment
      Wow, and my Skil bit bent but nowhere near that radically, it was only off a few degrees, but how fast they spin the vibration was VERY violent... And yes, I avoid 1/4 as much as I can. Can't always get away with it but when I can, I do....
  • twistsol
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 2893
    • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
    • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

    #3
    A quick survey of my router table shows roughtly a 2.5 to 1 preference for half in bits. I've never bent one, but have broken a 1/4" spiral bit. For me, it is more about not changing out the collet so I stick with 1/2" whenever I can.

    I also have 8mm and 10mm collets for my Festool OF1400 router, but I think I only have a single 8mm shaft bit and curse every time I've tried to shove it in a 1/4" collet.
    Chr's
    __________
    An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
    A moral man does it.

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    • leehljp
      Just me
      • Dec 2002
      • 8429
      • Tunica, MS
      • BT3000/3100

      #4
      I started out with 1/4" bits, and began my 1/2" bit acquisition in the early '90s. By the year 2000 I had more 1/2" bits than 1/4" bits. I now have about 3 times as many 1/2" bits than 1/4" ones. I have five 1/2 inch routers and three 1/4" routers. I used to have four 1/4" routers and gave 3 away. In the past 2 years, I have added two more 1/4" trim routers. I am re-discovering the 1/4" router benefits and fun.

      For the 1/4", it is handy and easy to hold and set up. I do not use large or moulding bits in the 1/4", but they are great for 1/4" round over and cove, and for smaller round overs. I have 1/4", 3/16", 1/8" and 1/16" round overs and all but the 1/16" in cove bits. Excellent for quick trimming of a board. I have a Makita 1/4" trim router that I really enjoy using:
      https://www.amazon.com/Makita-RT0701...0&sr=8-12&th=1
      I used the Makita for sign making too. Lightweight, plunge and easy control is a necessity for small letters in sign making.

      That said, the vast majority of my routing world is with 1/2" routers and bits. I have two 1/2" routers mounted in my router table. Although I am not totally through with my new router table, I am using it regularly.
      Last edited by leehljp; 02-12-2022, 10:41 PM.
      Hank Lee

      Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted!

      Comment

      • mpc
        Senior Member
        • Feb 2005
        • 979
        • Cypress, CA, USA.
        • BT3000 orig 13amp model

        #5
        Like Hank, I started with a 1/4 inch router and thus 1/4 inch bits. I have a couple 1/4 inch bit sets/collections from some of the vendors that don't exist today. Not long after that though, based on reading stuff, I wanted a 1/2 inch capable router and the correspondingly beefier/larger bits. This predates routers with soft-start and built-in electronic speed control, at least on the consumer level routers. I have an older Craftsman router and older Ryobi router (1/4 and 1/2 inch respectively) from the router stone-age.

        I try to buy bits in 1/2 inch size mostly, especially any with a bottom guide bearing, just for the extra shaft strength. I've never had vibration issues with 1/4 inch shank bits, nor have I experienced a bit shank bending as in Loring's rather frightening pic... though I did have a 1/4 inch shank completely break in the router table while making a dado cut. The workpiece shielded the majority of the pieces from me, much of the busted portion ended up falling onto the router and into the box underneath the router table. Some pieces of carbide though escaped through the cut part of the dado and got blasted well away from the router table, towards a car parked several feet away. I never did find those pieces...

        So now I use only 1/2 inch bits in the router table unless the bit is only available in 1/4 inch style. When using a hand-held router, you can feel how much force is acting on the bit... so you have some idea "hey, this is taking too much effort to control - the possibility of bit/shank bending or breaking is pretty high." In the router table, moving the workpiece, I didn't feel that warning force as much since friction along the table top, along the fence, and supporting some of the workpiece weight, distorted my perception. I have a cordless Ridgid router and the small Dewalt DW611 which are 1/4 inch routers and are darn handy to use compared to larger/heavier routers. After that router table experience, I take smaller bites into the workpiece at all times - hand-held routing or table-mounted work. I'd say I have twice as many 1/2 inch bits as 1/4 bits in my regular use collection; I still have some of those early 1/4 inch bits in their original collection boxes that I rarely use as they are cheaper/lower quality bits.

        mpc

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        • LCHIEN
          Internet Fact Checker
          • Dec 2002
          • 20914
          • Katy, TX, USA.
          • BT3000 vintage 1999

          #6
          I have broken a spiral 1/4" bit. It was the first one I bought, and I think I chucked it up and tried to cut a half an inch. Snapped it. I recall it broke in the spiral area. MLCS told me that the cross section thickness of spiral bits is very low after the spiral is cut into it. They told me that because carbide is so brittle, you should not take more than 1/16th depth cut per pass with that thin a bit and then they sent me a new one for free. An act of kindness that has kept me a MLCS customer for a long time. This was probably 17 years ago or so.

          Spiral bits because they are made of a single piece of carbide are much easier to make with the same diameter shank as cutting diameter, and of course, the shank is not where it failed on this occasion; a 1/2" inch shank does not help when the bit is just 1/4".
          Last edited by LCHIEN; 02-13-2022, 03:40 AM.
          Loring in Katy, TX USA
          If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
          BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

          Comment

          • cwsmith
            Veteran Member
            • Dec 2005
            • 2737
            • NY Southern Tier, USA.
            • BT3100-1

            #7
            My first router was a Craftsman 1/4" which I received from my FIL for Christmas in the late 60's. I rarely used it and for simple straight trim work the 1/4" was just fine. Most of my woodworking was mostly carpentry related to home improvement back then. When I retired in 2003, I decided 'woodworking' might be a creative outlet and took advantage of some local HD sales the new store in our area was having. I bought a Ryobi router table combo with their 1/4" router and got a fairly good bargain on their wall-mounted 40-piece 1/4-inch bit set. I played around with it a bit, and it was okay for a starter. I also bought a Ryobi 3-base router combo which had both 1/4 and 1/2 collets. It was a pretty decent I thought until around a year old the motor housing swelled and it wouldn't fit a couple of the bases. Disappointing!

            About that time I took a liking to Ryobi products and started eyeing the BT-3100 and that is when I discovered the BT3 Forum which expanded my horizons quite a bit. Somewhere around 2004 IIRC I bought the Ridgid 2-base router combo and it also had the two interchangeable collets. Soon thereafter, I purchased a 1/2" shank set of bits from a referral here on this forum. Just prior to that purchase I had snapped the shaft on a 1/4" straight bit. It was in the table at the time, so other than a bit of noise, no harm was done.

            Ever since that time, I prefer to use 1/2" shank bits and whenever I buy a new profile or straight bit I buy 1/2" shanks, mostly Bosch as that's the biggest variety locally.

            This past summer I gave away the old Ryobi table and router along with a half-dozen or so unused 1/4 shank bits. I still use my old Craftsman with it's 1/4" collet on the rare occasion I cut a dovetail using my HF dovetail guide. That's very rare though.

            CWS
            Think it Through Before You Do!

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