Freud 12-152: 3/4 (Dia.) Double Flute Straight Bit (Eclipse Grind) Red

Its a Freud. They make good products. Cant go wrong.

worked great, well made!

High quality bit.

I made a cherry table and used it to cut mortises as well as groves the length of 6 planks. I made groves 1/2 inch deep for splines to locate the planks. The total distance would be roughly 55 feet of cutting. The bit was still sharp and cut 10 mortises 1 3/4 inch deep on the ends of the table. I believe theres a possibility that those who broke the bits tried to cut the full depth in a single pass and at too great of a speed. To cut the full 1 3/4 inch mortise I made 3 passes, which is more or less standard procedure. Using digital calipers I checked the floating tenons that fit the mortises and they measured .373 inches. .375 is 3/8 of an inch.

Razor sharp as expected. High quality Freud tool. I see reviews here from people who used this for something other than what it is intended for- mortising, edge trimming etc. This 15/32 bit is used to cut perfectly sized dados for 12mm offshore plywood. I buy 1/2 inch birch plywood, finished one side at a great price from the lumber supply, but it is not 1/2 it is 0.46, or 12mm. Using a standard 1/2 bit to route dados for cabinet making etc makes a dado that is way too big, loose and sloppy. You can also get what is marketed as a bit specifically for undersized offshore plywood, but it is 31/64ths which is very close, but still makes a groove a little too wide (1/64th) if you do precision work. The 31/64 groove will fit together easily with that extra room but does not look good. If you use 12mm plywood and can route a perfectly straight dado, this is the one you want. Youll need to use a clamp to pop the joint together but with no slop or shadow line. For a particularly difficult joint, Ill sand the edges of the panel going into the dado slightly and it slides right in.

You do the math... this should produce a very tight fit. It does. Pliers were required to force the 1/4 shelf pins into the 15/64 holes. But, that was the recommendation of the shelf pin jig maker (Rockler). I dont think I will be making frequent changes to the shelf positions. (I have used the bit only one time to make 16 shelf pin holes so I wont comment on either longevity or value for money.)

The first thing that impresses you about this bit, is the size. It is really large. The cutters are huge and as such, require more care than usual, especially if you are using it in a hand held router. Ive been using the bit in a 2 1/4 HP router, with a D handle installed. I jointed and squared 2 large boards 8ft x 12 x 3, hand held. I butted the router base against long straight edges and took cuts of about 1/16 to 1/8. The bit performed flawlessly, giving me very smooth edges on the boards, which were laminated 3/4 cabinet grade plywood (3) with a 3/4 layer of solid red oak. Of course, the 2 1/2 cutting length wasnt long enough to do the whole board. After making about a 2 1/4 cut with this bit, I turned the boards over and used a 1/2 trim bit, bearing on the bottom, to finish off the cuts. The job turned out great, only requiring light passes with a smoothing plane to finish off the job. Im very pleased with the speed and ease that this bit jointed and squared these large pieces. Nothing else in my shop worked as well or as quickly. Now to the bad part. I got a little careless on the second board, while cutting one of the 8ft sides. I didnt keep the router dead flat on the surface and dipped into the cut. In a split second, that long cutter took a big bite out of the side and then climbed up and out of the cut, twisting me to the left. Fortunately, the D handle base is a very secure base, that allows you to have a very good hold on the router, so nothing happened other than scaring me half to death. But, if someone had been standing close to me on the left, the router would have been in their face in an instant. Ive been using routers for over 30 years and never had a router do that to me before. Of course, I usually use a router table when possible, which is the sensible thing to do with such large bits. Ive got other projects planned, where Ill be using this bit and router configuration again as a hand held jointer. But, the next time, Ill make and install a much larger router base plate that will keep the router flat on the work surface. That should make things idiot proof....

Let me just say I love freud cutting tools. I rate things in consideration to the price range they are in along with what it is supposed to do and how it actually performs. Usually everything I purchase that is made by freud gets the highest rating in my book, because the performance quality at the price range their products are in are always on par if not better. I have a large selection of freud saw blades, forstner bits, and router bits and they all perform to the highest standard of the price range they are in. Now with this 1-3/4 straight bit. My experience has been a little different which is why I gave it 4 stars only. The bit is a beast and for the most part it performs great, but I purchased this bit to plane wood down flat and level. Seeing as I do not have a jointer or a plane. I will say it that this is the first time for me to plan wood in this manner, but this bit leaves uneven lines in the surface of the wood that I am planing. Which is why I gave it 4 stars. The lines are easy to sand out with some heavy grit sandpaper or a smoothing plane, but this is a straight bit that is supposed to perform as a bottom smoothing bit. So it should not leave lines in the wood surface. I am thinking that maybe I could have received a slightly defective bit. So I ordered one of the Amana 1-3/4 straight bits. I am going to give that a go and see if it does the same thing. Even with the lines .I would still recommend this bit, because the lines can be sanded out afterwards and freud bits usually last a long time. Plus this particular bit is large enough to eat away a lot of material in one pass and it is sharp as hell.

I wanted to flatten the end of a 6x6 reclaimed oak beam. The beam was just the right height to secure in my benchs tail vice, and I made a jig to control the path of my 2.25 HP plunge router. I chose this bit because of its size (1 diameter-- takes off a decent amount but not too scary-big) and because of its cutting depth, which was necessary for me to reach the piece with my jig, while a more typical slab-flattening bit was not able to do. Anyway, it worked great for that purpose!

To start off with, this product is great and I enjoy using it, but it measures at 1.4 instead of inch and a half. I use it to machine plastics, it leaves a great finish even during roughing cuts, the grind is good and it leaves a perpendicular wall if youre cutting a slot, etc. I have no reason to be upset that it isnt quite the size stated, I can make it work for my needs and I will have no problem ordering more tools from this company.