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

Quality piece of tooling. Ive used it with both a hand router and CNC so far and it moves through maple like butter. Cant yet speak to the longevity, but it has worked perfectly for surfacing the table Im workin on.

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.

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.

This bit cut as expected, and I have high expectations. Freud products continue to impress me. I use their saw blades almost exclusively. This is a great bit at a very fair price. Also, on one other note, the first bit received was the incorrect bit. The packaging wrap around the bit had the correct number and description, but the actual bit in the Freud container was not the bit I ordered (Freud package was correct, just not the bubble wrap label around the bit). After many (100s) Amazon orders, this was the first real issue I have had (small shipment damage on a few orders but nothing that damaged the product to a return level). So, I contacted Amazon inside my account, and checked the issue that I had received an incorrect item. I was contacted by email, before I could get over to my email account. They had the info to ship the wrong bit back,with free shipping label to print and attach, and stated that a replacement bit was being shipped that day. Now listen to this folks, I received the replacement the next day by FedEx, and the next day was Saturday. I repeat, a Saturday. For a $20 router bit. I havent received customer service like this since the 80s. Wow! Knowing this type support is backing up my orders, gives me a real piece of mind (and I have no stock in Amazon, just a satisfied customer). And yes, since this is what this review was mainly about, I like the bit too. Go Freud!

Freud bits are designed and precision machined in Italy - and they really are works of art. They plunge quickly, clear chips effortlessly and run through hardwood with ease. Im sure there are other fine bits out there, but for the value and at this price, I believe its no contest. If youre cutting dados, planing or jointing, you will be thrilled with these bits. Pros: • Sharp and removes chips fast • Designed for quick plunges • Delivers crisp clean edges • Hardened steel stays sharp longer than competition • 1/2 shanks nearly eliminate chatter Cons: • Expensive - but worth every penny • They are nearly impossible to remove from the packaging Tips To Remove From Packaging: • Wear Gloves! I mean it - these are as sharp as an ER scalpel. • Firmly grasp the flat (non-sharp) sides and wiggle the bit back and forth while pulling upward • Do not use pliers, channel locks or your vise. You will scratch the heck out of your beautiful bit • When storing in the packaging, only insert about 1/4 to make it simple to remove in the future! Usage Tip: • To avoid burning the wood when using the larger diameter bits, keep your router speed in the medium range or about 16,000rpm

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....

When I first opened the box from Amazon, the bit had escaped from its thin plastic packaging and Im guessing it had been tossed around inside the box during shipping. Amazon gets a score of zero for their packaging on this one, and Freud certainly could do a better job on their part of the packaging. Other manufacturers actually ship their its in plastic or wooden boxes. Amazingly, the bit seemed fine. You cant use it to make plunge cuts because the cutters dont extend all the way to the center. Im sure thats obvious to someone with experience than I had before I bought this bit, but it wasnt clear to me until I tried to make my first plunge cut and couldnt get it to cut any deeper than about 1/16. But I suppose most people would use a drill press and Forstner bit to make this size plunge cut anyway. I mostly use this bit to cut clean circles after using my jigsaw to cut within about 1/8 of the line. The bit should also work well with a jig to flatten boards, as long as you dont need to plunge-cut. I havent used it yet for that. What I like: * very sharp * heavy-duty * seems very high-quality What I dont like: * Freuds packaging sucks * cant do plunge cuts * a smaller diameter bit would have served me just as well (but that was my mistake) Given what I know now, I absolutely did not need this router bit. I might even go so far as to say it proves the buy the biggest bit you can afford rule-of-thumb wrong. Although I didnt really need it, its still a good bit. But in general I would recommend against buying this bit unless you already own several dozen 1/2 shank router bits (including straight and spiral/compression bits) and not one of them is suitable for the job.

worked great, well made!

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.)

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.