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Solid Carbide & HSS Router Bits
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Spiral Upcut and Downcut Router Bits
- Reviews
2 flute flat bottom cutters. Top quality micrograin solid carbide. Will cut faster, smoother and stays sharper longer. Produces a very clean, fast and accurate cut with minimal chatter. Upcut spiral helps remove material. Ideal for making mortise and tenon joints. Downcut spirals help hold the material in place while using handheld routers. Will plunge cut and plane edges. Eliminates chipping at the top of the cut. Ideal for soft & hard woods, plywoods & composites, laminates, plastics and some non-ferrous metals. Item #5155 will cut grooves for #20 biscuits. Item #7468 can be used with the Leigh Jig. Item #5161 can be used for inlay routing.
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Average Customer Rating: 
(10 reviews)
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By Matt ( sc US)
This is an update on my review of last year: Upcut 1/4" solid carbide 1" cut. I've updated my mill with a variable speed porter cable. After a learning curve I've dialed this bit in for 12,000rpm 120ipm birch ply. The heat stays out of the bit (imo the biggest killer of bits). The chips are nice, the cut clean and I swear I cut a mile with the last one.
1/4" carbide, downcut. It cuts hard, takes more power but leaves a very nice clean cut on the top surface of laminates.
1/8" carbide upcut. I don't know what the difference is, but this little guy cuts nicer than the 1/4" diameter. 16,000rpm 120ipm birch ply.
By Matt (Chesnee SC US)
Currently I spin this endmill at 30k rpm which is too fast, regardless I've been very pleased with the finish left, the lack of cutting noise and the life of this mill. I plan to use these exclusively for general purpose milling of plywood, oak, birch, pine and whatever else.
By Jerry (Yankton SD US)
Have a upcut & down cut spiral bits (1/4") and love them. Use them quite abit for building speaker cabinets, mainly routing out the holes for drivers and recess area's for flush mounting of drivers and terminal post cups. With wood veneer cabinets a down spiral is essential to prevent chipping and tearing. The MLCS down spiral does an excellent job, a very clean precise cut and the flat area is smooth and requires no more attention. Woofers and tweeters lay flat with no voids for an excellent seal. I use the upcut for the cutout area and it does a quick and clean route. Both very good bits and a good buy. I'm impressed with them, Thanks MLCS
By Bryan Becker (l.a. ca US)
I bought the 1/2" upcut spiral bit to cut 1 1/2" deep mortises in hard maple. Even taking 1/8" passes the bit chattered quite a bit. It strained on every plunge cut and dulled very quickly. I guess I'll have to pay $75 to get a decent bit.
MLCS NOTE: We do not feel that this is at all typical of the performance of our bits and this would certainly be covered by our MLCS product 3-year GUARANTEE.
By John Schaben (La Crosse KS US)
Needed to bore some 5mm shelf pin holes so I was shopping for bits and ran across Mr. Hoxies' review on the downcut bit so I ordered one... Exactly as he said, perfect holes with no visible tearout. I haven't done any 1300 holes yet but my money is on this bit.
By Norman La Belle (Gurnee IL US)
I realize most folks use the spirals to cut mortises, which they excel at. I'm using a 3/8" spiral downcut to make dadoes or grooves in hardwood ply for casework, making the groove in 2 passes, adjusting the 2nd pass to EXACTLY size for ply shelving. A little more work? Yes. Worth it? Definitely, as the groove is sized correctly for the wacky thickness variables of ply, and the downcut bit leaves razor sharp edges to the ply with absolutely no tearout. When finished, it fits and looks great. Isn't that what we all search for?
By Christopher Hoxie (Lutz FL US)
If you are looking for 5mm shelf hole boring, they are hard to find. I did my research and these are the least expensive and of excellent quality. I am boring shelf holes in pre-finished birch veneered plywood using a plunge router @ 18,000 rpm. My cabinetry needs to have perfect holes and the down spiral bit does the job perfectly, although you need a good blow gun to clear the chips from the holes. Also, you must move the bit quickly because I got a little bit of burning in the hole if I lingered at all. I'm going to try turning the speed down some on the next set of cabinets. I've bored over 1300 holes so far with the first bit and even though there is a slight discoloration to the bit from heat build up, the holes are still perfect. I purchased some upspiral bits and although they left the hole chip free, the edge was slightly frayed and not good enough for me.
As for me, I will continue to buy my down spiral bits from MLCS until I "pony up" for a multi spindle boring machine and I imagine I will buy those bits from MLCS also.
By Al Killian ( NY US)
Purchased one a few years ago for makeing groves for a project. It worked great. Used it yesterday to remove a profile off a door to replace the flat panel on the door. It made it easy to free hand without crabing or trying to take off.
By Marc Rea (Sierra Vista AZ US)
I needed a deep mortise in a table leg made of 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood laminated together. The 1/2" up spiral bit, number 7468, did great! With its 1 1/2" cutting length it had no problem reaching through the 1/2" template and through the 1 1/2" table legs! of course, I made several passes, but the bit cut like it was going through butter.
Excellent price for an outstanding bit! Get the set and get ready to route some mortises.
By David I Gassner (LEBANON OR US)
I have used these bits many times, and have learned to love them. They cut quickly, and cleanly. I do not use strait bits near as often now.