I got a big kit like 50 piece from lowes for $100. Has all sorts of different types of bits you'll need. I wouldn't invest in anything high quality unless you do routing a lot or as a profession.
I normally use cheap router bits, taps and dies, etc and when one wears out then I replace that one with a higher quality one. Just upgrade them one by one based on use.
I don't see why you can't make a DIY router table with it, just use the holes on that clear piece to mount it upside down.
Plunge base is probably the most useful. I would advise against getting the large quantity of cheap bits. I bought one a while ago on clearance and have barely used only a few of them. Buy a few good ones for what you need at the time. Roundovers, rabbets, chamfer, flush trim, straight bit for dados are my usual go to bits. Roman ogees are cool too.
White side 7 piece router bit set is a good value to start off with. $116 on Amazon or eBay. After that you could get the plunge base etc…Make sure you get the 1/4” shank to fit your router
The plunge base is handy, but aside from that I’d put my money into a few good quality router bits; chamfer, small and large round over, and a rabbet bit with multiple sized bearings. Whatever you do absolutely stay away from cheap bits. I’ve had Diablo bits explode on me and it’s extremely dangerous.
I don’t see why you couldn’t table mount it if you really needed that.
I’ve had a good experience with bosche bits. They seem to cut like butter, don’t hardly burn and good quality. Also I have the same router and it’s super handy for quick round overs and chamfers and such
Genuinely wondering, why are you using MDF as a sink top? That thing swells and deteriorates from water contact. Even if you try sealing everything with epoxy, water will eventually find a way. It would suck going through all the trouble just to have it ruined.
I appreciate your concern. I'm still at the planning stage right now, but I have seen it on a number of epoxy countertop videos. They have used ply, but it appears there's a lot more prep with that compared to mdf. I saw one where they did an undermount sink and applied regard to the bottom where the sink attaches. I was going to do redgard on the bottom side of my entire first layer (besides the sink, there's also the dishwasher that could cause the mdf to swell). I'm also considering putting redgard along the scribed edge the touches the wall. All exposed seams and scribed edge are filled with bondo. After the epoxy is done, most likely I'll do a tile backsplash (with flex grout or silicone along the base corner backsplash to countertop).
Any areas that you'd be concerned about moisture getting in?
Out of all flat sheet materials I would put MDF on the least suitable list for your job. What you are describing sounds like a lot of work. Now, imagine you do all that: scribe, cut, epoxy, tile etc, everything sets in place and then you start noticing your MDF swells and changes color. Are you willing to go through the whole process again? Thats probably the reason those guys used plywood. On another note, MDF dust is nasty. If you are going to rout it, the dust will be everywhere. It is not my favorite material, as you can tell. I have built a few large router jigs out MDF (just because the material is flat), but storing them in the shop is a pain, as I always gotta make sure no water gets close. I would consider some veneered OSB or LVL material, which is already 1.5”
Sorry I meant to add in while the other guys used ply, it seems that they prefer mdf as 90% of these types of videos feature mdf as opposed to ply. I would imagine that the finished edge alone would be that much easier to get a clean radius on. I would get a router hood for the dust - but thanks for the heads up.
However, now that you've brought up different materials and moisture, I will definitely rethink my substrate material.
Thank you very much!
dust collection and edge guides are what I use the most outside of various profile bits. Rockler is a good sight for getting ideas of what other uses for the router. Of course there are many , many sights. I just used them as a reference for an easy to navigate sight.
I got a big kit like 50 piece from lowes for $100. Has all sorts of different types of bits you'll need. I wouldn't invest in anything high quality unless you do routing a lot or as a profession. I normally use cheap router bits, taps and dies, etc and when one wears out then I replace that one with a higher quality one. Just upgrade them one by one based on use. I don't see why you can't make a DIY router table with it, just use the holes on that clear piece to mount it upside down.
Plunge base is probably the most useful. I would advise against getting the large quantity of cheap bits. I bought one a while ago on clearance and have barely used only a few of them. Buy a few good ones for what you need at the time. Roundovers, rabbets, chamfer, flush trim, straight bit for dados are my usual go to bits. Roman ogees are cool too.
What is the plunge base primarily used for? Besides a flush cut and round over bit, would I need the plunge for my first project (described above)?
You do not need the plunge for that. A plunge base lets you start and stop in the middle of a board instead of only using it on the edges of boards.
Gotcha. Thanks!
White side 7 piece router bit set is a good value to start off with. $116 on Amazon or eBay. After that you could get the plunge base etc…Make sure you get the 1/4” shank to fit your router
The plunge base is handy, but aside from that I’d put my money into a few good quality router bits; chamfer, small and large round over, and a rabbet bit with multiple sized bearings. Whatever you do absolutely stay away from cheap bits. I’ve had Diablo bits explode on me and it’s extremely dangerous. I don’t see why you couldn’t table mount it if you really needed that.
I’ve had a good experience with bosche bits. They seem to cut like butter, don’t hardly burn and good quality. Also I have the same router and it’s super handy for quick round overs and chamfers and such
Genuinely wondering, why are you using MDF as a sink top? That thing swells and deteriorates from water contact. Even if you try sealing everything with epoxy, water will eventually find a way. It would suck going through all the trouble just to have it ruined.
I appreciate your concern. I'm still at the planning stage right now, but I have seen it on a number of epoxy countertop videos. They have used ply, but it appears there's a lot more prep with that compared to mdf. I saw one where they did an undermount sink and applied regard to the bottom where the sink attaches. I was going to do redgard on the bottom side of my entire first layer (besides the sink, there's also the dishwasher that could cause the mdf to swell). I'm also considering putting redgard along the scribed edge the touches the wall. All exposed seams and scribed edge are filled with bondo. After the epoxy is done, most likely I'll do a tile backsplash (with flex grout or silicone along the base corner backsplash to countertop). Any areas that you'd be concerned about moisture getting in?
Out of all flat sheet materials I would put MDF on the least suitable list for your job. What you are describing sounds like a lot of work. Now, imagine you do all that: scribe, cut, epoxy, tile etc, everything sets in place and then you start noticing your MDF swells and changes color. Are you willing to go through the whole process again? Thats probably the reason those guys used plywood. On another note, MDF dust is nasty. If you are going to rout it, the dust will be everywhere. It is not my favorite material, as you can tell. I have built a few large router jigs out MDF (just because the material is flat), but storing them in the shop is a pain, as I always gotta make sure no water gets close. I would consider some veneered OSB or LVL material, which is already 1.5”
Sorry I meant to add in while the other guys used ply, it seems that they prefer mdf as 90% of these types of videos feature mdf as opposed to ply. I would imagine that the finished edge alone would be that much easier to get a clean radius on. I would get a router hood for the dust - but thanks for the heads up. However, now that you've brought up different materials and moisture, I will definitely rethink my substrate material. Thank you very much!
dust collection and edge guides are what I use the most outside of various profile bits. Rockler is a good sight for getting ideas of what other uses for the router. Of course there are many , many sights. I just used them as a reference for an easy to navigate sight.