wannaBelkhuntin

I want to start making some cabinets and other furniture. I saw some great antiques in a house I worked on and want to attempt to make some of them. I really want a good set of bits for doing cabinet doors. Also I want a decent 23 ga. pinner, mostly for crown molding on cabinets. If you can recommend a manufacturer and cost you paid I would appreciate it.
Thanks Dave

angus242

Read this:

http://www.contractortalk.com/f40/my...een-toy-38945/

& just google the model number you're looking for. You'll find good pricing that way.

Sorry, don't use router bits enough to give good advice.

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naptown CR

Freud makes pretty good router bits

Amana makes OK ones too but not as good as the freud

ChrWright

If you have a Rockler store (or Woodcraft) close to you, I'd start poking around there first. Rockler has a line of their own router bits that's good for field work and won't break the bank. I have two sets of their panel raising bits and they've held up very well. I've also had good luck at woodworking shows finding sets of miscellaneous bits for fairly cheap. Like all tools, there are ultra cheap pot-metal versions of just about everything you want to stay away from.

I have a Grex headless pinner, and have never had problems with it--although it's a tool we only use very occasionally.

I got into fine woodworking in much the same way--saw some pieces I liked and wanted to learn how to build the same thing. The first set of bookcases I made, all I had was a dual base PC router set, a circular saw, and an 8' edge guide.

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WarnerConstInc.

Grex for a pinner like Chris said.

Router bits, you get what you pay for, it's all about the quality of steel. Buy the nicest for the most common bits, something decent for the seldom used bits.

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TBFGhost

I don't really have a problem with Magnate. They have a large selection, fast shipping, decent prices. I get a new router bit for each job if I plan on using the router a lot.....and I use a Harbor Freight Pinner....I bought b/c I wasn't sure how much I would use a pinner....now I use it all the time. It sinks the pins everything I throw at it, Pine, MDF, White/Red oak, Cherry. Leaves the same mark in the wood as a Senco a guy I work with has, so I have not found the down side....put about 5,000 pins through it so far.

CookeCarpentry

I have a Porter Cable pinner. Works well - and I think it was around $100 shipped to my door.

x2 with what Chris said about Rockler - have a nice selection of bits at reasonable prices. Also, I have found Eagle America to have nice (long lasting) bits - and I believe Fine Homebuilding or JLC may have ranked them high up in router bit quality.

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Wayne, PA
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Gus Dering

I bought the Grex first. Loved it, still do. Sets the nail all the way every time.

We really needed another one and I bought the Max from a local yard. Sure seems like the Grex to me. A couple subtle differences is all. Sets the nail every time also.

One difference worth noting. The Max will not dry fire, the Grex will. I love that feature with this little pinner. There have been times when the Grex has run out of pins and I don't know when it did. Not good when pinning on toe skin.

Notice the safty spring is shot on the Grex. Not sure where to send this thing to for repair, China maybe. I'll wait till there is a pin in my finger then figure it out.

As far as good router bits go. I like the American made Whiteside brand. Good stuff at competitive prices. I'll get those if they have the profile I need. I have some off the wall profiles from Amana, they good too. Bosch is fine too. Porter Cable is fine if thats what is local.
That should leave ya with options.

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c_bozman

The Cadex 23 ga guns is great, being able to shoot 2 inch 23 gitage pins has changed the way that I trim, All stain grade goes on with the 23 and some PL. It looks so clean when its done and the painter loves it. that and having the air blower right on your gun is a nice touch, though it was kind of gimicy at first but I liked it so much I got the 18 ga gun just to have it.

john5mt

I'll Second the white side bits being the best.

I've got the cadex gun (Pin is bent) but i did like it when i had it. THough the max and the grex look like the exact same thing just in different colors (cadex came first though!!)

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Bone Saw

whiteside here

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J F

here are quite a few discussions from jlc:

http://forums.jlconline.com/forums/s...archid=1713673

I've always been partial to amana and whiteside...both top of the line. I think if you choose any known brand, you're going to be ok.

Leo G

Whiteside is a quality bit. I have gotten good bits from MLCS. But lately they have been doing a piss poor job of sharpening them at the factory. I can get a bit for about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a Whiteside, send it out for sharpening before I even use it and still be ahead of the game. I do this mostly for dovetail bits. The Whiteside's are $20 and the MLCS are $7 and $3 to sharpen. I buy them in bunches of a half dozen and send them out all at once.

I have heard that Grex is a good pinner. I havve a Senco and when I got it the nail would only shoot flush. So I ground the head down 1/32" and now it shoots perfect every time.

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J F

Are any of the 23 ga. pinners made with a tool-less tip for clearing jambs? Or is it that that's just too bulky for these baby guns?

I've had the senco for a few years and that's always driven me nuts with it.

Leo G

I never had a jamb. Recently it has misfired a few time. But I never oiled the gun either. Probably should do that, huh?

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Measure Twice Cut Once -- It's a lot easier to cut more off then it is to cut MORON. http://lrgwood.com

J F

DON'T do it...probably what caused my jambs

And it's probably only happened a dozen times or so since the senco first came out ('04, '05?), but it's just annoying to have to remove 4 allen head screws to clear a jamb.

WarnerConstInc.

I think that is how they all are.

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framerman

Well, I guess I now know what has taken first place in my tool buying category, the Grex P650L or Cadex CPB23.50. I have a cheap Porter Cable that only shoots 1" max.

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Gus Dering

The Max won't dry fire.
This gun is hard to tell when you are shooting the shorter pins as opposed to none at all.

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framerman

I'm not calling you out Gus, I apologize up front. You are my hero.

According to the Grex website, the "L" version doesn't dry fire either.

http://www.grexusa.com/grexusa/products.php5?id=P650L

And the Cadex says something about an anti dry fire mechanism, which I assume would be that it won't dry fire.

http://www.cadextools.com/tools_cpb2350.html

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If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined,
one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours
~Henry David Thoreau