Harbor Freight has launched a new Hercules 5pc router bit set, model HA182-1 and SKU 58749.
The new Harbor Freight Hercules router bits are the first in this line, and feature carbide cutting edges. Harbor Freight says the bits deliver up to 3X longer life “compared to standard product.”
The 5pc set comes with 1/4″ round shank bits in the following styles and sizes:
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- 1/4″ up spiral
- 1/2″ flush trim
- 3/8″ rabbeting
- 3/4″ mortising
- 1/2″ roundover
The set comes with a wood storage case.
Harbor Freight shows the new router bits being used with a Hercules-branded corded router that has not yet been released.
Harbor Freight describes their Hercules router bits as being “jobsite-tough.”
Price: $50
Discussion
Harbor Freight encourages shoppers to compare this set to the Diablo’s DR89100 5pc set, although it doesn’t quite match up with what that Diablo set offers.
I wouldn’t consider the Hercules router bit set to compare with Diablo or Freud in terms of performance (who knows, it might), but the pricing seems fair.
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If you’re not happy with the Hercules bits, keep in mind the 90-day 100% satisfaction guarantee Harbor Freight lists for this set on their website.
There aren’t a lot of name-brand 5pc router bit sets out there, at least not in the $25-100 price range.
To be honest, I’d be more inclined to trust Harbor Freight Hercules over the very many no-name router bit brands that have flooded online marketplaces in recent years.
The $50 pricing could be fair if these bits perform better than more economical router bits, such as by Ryobi or Skil. I don’t expect them to be as high performing or long-lasting as more premium brands such as Freud and Whiteside.
Jerry
I think you said it best when you said you’d trust them more than. Some no name set you can get online. At least with HF you have a satisfaction guarantee, and you know just where to go to get a refund d or replacement. HF consumables for me have been hit and miss. While most have been about as expected for the price, occasionally I’ll get something that is way better than expected, and sometimes something will be not worth much of anything. However, even the crummy stuff is covered by their satisfaction guarantee so its not like you’re risking much to try it, and who knows, you might get a gem.
Dean in Des Moines
Ohh, no. I’ve worked with HF quality before. I’m not spinning brazed cutters at 20,000 RPM anywhere near me if they are from HF. Their flimsy guarantee won’t cover excising and stitching.
Travis
Yes! My thoughts exactly.
Doug N
Unsolicited advice: never use 1/4″ shank router bits for anything other than very small roundover or chamfer edging, or laminate work. They deflect and give much poorer finishes compared to 1/2″ bits. It’s too bad that the big box stores sell the 1/4″ bits almost exclusively.
MM
Agreed, I never use 1/4 shank unless I have no other choice.
As for these bits, I tend to agree with Dean. I’ve used HF drill bits enough to know not to trust them to be ground properly and that applies to router bits too. Sure you can return them easily but if they screw up your work (which has happened to me with their brad-point drills) or cause injury you’re not getting a refund for that.
The only “economy” router bits that I trust are the purple ones from Grizzly. Otherwise I try and use Whiteside as much as possible. IMHO cutting tools like drill bits and saw blades are usually poor places to try and pinch pennies. Better quality bits not only last longer, but also yield a better surface finish which reduces the amount of follow-up work that’s required. A nice router bit leaves a finished surface. A crappy one leaves a finish that needs sanding.
Farid
I have an old set of HF tools round-over bits – same exact case as this one and most likely same bits, from the looks of the one on the right. My set is at least 20 years old. I use the set mainly on soft woods, but I have used the bits on maple and oak before, when I couldn’t afford teh more expensive bits. I’ve even cut through a brad or two by mistake. I am not talking fine cabinetry work here, but they still worked pretty good to finish the wood edges on a giant backyard play set, a couple of workbenches, an eagle-scout project, and a few odds and ends. Actually, they still work better than a variety set I bought from Menards a couple of years back for a one-off project. However, they are no match for the few Freud bits I have and are not sharp enough to work on laminate.
Nathan
I’d consider these vs some others. But I think I’d buy Diablo anyway. One big thing is that I can go to a HF store and get one. might be more the case – a one and done situation.
I’m working on _______ and I want to put a roundover on. I’d consider one of their bits maybe not the kit. WOuld be nice if they put out a set of decorative bits too – I think that would be a buy for me if needed for a project.
I’m curious about the router – looks very Dewalt like – like the other herc tools.
Jared
I would try this over no-name Amazon-only brands, but I think the more likely competition would be other budget brands like Neiko, Yonico and Bosch. Those are in the same ballpark and are at least genuine brand names – albeit not premium router bit brands.
I have a couple Yonico and several Bosch bits. I think the Bosch bits are decent actually – but from what I read online it seems like they don’t get a lot of love. Nothing wrong with my Yonicos either, but I haven’t used them much so I don’t think it would be fair to draw conclusions.
To be fair, I’m not sure how much of a brand Yonico is. They have a pretty comprehensive selection of bits, but I’ve only seen them on Amazon.
In Canada, we have Mastercraft and Maximum router bits too. Mastercraft aren’t great, but the Maximum bits seem a lot better.
Also, much like Doug said, I basically don’t use 1/4″ bits.
Bonnie
Home Depot lists some Yonacos on their website, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in-store. Still a little more trustworthy than “XYLLTZ” on Amazon though.
Isn’t Canadian Tire (Mastercraft) effectively the Canadian version of Harbor Freight?
Bob
I used to buy the Bosch from Lowes when I needed bits quick and didn’t have time to order online. In my opinion they were the best I could find at any of the local big box stores.
I haven’t bought any in probably 5 years tho. Did the quality go to $#!t ???
I want to say they were European manufactured? It’s been a while so don’t quote me.
JR Ramos
Hard pass although I guess seeing them in person and actually using them would be the way to decide. I would much rather use a cheap HF router with high quality bits from Freud, Whitesite, Amana, or Bosch than doing it the other way around. I tried a couple of one-off bits from Yonico partially based on their generally high-star Amazon reviews and unfortunately that was a mistake. It’s been 20 years or better and the import bits just still haven’t quite nailed it on quality (and/or safety) yet. For carbide anyway…I’ve seen some steel ones that were decent if not shorter lived, but overall a decent value for a hobbyist or single projects.
Amazon had some stellar deals on Bosch bits some months back, not sure if any of that discounting is still active on them.
Julian Tracy
Back in the day of woodworking shows, Woodline had large booths and you could get 12–6pc sets of 1/4 or 1/2 bits for $45-75. Still have plenty of those bits with lots of use on them.
Woodcraft used to offer a $5 bit of the month, a good quality 1/2” profile bit if some sort.
Years ago, when Milwaukee launched a line of bits that were basically unpainted Italian-made Freud bits – Amazon carried them and then had them on clearance for 90% off – I bought about $300 worth for near $2500-3k worth of bits.
Even just a couple years ago, Amazon had a 77 or so piece 1/2” set for about $58 – just a crazy deal! Still have and use those bits too.
My final router bit deal anecdote – someone on CL was selling a large 5’Tall x 29” square 8 drawer Vista/Lyons style toolbox that was a Porter Cable router storage box for $550. Box was loaded with a 150 or so router bits of all styles sizes, etc, including a bunch of raised panel sets and carbide up and down spiral, all in the wax and in packages. Bought the loaded box and sold off probably $1300 worth of router bits and kept the rest.
I don’t think I’ll ever need another router but in my lifetime, lol.
Even if none of above deals had come my way – hard to get excited about some crappy Chinese tiny little 1/4” set though. Ever buy drill bits or multi tool blades there? Basically useless fresh out the box.
Davethetool
I concur regarding Quality and HFT in the same sentence. HFT tried to compete against the Box stores and then ignorantly got rid of their coupons. Now they realized their mistake and coupons and ads are back however I think they lost bigley with a lot of their base. I use to go into a HFT store 2x or more a month and now 1-2x a year. We all know the quality there and sometimes price is a better alternative depending on the project however currently I could care less about any new stuff coming from HFT including these router bits!
JR Ramos
A slightly related question: some years ago when Porter Cable was still their own excellent company, they had a very nice line of made in USA router bits covering the whole range. I have a local store that still has a small treasure trove of these and have picked up several of them for $4 to $12. They are fantastic. Does anyone remember who made those for Porter Cable? These would be from the mid-90s to I suppose around 2006 or so (not sure when the end date would have been). To my knowledge PC never had the capability of manufacturing router bits but maybe I’m wrong.
fred
I have a straight trim Porter Cable branded router bit (#2750001) that was made by Oldham in the USA. I’m not able to say if that was their OEM for other bits.
JR Ramos
Ah, maybe so! I forget about Oldham, popular as they were. Thanks, fred! I’ll snoop around a bit and see if I can confirm. As I was comparing to some old bits of various brands nothing quite seemed the same, nor current pics of USA brands.
Phil
The older Porter Cable bits were made by Oldham USA – they reportedly were the Viper line bits (Oldham’s higher tier bits).
I remember there was lots of debate about when exactly they switched to a different manufacturer as the quality seemed to diminish at some point in the mid 2000’s.
This press release (2002) references Oldham as the bit manufacturer for PC:
https://investors.pentair.com/investor-relations/news-releases/news-release-details/2002/Pentairs-Acquisition-of-Oldham-Saw-Co-Adds-Tools-Accessory-Line-Provides-Platform-for-Growth-in-Key-Product-Category/default.aspx
JR Ramos
Thanks, Phil. I googled Oldham before reading your post fully, found the same Pentair announcement. I guess I didn’t realize that they had purchased Oldham, and then banished them to history in just three short years. What a shame. I also wasn’t aware that they were making the Delta blades – I knew they were generally excellent blades even as Freud started to hit the market harder in the 90s, but selling them as a major local dealer I’d still never heard Oldham mentioned. I think we stocked Oldham’s band and scroll saw blades, blade wax, a few odds and ends.
fred
I have lots of different brands of router bits. For ones that I expected to use a lot – I tried to find Whiteside, Freud, Amana, or Southeast Tool – and like them pretty much in that order.
Over the years I also bought ones from Bosch, CMT, Milwaukee, Oldham, Onsrud, Porter Cable and Stanley. When Trend-Lines was in business – I bought quite a few of their house-brand (Carb-Tech) made in Taiwan – but found that they seemed to get dull more quickly than my favorite brands. I also tried many house brands like some from MLCS (Eagle-America, Katana, Price-Cutter) ; others from Infinity, Lee Valley and Rockler; plus still other house brands like Stone Mountain, Woodline and Woodtek. I never had an outright failure on any of these – but never used the off-brand ones enough to really put them to the test.
Frank D
Hard pass.
While this may be the same as some no-name or inexpensive kit elsewhere … I am not using anything that spins a few thousand RPM without being a mainstream brand.
And the comment about HFT satisfaction or replacement guarantee? I needed a laugh. I have had stuff with a motor fail within the first hours of use ( not abuse ) when helping family without tools. It is still 90 days or did they drop it to 30, to push their warranty plan harder? :,D
Jbongo
I’d be hesitant to buy these without someone else confirming the quality and safety of them. Things like sandpaper or a tool chest don’t spin at a high speed, unlike router bits.
I’ll have to remember the 1/2 vs 1/4 shank though. Thanks Doug and MM. I haven’t done much with a router (only a couple round overs and door hinges), but I’d like to do more in the future.
fred
1/4-inch shank bits are OK for light trim work. Most trim routers (like the Bosch Colt) actually may only come with a 1/4-inch collet. Many first-generation cordless routers also only come with 1/4-inch collets – presumably because they do not have enough power to spin larger 1/2-inch shank bits. In fact, there still seem to be few 1/2-inch shank cordless routers – the Metabo-HPT M3612DA being one of the newer ones.
As a general rule of thumb, larger bits should be run at slower speeds. Cutting with larger bits may also benefit from taking multiple light passes rather than trying to hog out lots of material at once. Also, as a general rule – a 1/2-shank will provide more rigidity and less chatter with smoother cut than a 1/4-inch shank which in turn will be better than a 1/8-inch shank bit (used for things like inlay work). Naturally, the quality of the bit will have something to do with this too.
Jbongo
Thanks, Fred!
Brad
For a little over twice as much you can usually find a Whiteside 401 7pc set. Yes, it’s more money, but also a more comprehensive set and the very finest quality.
I usually draw the line at sharp things that spin at many thousands of RPM when shopping at HFT.
JP
I have read a lot of comments from people that have a bad impression regarding HF. Granted, some of that is well deserved. But in regards to the Hercules line, it is a standup product that is well worth giving it a try. I spent 3 decades building chemical plants and refineries on projects worth well over a billion dollars. We used only the most durable tools available. And while I wouldn’t take a Hercules saw to make hundreds of cuts a day in such brutal conditions, I would definitely use the tools in residential and commercial aspects.
Other new brands that HF has stepped up their game with are Pierce pneumatic tools, Atlas lawn and garden, Icon wrenches, and Earthquake impacts. These tools bear no resemblance to the throwaway tools that HF has become known for.
Just stay away from the warrior brand.