Freud 16-520: 3/4 (dia.) Mortising Bit with 1/2 shank, 2-3/32 overall length

good cost effective way to flatten wood slabs. Only drop about 1/16 at a time to the side of the project and only cut about 1/3-1/2 the size of the bit. Do not plunge into the project always start to the side. Ive used on many different woods (oak, maple, pear, mulberry, walnut, cherry) and also finished pieces with epoxy with no problems. Leaves a nice flat surface easy to sand smooth.

I used this bit in my router jig to plane a wood stump for a coffee table. The bit leveled the wood smooth. Didnt need a belt sander, used my orbital sander. The result was a gorgeous table top.

I got this to plane my end grain cutting boards. I needed a big bit that would take fewer passes to cover the entire board. This bit works great. There is one problem, and im not sure if it is the bit or just my router/setup. It always seems to cut one side lower than the other, and i am left with lines to sand off. It could be that I got a bad bit, or that my router is just old and not spinning true, but it hasnt been a big enough deal for me to really pinpoint where the problem is.

Thats a great tool! Im using it as a planner and works fantastic. Even to level boards of hard maple, allowed me to do it! Highly recommended.

Quality router but. Dados and grooves came out smooth and clean. Cuts through with little effort. Perfect for undersized 3/4 plywood.

Regular 3/4 plywood fits perfectly in the dado with no visible gap. Have to tap longer pieces in with a rubber hammer, obviously cause no plywood is perfect. Excellent bit. Advice: If you polyurethane or paint plywood some plywood and try to get it into the dado it gets TIGHT. Still doable though.

Bit seems to have lost its edge after about 15 linear feet in MDF. First of all, Im new to routing so this might be self-inflicted. I needed to route a channel in approx 15 ft of medium density particle board shelving. The bit got so hot that if I paused for a moment, the wood burned after about 20. Kept the speed below the max rated of 24K RPM. The channel was only 3/8 deep. Not sure if Im doing something wrong or if I need to find a better bit. Open to suggestions.

Bought this to flatten cutting boards after glue ups. In short, it works great leaving a very smooth surface. I was a little concerned with the 1/4” shank vs 1/2” but my router only accepts 1/4”. Holding up fine so far.

Precise and accurat tool that retains edge and makes clean cuts repeatedly.

The bit itself appeared cuts easily and appeared well made, but the bearing seized within a few minutes...or might have been from start. Alas, I failed to check before using. Granted i was mortising in white oak, but took shallow passes (less than 1/4), cleaned between each pass... And no, the bit is not inserted too deeply into the collet. I have been using a much smaller bit on same project....from a much less respected manufacturer, and its performed just fine.... Though much more time consuming. I have several freud bits/blades. Until now, Ive had great luck. Ill have to return this one.