Freud 97-150: 3 Piece Premier Adjustable Cabinet Bit Set

These are high quality, solidly made, router bits. As delivered they're fiendishly sharp and nicely presented in a wooden/plastic case. Instructions are reasonably straightforward - expect a little bit of trial and error getting the height right for the stile cuts after the rail ends have been made. The results are super clean and very, very, precise. The raised panel bit is a hefty monster of a thing, so expect to slow the router speed and possibly need a larger opening in your table.

I typically like Freud products. The bits are sharp and long lasting. Those traits appear to be true for this set. Unfortunately, the profile of the stile and rail cutters are not an exact match. When door is assembled with the rails and stiles in the same plane (a flat door), there is about 1/32 gap on the front side. When gluing and clamping this gap causes the door frame to be misaligned. I assume this is why there are instructions for an optional extended tenon, which is a very complex task. For a company with Freud's reputation, I would have expected the pieces to align. The second problem with this set is the lack of a back-cutter for the raised panel bit. They don't tell you this. In order to assemble the door, you need to separately route the back cut. The set is useable, but to make a quality door, you have to do a lot of extra work to make up for their poor design. Lastly, the instructions are generic for all of their cabinet door sets. You have to figure out what to do when your set is different. Also, the formulas for stile, rail and panel dimensions are written out in sentences in small print. The instruction pamphlet is not available online, which would at least allow for zooming in to read it. I am truly disappointed.

This a very good panel joiner kit with the exception of the fact it does not come with very good instructions. But if you're not sure how to set the cutter up you probably should not be using this type of shaper anyway. This cutter should not be used with anything less than a very stable commercial router table. I use these with three horse powered Makita routers turning better than 12,000 RPMs. You could probably use the panel cutter with a 1 1/2 horse router as long as it turns better than 10,000 RPMs. The panel cutter is by far the most dangerous cutter in the set as it removes a lot of wood with each pass. This is the reason you must make at least three passes as you cut the raised panels. I have always found Freud cutters to be of the very highest quality and rate them right up there with Amana cutters.

I ordered the 97-150 and trust Freud for its quality. The shipping / packaging however was inadequate. The bits are not secured in the case and/or no foam or other means was used to assure if bits dislodged from their holders due to shipping that they would not be damaged. When received, two bits had dislodged and were loose in the case. The panel bit has chipped and rough cutting edge at its tip on the top - side looks okay. I will inspect the bit and try to use it to see what cut results I achieve on my material and hope I don't have to replace it. Value for money is lower when the product arrives damaged beyond use. Leaving it at three stars for now.

My wife bought this set for me a couple months ago for my birthday. Ya, great wife, great present. Though she bought it so I could make new kitchen cabinet doors. Work present? Still awesome. To be honest I kind of put off using these set, only because making doors with raised panels can be a little intimidating if you've never done it. But once I finally broke it out, it really is not that bad. So if your nervous about it, just mess with it, sure you'll see it's pretty simple. Found the DVD to be "okay". You defiantly want to watch it a few times, but it kind of glosses over many things and doesn't get into enough detail if you ask me. I think they tried covering to much and to many different (similar) products in one crack. I found the written instruction much better, because they go through the process step by step, A, B, C.. ect. You just follow along and before you know it, you'll be making doors. After an evening figuring out each of the bits and I was set. I also made set up blocks for each bit, which is SO helpful. Like tonight, I worked on some more door panels, pulled out my set up block and was routing in a couple minutes. So be sure to make set up blocks, you'll thank me later. As for negatives... the instructions, even the written ones, don't cover much about the raised panel bit. Actually they talk more about the raised panel bit with the back cutter, which this set does not have. Just wished they would have covered that better. Plus it was kind of confusing when it came to putting the panel groove in the rail, did not cover that at all. Was an easy step, just not covered, was not one the of the "steps". And of course I'll echo what so many other have said, it's pretty difficult to get the bits out. Even though I knew this I still cut my finger on one of the bits. Great they are so sharp, but not when they have blood all over. Also, I do not have a very tight fit where the rails go into the stile. They work, they still look good, just kind of loose. I believe the instructions talk about adjusting the shims, I just have not tried it yet. Seems there would be a tighter fit out of the box with a brand new set. Lastly, I am not getting a very smooth finish on MDF for the panels. Not terrible, but could better. Though, that might be more because of the material and because it's at an angle? I've even tried 4-5 passes with a very small last cut. Over all I am happy with the set. I've now made several doors and over all they do make it pretty easy to use. Sure going to pay for itself.

We've used this set over the past year to completely redo kitchen cabinets from plain Jane to fabulous! Worked flawlessly, quickly and efficiently. This was a great value that allowed us to transform a boring top quality hand built cabinet into custom designed style. Highly recommend!

High precision engineered quality product.