High-Performance Whiteside Router Bits UD2102 Compression for Precise Woodworking Review

Purchased to cut holes in 1/2 inch thick maple plywood. Cuts very clean on both sides. Does not require cleaning. It works, nothing more to say!

Item was broken on arrival. Upon closer inspection, it clearly showed burn marks and had something resembling walnut shavings stuck to it.

It's sharp, cuts cleanly on the pado and the tube it comes in is strong enough to be used for storage. This bit looks high quality and is in the middle price segment. I will probably buy this brand again.

What I like about this Whiteside compression cutter is that the top end is very compact, which allows the tool to be used on thinner material than many other options on the market. These are my little compression routers for CNC work.

They can be expensive, but other manufacturers' end mills can break very easily. Whiteside is on the top shelf in my opinion. This worked great for our CNC plywood cutting. I step 3/8" to 3/4" material to reduce the gap on either side. works perfectly

Used on my CNC. Cuts plywood well. When I "drill" a quarter inch hole with it (straight up and down the Z axis), the hole appears slightly enlarged. Other 1/4" end mills are more typical of what I get with a standard drill bit in a drill press - a snug fit on a 1/4" dowel.

I bought this first but to cut plywood. Don't plan on using it for anything else because while it's not the most expensive I've ever bought, it's not the cheapest either and I want it to last a long time. It cuts plywood better than any other bit I have. Nice clean cut. The underside of the dado I cut out is smooth. There is no airflow on the top. I'm excited to see how much use I'll get from this before cutting gets boring.

Boom! I use this up/down mode on my CNC all day. It does not stop. This bit has become my go-to production tool for 1/2 and 3/4 plywood. I even smashed it a few times which caused an uncomfortable strain and it still holds up and goes through Baltic birch with no issues, cracks or torn edges. This is a really good cutter for the price. Update: Many hours of work on this and it just won't stop. It works well with plywood and plastic.

I've used compression and downdraft heads from all the major manufacturers as well as nameless budget heads. Some of them are almost double the price of this bit. But this one gave the cleanest cut on the front and back of the material I use. I ran through two 3/4", one 1/2" and one 1/4" maple veneer 4'x8' MDF filled with pieces cut through with the same drill and it's still holding up great. Wear and tear you hardly notice I think I've found my new workhorse.

Great tip. Compression bits are the way to go when you really need to reduce or eliminate wear on the cutting edges. Anyway, I like Whiteside's products but wasn't sure how this one would handle the fact that it would work almost exclusively with plywood. It started out very sharp and made super clean cuts. It eventually wore out, but gave me reasonable lifespan. Good fit for my 0.25 inch router. Large shank for a chuck with a long cutting surface. Helps reduce vibration and bit flexing. As…