Infinity vs Whiteside for Flattening End Grain

My goal was to determine which of these two high-quality router bits would provide the smoothest outcome when planing end grain, especially end grain that's prone to fuzziness and tear-out. The router-sled method is useful for flattening large wood cookies, end-grain cutting boards, log-bench ends, or anything else with a lot of end-grain surface area that might not be suitable for a thickness planer. The smoother the result from the router bit, the less time you'll spend hand-planing, scraping, and even worse, sanding.
I started with the Whiteside bit, and later picked up the Infinity bit to see if it would give better results with its upshear/downshear design. I thought about including some very-low-cost bits as well just for kicks, but decided that would only degrade the overall results - The cheapest bits are cheap for a reason and aren't a good long-term value. I also thought about including some more expensive options, but this is coming out of my pocket, so we'll stick with these two for now.
You can skip to the end of the video to see the conclusion, but I usually try to show how I arrived at my conclusion so that you're not just taking the word of some dude on the internet.
You can find pictures of stuff that I make on Instagram:
/ thesnekkershow
These are the two bits compared in this video:
Whiteside 6220 Spoilboard Bit: amzn.to/38WEqam
Infinity 52-506 Mega Dado & Planer Bit: amzn.to/3goSb4J
This is the router I used:
DeWalt DW618 2 1/4 HP Router: amzn.to/39HZYqz
If I were to buy or test another bit, it would probably be this one:
Amana RC-2250 Spoilboard Bit: amzn.to/3bPFIFX
This video is not sponsored. I paid for everything and used my own time. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission if you use the Amazon links to make a purchase.

[@TheSnekkerShow]

As a follow-up, I used the Whiteside bit to cut some walnut face grain. It made a beautiful cut, just as I would expect from Whiteside. There's nothing wrong with the bit's quality; it's just designed for spoilboards, not end grain. You can see the pictures in the Community tab on my channel. Sorry, KZbin doesn't support direct links to posts yet. As another interesting data point, I conducted the glass-of-water test with both bits, and noticed more vibration with the Infinity bit, and less vibration with the Whiteside. I'm using an aftermarket collet, which is demonstrated in the oldest video on my channel using the same water test: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5zUh5Ksi7yggZI

[@TigerCarpenter]

glad you did publish this comparison / test video. please don't treat my comment as self advertising but me and my brother have a small factory in South East Asia where we live, and we mostly make tools for ourselves, and occasionally some of these tools become our products. last year we designed and prototyped the 1/2 inch shank router bit, which has 2 horizontal and 2 vertical standard indexable carbide blades (used in the helical spiral cutter heads in the jointers and thickness planers). the bottom cleaning diameter is 1.5 inch and the cut depth is 1/2 inch. we use this bit mostly to cut deep and clean rabbets / rebates, grooves, and we also used it for flattening the cake slabs like yours, and to flatten the workbench and table tops. the results are mirror like finish, with no visible ribbons / transitions between neighbouring passes. with the powerful router such as Triton TRA001 3.25HP we managed to make 10 mm deep cuts in one go like a hot knife through the butter, with zero tear out, and perfect bottom surfaces. for the deep cuts we obviously used the router table, because the torque / forces are very big. I will be soon adding our own made router bit with the indexable carbide blades as the product, we still need to figure out the retail price for it. the beauty is it lasts for a very long time, after 1 year it is still like brand new, and we didn't need to rotate the indexable blades yet. so it should last a few years before you replace the 4 indexable blades, which are not that expensive, as they have become very popular and widely available. in our prototype we used the blades made in Germany, which definitely are of better quality and durability than the China made blades.

[@TheSnekkerShow]

Nothing wrong with a little self advertising. Sounds like an interesting product. Feel free to post a link if you start selling it online.

[@TigerCarpenter]

​@@TheSnekkerShow thanks man! I will post the product tomorrow, and update this comment with a link. to be honest it is extremely hard to compete with China, as they "influenced" all the countries to give them literally non existent import duties, and the shipping close to zero. when we ship our 2 lbs = 1 kg Switchable Magnets, we pay USD42 for the custom duty + shipping with FedEx. on the contrary, when I BUY something from China, the custom duty + shipping is like USD1 - this is seriously intimidating our business, despite we have outstanding products, unmatched by the Chinese so it will only make sense for us to ship cargo to US and UK by the sea, and then we can distribute it using the local courier services. we are in fact starting to do it with some "test" retail products, to see IF we can break out with some profit. we considered Amazon, but they take 35%, yes you heard me. they want to earn more than the manufacturer themselves. the world has become a very hostile place for small businesses. we are truly struggling to keep the lights on, despite having invented and produced top of the line products.

[@MyGrowthRings]

Your comment on LJ truly made me LOL so I had to come here to sub and what do you know, I'm already subscribed! I need to pay more attention to who I'm subscribed to. Scott

[@TheSnekkerShow]

Excellent, thank you. It's not every day I get to earn a subscriber twice.

[@lv_woodturner3899]

I have been doing metal work for a few years. I have learned a lot using my metal lathe and milling machine. Wood workers are accustomed to sanding at some point in a project. Machinists hate sanding. They will tweak feeds, speeds, cutting tip geometry etc. to get a good finish to eliminate sanding. These days I love to mill wood on the milling machine when the work is small enough to fit on the milling machine table. I can get excellent results in face, side or end grain using my metal work cutters, typically HSS. I have an insert face mill which uses carbide inserts. Decent finish but not as good as some of the HSS. I run the mill at slow speeds, typically around 600 rpm. I get little to no tearout. Slow feed rate also helps. I find a cutter with a rounded edge profile like a bowl or tray router bit will minimize the lines between passes which you are seeing with the present sharp edge bits. My experience with the mill makes me wonder why routers spin so fast. Dave.

[@TheSnekkerShow]

You raise some very good points. I may have to do another test using the same bit on the same piece of wood, but at different feed rates. I also hate sanding. I'd much rather do some metal work and sharpen my planes and scrapers than to turn on a belt sander. I thought about rounding the corners on these bits as I've done with some of my other ones, but I decided against it since the line helps me calibrate things. If I ever make a CNC table I'll probably round the bits.

[@woodshopnerdery]

Very interesting video. The fact that the Infinity bit seemed to perform better in the router table than in the hand held router jig, suggest that chatter or vibration may play a role. Certainly end grain is prone to causing chatter even on hand tools. I would think that the router table would have a chatter advantage. So, maybe other chatter controlling techniques may help, like adjusting the bit speed. With a large diameter bit a lower speed may perform better?

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I did another test later using a glass of water, and found that the Infinity bit caused more vibration in the router table than the Whiteside. My highly scientific glass of water can't detect where the imbalance was, though. I was running both at 16,000 rpm. I think it's just the shear angle that made a better cut, and the slight inaccuracy on my jig that made them both underperform during the first round.

[@jonspambottomly4105]

Another Question. (I am new to this). I appeciate that there are endless bit types and sizes, but when a bit is advertised as a CNC Flattening Bit, does it somehow follow that it is not suited for a conventional router. Are CNC Router Bits inherently different somehow? I can't see why they would be (other than perhaps the shank length?). And so if it is designed to cut wood, and is the right dimension etc., is it fine to use 'CNC Router Bits' as you demo. above. Many thanks for your works.

[@jeffreyturck274]

A very good comparison and kept my attention, you are good at getting to the nitty gritty even if it means no remarkable outcome. Having your sled off by a few paper thicknesses and fixing that for a better cut is something that no one else has addressed much less care enough about to find "the fix", everyone of them say they see it but they can't feel it. Is it all about saving a sanding pass or two? Or bit speed, direction of pass, wood grain density? Truth is I have never flattened shit yet, but I will in the future, maybe I am way over anylizing and just do it.

[@TheSnekkerShow]

Sanding is possibly the worst part of woodworking. It's time-consuming, bad for workshop air quality, and a waste of money since you have to keep buying more sandpaper. Cutting with the right tool in the right way reduces the need for sanding and is much more enjoyable.

[@TheFalconJetDriver]

I would also submit that the mass of the infinity bit would lead to less chatter that we can not detect with out instrumentation, Thus leaving a smoother finish. However the Whiteside bit was previously used so it could be less sharp. A Diamond card may able to mitigate that. And bring both bits to a comparable condition. We are glad to see this video was published. I would also like to see details on your sled. 😁🛫

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I first used the Whiteside bit a few weeks ago, and should have mentioned that in the video. I also cleaned it first to remove any pitch. I tested the aftermarket collet in my router table with a glass of water. Maybe I could try something similar with the bits. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5zUh5Ksi7yggZI

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I did the water test, and there was more vibration from the Infinity. I wasn't expecting that. That wouldn't necessarily measure chatter since I wasn't cutting anything.

[@matthewitt2276]

With turning wood, I've found that no matter how sharp your tools are, you'll still get tear-out sometimes. I've use CA glue to strengthen end grain and it worked like a charm. I just wiped it on, waited a few seconds and removed more material.

[@TheSnekkerShow]

Good tip, I'll have to try that sometime. Plain water works too, but there's the risk of swelling the wood.

[@andre1987eph]

Nice shop

[@TheSnekkerShow]

Thank you

[@moldings_etc]

For just a little more money you could move into the insert type bits, with a double type, one set of tips on the edge, the other on the bottom surface. It would improve your end grain milling by quite a bit. You also wouldn't have to wait on a sharpening service if you get a dull knife, just replace the carbide with a small screw.

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I put a link to the Amana bit I'd like to try next in the video description. It's around the cost of the other two combined, so it might be a while before I can justify it. The two cutters on the bottom look like they'd probably make a very clean cut.

[@moldings_etc]

@@TheSnekkerShow I haven't used that exact bit, but I have a lot of insert tip cutterheads and router bits and they do an amazing job whereas standard brazed tooling tend to fuzz and tear figured or end grain.

[@rickyperkins232]

Question now that you've had these 2 bits for a while do you still think the infinity is just as good as the 1st time when you did all your tests

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I have a growing collection of slabs and rounds that need flattening, but long story short, I had some 3hp router troubles near the end of the summer and haven't done any major work with the bit.

[@nonplayablecharacter4815]

I have the white side astra coated slab bit like the one you got there just with the coating. I find it struggles with end grain as well. What would you recommend? I need something that’s gonna slice through the end grain and will last

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I haven't tried any of the bits with removable carbide inserts yet, but I've heard good things. Many of those have a lower shear angle, which is generally better for end grain.

[@nonplayablecharacter4815]

@@TheSnekkerShow thanks for the response. It’s just crazy that they cost as much as my thickness planer did from harbor freight brand new!

[@TheSnekkerShow]

@@nonplayablecharacter4815 Pretty much why I don't have one either.

[@markstutzman8869]

I'm wondering if some of the tearout you're seeing is due to fungal degradation of the wood, given that you're using ambrosia maple. I'd be interested in seeing a similar experiment done on a cookie cut from a green log and dried quickly, so not infested with fungus.

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I think that's definitely a factor. If you go to my channel page and click on the community tab, I added some pictures using the Whiteside bit on walnut face grain. Nothing wrong with the bit, but the design isn't optimal for problematic end grain. I imagine it would work fine on a more cooperative piece of wood.

[@tjacksonwoodworker3726]

Did you account for a new sharp bit versus a used bit. Maybe the white side bit needed sharpening..

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I took the Whiteside bit out of the package just a couple weeks ago. It was replacing a much older Whiteside bit with only two cutters.

[@tjacksonwoodworker3726]

@@TheSnekkerShow ty..

[@TheSnekkerShow]

@@tjacksonwoodworker3726 Good question. I should have mentioned that in the video.

[@donuts_are_good]

Oh dude I work with 70% isopropyl alcohol very frequently and you can inhale quite a bit of this stuff and be fine. Labs all over the world regularly use lots and lots of iso.

[@Ultor_]

I may be mistaken, but it seems like the Infinity bit is significantly quieter than the Whiteside bit.

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I thought I noticed that while I was cutting, and it was more apparent when I put the two video clips side by side. I'm not sure if it was due to the shear angle, or because there's a lot more metal on the Infinity bit.

[@markyu70]

Can it be used on CNC spindle 2.2KW 0-24000rpm?

[@TheSnekkerShow]

I'd refer to the manufacturers spec sheet for that.

[@user-jc5yg3sj2o]

Low angle cutter, the lower the angle, the better for end grain,

[@ocoro174]

💀nah I'm sticking to edge grain

[@julianalcorso5703]

THESE TWO BITS WERE NOWHERE NEAR THE SAME PRICE AS YOU STATED. THE SECOND ONE WAS OVER 1/3 DEARER (36.4%) THAN THE FIRST!

[@TheSnekkerShow]

GOOD THING I PUT BOTH PRICES ON THE SCREEN AND LINKS IN THE DESCRIPTION TO CURRENT PRICES!

[@dangkolache]

That's like saying a 1 dollar screw driver and a 2 dollar screw driver are nowhere near the same price cause it's double the price.... what he (obviously) meant by 'they're about the same' is it wasn't a 25 dollar bit vs a 300 dollar bit

[@julianalcorso5703]

@@dangkolache my point is that they were nowhere near the same!

[@julianalcorso5703]

@@dangkolache Si, if I owed yo #100 but gave you $70 and said that is 'near enough' you would accept? I don't think so. Accuracy in speech and especially when comparing things is important!

[@markstutzman8869]

@@julianalcorso5703 What currency is indicated by your '#100'? I'd like to look up the exchange rate between it and US dollars. Accuracy in writing is important, don't you think?

[@ClumsyFlounder]

Why would you spray with alcohol? You've heard of water right...?

[@TheSnekkerShow]

If you want to spray water on end grain, go for it.

[@ClumsyFlounder]

@@TheSnekkerShow Does this mean you concede using alcohol and inhaling its fumes (despite claiming to know better) was completely idiotic?

[@asoggyburger479]

Water will cause rust and gum up more with dust. Alcohol will not cause rust, and will also evaporate quickly and likely cause less build up. This is my speculation. Open a couple windows or doors and throw a fan in there, problem solved, weather dependent. Your aggressiveness is a bit unnecessary, it’s a stranger in a KZbin video, who by the way did a nice job, I learned a couple things.

[@ClumsyFlounder]

Aggressiveness? All I did was call him idiotic...? Dude openly said in his video he "knew better" and did it anyway? @@asoggyburger479

[@suttonhechmer7515]

💕 Promo`SM!!!