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With a router, I need to put V Grooves, mostly on thick MDF. I don't have a router of my own & I'm borrowing one, on the condition I use my own bits. I said yes, considering this is a one-time. Now I'm ordering cheapo bits online & I came across these.

Says they're high carbon (steel), rather than (Tungsten) carbide.

So, will these do it & last me the entirety the job?

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    Off topic, but don’t discount how nasty mdf dust is. I’d suggest a name brand half face p100 respirator.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Commented Dec 28, 2022 at 15:21
  • If the router loan is for a very limited time, consider just getting 2 bits, just to be sure. If they're that cheap, they're essentially throw away items anyway, you could throw away the 2nd one, even unused. Or, if the seller has a decent return policy, you could return it. Alternatively, "return a borrowed item in the condition you received it, if not better" as my dad taught me - give the unused bit to the router owner as a thank you. Having a junky bit for rough work (like MDF) is always handy.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Jan 2, 2023 at 18:39

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So, will these do it & last me the entirety the job?

This is impossible to answer. In part it's because you haven't specified what the entirely of the job is — a single project might involve one V-groove in a dozen pieces, or many grooves in 100 pieces ;-) — but the quality of the bits is of course the other major factor here, and that's a complete unknown.

The bit pictured is not a high-quality bit going by appearance (good bits tend to look like that's what they are, with high-quality machining and a certain 'crisp' appearance).

Still, it could still work well enough for what you want to do. There's just no way to know in advance so it's a buy-it-and-see proposition unfortunately.

Says they're high carbon (steel), rather than (Tungsten) carbide.

FWIW the bit in the photo looks like it does have carbide cutters. The darker grey thing sticking up above the red paint at the business end, that's surely a TC insert just like on the majority of modern bits.

I'm ordering cheapo bits online

There's more than one way to do this, and some come with a greater assurance you'll get something at least decent, if not actually good.

There are of course many many vendors selling Chinese-made tooling of various qualities online now. Some pretending their products are something more than they are, others clearly selling Chinese products which will ship to the end user directly from China. I would generally recommend buying from the second type.

If you buy from certain better-known vendors such as BangGood, who have at least some track record of decent quality in some of their product lines, it's unlikely you'd get a bit so poor it won't last a single project. Even if it's a large project.

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