Which Router Bit set to get around £20-£30?

I have a couple of 'cheapy' boxes of various bits for the odd occasion I use them...usually putting a bit of edging on mdf for shelves etc. useful to have, but worth replacing an often used one with a quality item.
I bought a Katsu router mainly with laminate trimming in mind and bought a generic cutter. Bearing exploded within about 30 seconds of using, but fortunately I was doing the bottom edge of the worktop. Went back to my file on that job to finish off, even though Id bought a spare bit

 

That is one of the issues with economy tools, if they go wrong then the workpiece that has been ruined often outweighs the cost savings on the tool. Saying that even expensive tools can fail spectacularly.

 

Very true. Some weeks buying the Katsu, I'd practiced using the same make of bit that exploded with an old router I had and it worked fine. At the price, much as with the worktop bits, thought they'd be ok for 'one' job then chuck them.

 

It's funny that a metric size is popular in the States, is it an imperial equivilant?

 

Equates to 5/16 ″

 

So presumably it started out as an imperial size and got converted but 1/4" and 1/2" didn't?
Who invented the router, all our good ones are European but work in imperial mainly?
America doesn't seem to have a history of plunge routers, is there a reason?

 

Interested in this too.

 

Router been around since 1915, but it was Elu that refined it, around 1949.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Router_(woodworking)

The yanks seem to have affinity with router tables, you only need to look at Porter Cable mid size routers most are fixed base,designed for tables, but a few now come with a multi base now.
They table routers have a strange calibrating rotating ring to adjust depth of cut, so you would have to make several passes, a bit crude compared to a plunge base.

http://www.portercable.com/Products/CategoryOverview.aspx?catPath=4272.6180.6187.6221.6234

http://www.portercable.com/Products/Category.aspx?catPath=4272.6180.6187.6221

 

So it's still strange that a German company made Imperial cutters or do European routers work in modern money?

 

Can't explain it.

 

This must be a first

 

Very good Chips!