What's going to be my best option to use with the Dewalt 611 router? I've seen some say two flute and seen some use single flute because they couldn't keep a two flute clear.
These are some of the bits and suppliers I use.... Never had an issue with 2 or 4 flute bits, they will leave a cleaner cut than a "O" flute bit and you can use higher feed rates due to a lower chipload. I personally run all my bits between 13k and 16k rpm.. All the bits I use on my big machine with a 3 1/4 HP router I used with my smaller machine when it had a DW 611 on it. I just adjusted the DOC to deal with flex and less horsepower. Check out my builds to see some examples of what i'm cutting with these bits, I only use an "O" flute bit when i'm cutting plastics or aluminum. This is not all inclusive of all the bits I use, just the places I can remember at the moment. I'll probably amend this list a few times. Don't even bother buying bits from Home Depot or Lowes, they don't come close too the quality of these suppliers and priced too high!! Magnate 2705 Surface Planing ( Bottom Cleaning ) Router Bit - 1-1/2" Cutting Diameter (good for surfacing spoilboard) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006B0QX4...UTF8&colid=2KG2ZVULK37DC&coliid=IRT11QXVN9TU2 Magnate 761 V-Grooving & Carving Router Bits, 60 degree - 60 Degree; 5/8" Cutting Diameter (Good V bit too, I like three flute bits, easier on softwoods, less tear out and fuzzies) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W28I00/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Whiteside Double 1/4" compression bit http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012K5YDK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Milescraft downcut bit (great for pocketing where texturing will be cut later) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YD7ZKY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 CMT 1/8" downcut (great for smooth bottom pockets) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P4NQGQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 CMT 858.001.11 60 degree Laser Point Bit (probably the best 60degree bit) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P4NSYG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Niagara Cutter N55803 Carbide Square Nose End Mill, Inch, TiAlN Finish, Roughing and Finishing Cut, 30 Degree Helix, 4 Flutes, 3" Overall Length, 0.125" Cutting Diameter, 0.125" Shank Diameter (great for drilling screw holes) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CYKFDS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 CMT 815.064.11 Solid Carbide V-Grooving Bit, 1/4-Inch Diameter, 1/4-Inch Shank (good for v carve lettering) http://www.amazon.com/CMT-815-064-11-Carbide-V-Grooving-Diameter/dp/B000P4NRCO/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1422297300&sr=8-9&keywords=cmt 90 (.0625") CARBIDE 2 FLUTE ENDMILLS, DOWNCUT FOR SOFT PLASTIC (work great in wood too plus CHEAP !!) http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-1-16-062...526?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23419b36de 5pcs Single Blade Aluminium cutting single flute CNC router bits 3.175*3.175*12m (OK bits, cheap !!) http://www.ebay.com/itm/111563788736?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT Awesome bits for aluminum but expensive http://www.toolstoday.com/c-428-aluminum-spiral-o-flute-router-bits-cnc.aspx Solid Carbide CNC 2D and 3D Carving Tapered Ball Nose and Flat Bottom, Zirconium Nitride (ZrN) Coated Up-Cut Router Bits (some of the best i've used so far !!) http://www.toolstoday.com/c-514-carving-cnc-2d-and-3d-router-bits.aspx Precise Bits (great quality tapered 3D carving bits) http://www.precisebits.com/products/carbidebits/taperedcarve250b4f.asp Beckwith Decor Bits (alot of folks say these are the best 3D Tapered bits, I haven't tried them a bit out of my price range) http://www.beckwithdecor.com/index_files/Cutters.htm http://www.lakeshorecarbide.com/ http://toolinghouse.com/ http://www.latheinserts.com/MILLING_c126.htm http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRBR
I will second the Magnate bits. And I don't just limit their use to wood. I was using the 2704 to shave some aluminum blocks a few days ago and it did a banner job.
Thanks for the great info. That's way more info than I expected. I'll definitely look at your builds and get a few of these bits ordered.
Yeah like Rick said, alot of the bits can be used on other materials as well. I have used the CMT 60 degree orange bit and the tapered ball nose bits on acryilc, aluminum and brass. Try the toolstoday website, they have alot of videos and descriptions of what you can do with different bits... Good luck and have fun !! Gerald
Yeah all of that and more !! I secure my wood with screws and i've hit a couple over the years, makes me cringe when I hear that sound.. Gerald
"I secure my wood with screws and i've hit a couple over the years" That's what she said. har I picked up a bag of nylon 1/4-20s in case that happens.
lol nice.... I was looking into that nail gun that shoots thin plastic nail just for this purpose but it too expensive. I hit a screw maybe once every 6 months, I can live with that...
You got to learn to sacrifice a bit extra of your timber to give the cutter safe passage. After chipping a cutting face on a pricey bit, I had to accept that lesson.
I'm usually pretty good about it, every once in awhile, mostly when i'm a hurry, one gets to close.... It happens... Gerald
Like Joe said, nylon 1/4-20s. @ $8-$10 per hundred they are a small fraction of the price of any bit. Combine that with delrin or hardwood hold down blocks and there's never a worry.
Ah see, I don't use hold downs, I find they get in the way alot of times for me.... The way I figure it if I go through 1 $30 bit every 6-12 months I can live with that.
For ply you want a 3 flute to avoid burring, I recommend a downcut spiral chipbreaker, or use a hogger and finish with a 3 flute 30degree downcut spiral. Compression bits are great it you can plunge deeper than the length of the upcut part of the bit which in most cases is more than an ox can do (2-3mm plunge max), Compression spirals are expensive also and you wont benefit from them really, you could use one to finish at full plunge but again the ox doesnt have the rigidty and power to remove the amount of remaining material that would need to be removed to get rid off the burring created by the roughing. Also you want to be running your spindle as slow as possible with your feed rate as fast as possible without stalling, (find stall point of feedrate and back off 30% ) running anything over 10000rpm at ox rates will blunt your bit in no time. Put this it perspective, a wood spiral recommended chip per tooth size would likely be 0.019-0.027" This, taking in the ox's constraints of a 3mm plunge, equates to a feed rate of 9360mm/mim @ 8000 rpm. Unless you have a high speed machine with huge servo motors, with most machines this is a fictional value as its simply not achievable, but this is the speed where optimal heat transfer takes place so the further you go the more heat your making so worth bearing in mind. possibly reduce the plunge to 1-2mm as not to create too much deflection at the lower spindle speed. happy machining!
@Jonny Norris @Hytech2k I recently built myself an OX and made the mistake of thinking that it would run as smoothly as a professional machine. I've been cutting particle board with a .25" straight double flute end mill (6.35 mm). At first I thought I could do as least step downs of 50% the diameter of the bit (.125") but that did not work well- motors would stall and I would lose position. Then I reduced to a 1.5 step down and it got better, but sometimes the machine still seems to stutter a bit trying to fight the material. I use a Bosch Colt at 20,000 RPM with a feed rate of 2500 mm/min. From my calculations (20000rpm x 2flutes x .012chipload= 480 IPM or 12192mm/min) I should be running the OX much faster, but that is clearly not an option. What kind of speeds are you using to cut wood? And if it is less than the ideal speed (from the calculations) how do you keep your blades from getting dull? Is there a page on this forum that documents proven feeds and speeds for the OX? Thanks
Wow okay 20000 is way too fast. Anything over 16000 is diamond engraving territory. And if that bit has any run out, which a bit of that size will have some for certain, you'll find you'll nacker your spindle bearings real quick. Try 10000 rpm, 2mm depth per pass, set your toolpath to 2000mm/min. Start the cycle with feed rate override at 750mm/min and if all is well, you'll be cutting but you hopefully should also hear a screaming sound, telling you the bit is hungry, slowly increase your feedrate until the screaming is reduced, push it to far and you will hear the everything start getting a bit clunky, hear that and back it back into the realm of having a slight whistle and you should be good. Feeds/speeds with an ox are really just another's opinion, not really a science, it's all down to the ox itself. Like you say that bit you are using probably has a recommended chip size of 0.58 so the feed rate calculator is going to tell you something like, you need to be going 9m/min at 4000rpm which is completely unrealistic even for a lot of professional machines. Best thing you can use is your ears, screaming bit is hungry - too fast, Growling and clunky - too slow. Particle board is full of glue and pretty tough, You have most likely dulled that bit by using to many rpm's. I never use over 12000rpm we'll ever to be honest but certainly no faster on woods and composite's Hope this helps.
Lol looks like I have replied to an already answered question, note to self don't reply to email alerts.
I agree with Jonny on that, the stock Ox has limitations on how fast and deep you can cut... I would ditch the straight flute and try either a 2 flute upcut or down cut in a good brand like Onsrud, CMT, or even the 1/4 Bosch from HD or Lowes... I cut 3/4 stock on the F-117 with the compression bits I get from amazon at 14k rpm, .25 DOC, and 80ipm feed without issue, but on an Ox I don't think that's really possible.. Make sure the bit is sharp.
Thanks for the responses guys. @Hytech2k I've been looking on amazon for the spiral bits you are talking about, but I am not sure which ones to get. The bits I have been buying have been from Freud- the thing that was nice was that most of them have 1/4" shanks and they even have tools with larger cutting diameter than the shank. I am using the bosch colt, which accepts a 1/4" shank- do they have adapters for 1/2" shanks and 1/8" shanks? It seems like a lot of these spiral bits are the same diameter all the way through. Something that I have been wondering about for a while: do you use compression bits to cut the entire material depth in one pass in order to utilize the up and down portion of the bit?
Precisebits.com used to carry a kit that had collets and nuts, but discontinued them due to compatibility issues.. I've tried these bits in the past with pretty good results http://www.lowes.com/pd_57163-353-85911MC_1z0vid6__?productId=1093177&pl=1&Ntt=routerbits http://www.lowes.com/pd_78081-353-85903MC_1z0vid6__?productId=3743597&pl=1&Ntt=routerbits http://www.amazon.com/CMT-192-007-11-Carbide-Downcut-Diameter/dp/B000P4HOGE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439899581&sr=8-1&keywords=cmt downcut http://www.amazon.com/CMT-192-001-11-Carbide-Downcut-Diameter/dp/B000P4NQGQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1439899581&sr=8-3&keywords=cmt downcut That last bit is one I use alot it has a 1/4 shank with a 1/8 dia cutter.. If your machine is rigid enough you could use a compression bit and cut in one pass, but very few DIY cncs are stiff enough to do that, I make the DOC slightly deeper that the upcut part on the bit, i'll usually cut 3/4 material in 3-4 passes...
@Hytech2k Thanks for the suggestions. I looked everywhere for an adapter for the bosch colt, but I guess I'll just have to stick to 1/4" shanks. I've seen some exotic tools where the cutting diameter is larger than the shank, but those tools never come in 1/4" shank (except for the straight flute variety. Any suggestions here? I saw above that you recommended a surface planing bit. I've noticed that my roughing passes have been producing sort of striped surfaces- my straight flute bits seem to raise a little in the middle an are not completely flat across the bottom of the tool. Is a planing pass worth it or should I just sand? I guess I could also reduce my stepover.
Just look on amazon or rockler for a 1/4 to 1/8 reducer for your router bits... I surface with a 40 to 50 % stepover... If your seeing alot of witness lines the router may need to be trammed...
I have been using Magnate bits for a while and love them. The one below is my latest purchase, a 3" bottom cleaning/planing bit. It wasn't cheap but it'll darn sure do the job . Other brands I like are Whiteside, CMT as well as Yonico too! They are all fantastic bits. Of course you can never really go wrong with Freud either. Bitly |Freud Spiral Bits Bitly |Yonico Spiral Bits Bitly |Whiteside Spiral Bits Bitly | CMT Spiral Bits
