Whiteside router bits--does size really matter?

[Leon]

I never had any more problems with burning in Ipe with the end mill bit than I did with a 2 flute carbide cutter. Take in mind also that my bit was in a router table mounted router. I would hold the pieces of Ipe over the spinning bit and plunge the wood down over the bit to make the initial hole. I did use a jointer style push block to push the wood down on the spinning bit. The blocks of wood that I was cutting the slots in were about

3.5" long and 2" wide. There should be no alignment problems but as always you whould make a test cut in scrap for insurance.

Again, test for best performance but I ran mine wide open well over 20,000 rpm.

Look here for these bits and also keep in mind that like most solid carbide spiral bits these end mill bits shanks are the same size as the cutting diameter. You may need an collet adapter for the bit to chuck properly. Still with that in mind I found this to be a far cheaper route to take.

Search on End Mill . There are probably lots of cheaper places. Typically I found these bits to be in the $10-$15 range in 3/8" cutting diameter.

[Vic Baron]

Nope - I'm not that dumb. Also, I make my dados match the shelf.

You won't have that problem if you cut more accurately.

[W Canaday]

The same as for the equivalent-sized router bit.

At the same feedrate, the four flute tool has 1/2 the chip load of the two flute tool, making for twice as many cuts per lineal inch, too. If burning still occurs, boost your feedrate to take a bigger chip with each pass of a cutting edge. The chip carries much of the heat away from the cut (says a guy who has worked in a hail of blue chips coming from milling machines and lathes).

Bill

[W Canaday]

An end mill is what machinists use to make money cutting things to size and shape.

Try this link to get a mental picture of the various shapes.

[CW]

Size is a bit of a problem. Shank sizes in solid carbide tend to be the same size as the cut diameter. I use three diameters for on size cutting (1/4",

3/8" 1/2"). For other sizes, standard router bits are about the >

[CW]

So, within a 1/16" isn't close enough. Which is it? You really should stick with one story.

[Morris Dovey]

[ with thanks to CW for context, Art's post didn't show up here ]

KBC doesn't have a very good on-line catalog and I had the same problem. The part of their part number that doesn't appear in the same line as the tool is shown directly above in a heading row. FWIW, their print catalog is a _lot_ easier to work with. A word of caution though - this is another of those catalogs that could lead to maxing out your tool budget - for stuff that you probably never even dreamed existed. If you get their catalog, turn to page 978, then rip out and discard the next four pages - you've been warned. :-)

I took the advice I gave Bill Canaday in news:mailto: [e-mail] and use an industrial spindle that uses ER-25 collets. These are available in sizes to span from 1/16" to 5/8". I bought KBC's #7-171-295 so that I could use end mills and twist drill bits of any size in that range.

Most routers come with 1/4" and 1/2" collets; and I understand that

3/8" collets are available for at least some routers from the manufacturers. I've heard that there are 1/8" adapters available; but I don't know offhand who makes/sells them.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[Vic Baron]

Nope - you should learn to read, nerd.

PLONK!

[Mike Berger]

[Tom Woodman]

I have the same problem with another brand of bit... same shank same cutter size and slightly undersized and I paid top dollar for it. This has REALLY annoyed me because I have a project that requires a precision fit in order to work. I think quality router bits should have a higher degree of precision. if it were from Harbor Freight, I could understand it.

[Art Greenberg]

Morris,

I asked KBC for their catalog. Today, I received a sale flyer, just ~50 pages. I hope they follow up with the full-line catalog; I'm absolutely DYING to know what is on pages 978-982!! 8-)

[Chris Friesen]

You can always look it up on their website...

Chris

[devon.c.miller]

CNC Milling machines, starting around $15K up to $40K plus.

Devon

-- Remove capital letters from the email address.

[Art Greenberg]

Thanks Devon. I couldn't be sure if the print catalog Morris had is the same as the current one on the website.

Makes sense that Morris would drool over that stuff. Despite readily recognizing the coolness of those machines, I seem to be immune from the effects Morris warned of. Maybe its the price range.

[Morris Dovey]

| On 3 Feb 2006 09:53:15 -0800, [e-mail] wrote: || CNC Milling machines, starting around $15K up to $40K plus. || || Devon | | Thanks Devon. I couldn't be sure if the print catalog Morris had is | the same as the current one on the website. | | Makes sense that Morris would drool over that stuff. Despite readily | recognizing the coolness of those machines, I seem to be immune | from the effects Morris warned of. Maybe its the price range.

The lure of that kind of stuff is that they so incredibly shorten the distance between "imagine" and "use".

I don't know how many times I've said - and heard other people say - "I wish I had a tool that could/would ..." With that stuff, if you can imagine it, draw it with your CAD package, and figure out a way to keep your workpiece from squirming around while it's beeing shaped, you can have your new tool less than a day later.

The price range puts 'em out of my reach, too; but as the prices have come down, my interest has gone up (and up and up). It's not so much the coolness of the machines, it's the coolness of the machines that can be made with the machines... :-)

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[Art Greenberg]

Indeed. But making furniture is just a hobby for me (and a pretty new one at that). So machines like that are fairly permanantly out of my reach. And I'm not likely to want to contract out custom machining for cost reasons as well.

If I were ever so lucky as to fall into a sufficient fortune, I'd probably set up a machine shop around such a machine (or maybe two). I've had just a taste of working with metals on a vertical mill and a lathe, and I'd love to be able to combine that with woodworking to make furniture.