I’m cutting the attached image out of either .25 or .50 birch plywood and would appreciate recommendations on the best bit to use. Thanks in advance.
My go to bit for carving small details like this is a SainSmart (Genmitsu) 30 degree v-bit.
They also have a set of 20, 30, 45, 60, and 90 degree bits.
But… you did say cut, not carve. If you are going right through with this cut, I would suggest a SPE 1/16
Thank you Jordan, I am cutting thru and these look like they’ll do the job!
I use this one. It’ll cut up to 1/2", and most 1/2" ply it’s a little less. Those 3/16" stub mills won’t get you through 1/4" or 1/2"
Edit: can’t link directly to correct endmill on Amazon
It’s the Amana Tool 46009
Here’s a SpeTool option.
My apologies, I was in a bit of a hurry to find a 1/16th bit in my purchase history, and Neil is correct that the 3/16" length is too short to go through 1/4 or 1/2 material. I have a longer 1/16 bit that I use for up to 1/4" material, but I’m having trouble trying to read what it is, and apparently I didn’t buy it from Amazon.
Nevertheless, even the bit I have will do 1/4" material, but not 1/2" material. Getting a longer 1/16th bit to go through half inch material is going to be a bit more difficult to find, and the risk of the bit breaking is much higher. You would have to slow your feed rate down quite a lot with a long skinny bit (perhaps less than 100mm/m), depending on your machine and the material you are trying to cut.
So with that in mind, I don’t see a scale on your intended project. What is the overall dimensions of the picture as shown above? Does each square represent 10mm? 1 inch? It would help to know this in order to determine the right bit for you. I do have some 1/8" bits that are long enough to do up to 4/4 material, and if what is pictured is large enough, that could work. What Neil has shown is a 1/2" bit, which won’t really work unless your project is bigger, like 24".
So the better question is, what is the intended overall dimensions of the project you have shown?
The overall dimensions are approx. 16 inches by 16 inches.
Thanks
Thanks for the info!
Hi Michael,
I took the liberty of copying your image and doing a quick Image Trace on it and sized a project to 16x16 inches to see what it would do. A 1/8th bit, pardon the pun, but it just isn’t going to cut it. You will need to go with a 1/16th bit. If you look at the bits in Easel, there is a 1/16 Fishtail bit that you can click the shopping cart beside, and it is worth something like $7. I have not used one of these yet, so I can’t speak to the quality of that bit, but it does show a cutting length of 0.3 inches, which would suffice for 1/4" material. If you really want your project to be 1/2" thick, I would suggest cutting two at 1/4" and glue them together. I would also suggest that if you purchase that bit to get at least two or three of them, because 1/16th bits are fragile and can break easily. I would suggest shallow depth per pass and slow feed rate so that the bit has a chance to survive. Any small amount of deflection could cause the bit to break.
Best of luck!
Jordan,
Thanks so much for the input and advice. I’ve got one 1/16 fishtail but I’ll take your advice and order a few more. I won’t have to complete this project for a month or so. Again, thanks for the help.
Thanks Neil!!!