CNC with bowl bit

I picked up a couple of bowl bits, thought I’d try them out with the CNC. I used a 7"x 1" x 1.5" piece of cocobolo. I made two projects in Easel. One for the pocket - using the 1" bowl bit - and one to cut it out (1/8" spiral bit). I had to guess at the corner rounding for the cutout tool path and ended up doing some sanding afterwards to fix it. Used a 1/8" round over bit (I think) to round over the bottom and give it a little lip. Finished with tung oil. Couple of hours total. Worked out pretty good!

photos here

12 Likes

Nice Work!

Thanks! i know a couple of people asked on the forum about bowl bits, so I thought i’d share. Planning on making something from a larger piece with the same bit. Going to use a 2+" thick piece, does anyone have any recommendations for bits to do the cutout? I have a 1/4" straight bit with a shank that is 2.25", but that seems sketchy, don’t want to have it come flying out. Thinking about having the CNC cut it 1.75" through, then finishing it off on the bandsaw. Anyone have any other suggestions?

bobjewell - that seems like the safest idea. If I was feeling adventurous, I’d make the cutout on both sides and flip the piece. Not ready for that yet. As someone who has a hard time cutting anything straight, trim bit is the greatest invention of all time ;-).

That wouldn’t work with what I did. For the pocket, I just drew a 1" rectangle and let the 1" bit create the round ends. I probably could have got the outside curve to match better, but I wasn’t too worried about it. Was easy to sand down.

This is the bit I used: Rockler bowl bit

Oops, wrong link. I am using the 1/4" shank version

1 Like

What settings do you select in Easel to accomodate using the bowl bit. I’ve had one I wanted to test for a while now, but not sure where to start.

I am new to the Inventables community and was wondering what setting I would need to set to be able to use a bowl bit as well. Thanks