Router Bits for cutting out shapes

1

Is a 1/4 bit better for cutting out shapes rather than an 1/8 bit?

2

that’s a trick question, .25 less (time) details vs .125 more (time) details

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Well I want to cut out shapes for kid toys on wheels. Suggestions?

4

well anything thicker 3/4" I would recommend 1/4" End mill

5

For the majority of CNC machines (60W and 22KRPM 775 spindles used mostly by desktop CNC’s being the main exception to this rule) Ken’s completely correct here.

Typically stepdown (aka Depth per pass in Easel) is determined using a multiplier of the bit diameter. for the purpose of this scenario I’ll use a common one of 1X bit diameter for the stepdown amount.
So a 0.25" endmill will be run at 0.25" depth per pass
and a 0.125" endmill will be run at 0.125" depth per pass
making the larger endmill require less passes to reach the same final depth as the 0.125"
So it can cut faster.

But like Ken pointed out, If there are any internal corners (think the inside parts of a star, or the center top of a heart) then the smaller diameter endmill will slide into that inner corner further than a 0.25" endmill and for that reason a smaller endmill might be more desirable.

This can become a bigger issue when cuttings items with smaller details within the main shape.

Personnally I use 1/8" endmills a lot! They are much cheaper than a 1/4"bit…
Even for thicker stock … u just have to source an endmull with the appropriate cut length.like this 1" cut length one… SpeTool 1/8 Inch Carbide Compression Router Bits 2" Long CNC End Mill

Or these 22mm straight ones I used in pine in the above video:
https://amzn.to/33l1waQ

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