Can anyone point me in the right direction on a good 1/8" bit for cutting MDF? I bought a 3 pack from Harbor Freight and was cutting the guitar pick holder project in Easel and it did not cut clean at all. I broke the one I bought with the Xcarve. Are there any good 1/4" shank ones that will cut through 3/4" stock? I bought one of these from Sears but the cutting length isn’t long enough.
Thanks for any help.
How deep was your cut? MDF generally cuts like butter.
Hi,
have a look at the tools flutes. If the flutes are large they are well suited for wood (and bad for hard materials) - if they are small they are bad for wood - but good for harder materials.
Usually 1/8" bits with 1/4" shanks are designed for harder materials and have small flutes.
Christian
I generally use the 1/8" upcut from Inventables and they work great. I had tried to find some elsewhere that had the same cutting length (0.87") since I was cutting a lot of 3/4" MDF and these were the only ones I could find. I starting using the straight flute 1/8" that comes in the starter pack last night though and really liked the results.
Good luck!
One cut was all the way through and the other was a pocket cut. Look in the projects section of Easel and it was the guitar pick holder project.
Search 1/8" (.1250") 2 FLUTE CARBIDE ENDMILLS on ebay. (drillman)
I use these all the time. I drill a hole a little smaller than the red ring around the bit. Take a hammer and gently tap on the blunt end of the bit to take the red ring off. 80in/min .063 deep per pass.
drillman1 is definitely a good place to get end mills. That being said, I can pretty much ditto all of what @Rusty said… the 1/8" single flute upcut is my go to bit and the straight 2 flute 1/8" bit leaves clean cuts in MDF. The 10 packs of these two bits are a great buy and with the right feeds/speeds and the right care they will last you a long time.
Thanks Guys, I actually ordered both of the 10 packs that Rusty recommended.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Awesome, good luck! I need to order the straight flute pack as I only have one of those bits and I’m starting to use it a lot. I bought the spiral upcut pack awhile ago and broke at least 2! All stupid mistakes made by me, but that’s what happens when you’re learning!
So far, my favourite is my Onsrud O-flute single-flute downcut spiral, I think. The 1/8" one is razor sharp, and works great.
