Carving Bits

X-Carve Troubleshooting
1

Hello everyone, I am new to CNC machines and I am trying to cut 1/2" circular holes in a piece of plywood for LED’s. I would like to know what type of bit would be best for this while retaining quality but not too much time to carve out. I am also trying to put groves in this plywood. Could I use the same bit for these groves? I know this may seem like a simple question but I have been stuck on finding a solution.
Thanks for your help!

2

heck this out.

3

Hi Liam,

Could you just use a 1/2" drill bit and physically drill the holes? It would be a ton faster.

If you need to cnc the 1/2" pockets… just use a 1/8 or 1/4 bit. Others should give their opinions but I would use a downcut bit with 1" length of cut. I am guessing a spiral bit would work just a well.

Best of luck!

4

Thanks for the reply so fast! The reason I want to use a CNC machine is because I want to have a 25x 25 grid of holes. That is 625 holes that I would have to drill and I might not be exact every time so I was thinking that using a CNC machine would give me a better end result than me using a drill for all of the holes. The pockets are not 1/2" which I should have clarified the pockets are probably going to be around 3/8" wide and about 3/16" deep.

5

Thanks! this looks like a good possible solution

6

Inventables sells them as well if you’re interested.

https://www.inventables.com/technologies/solid-carbide-downcut-fish-tail-spiral-bit

1 Like
7

For plywood you want a downcut bit.
You should be able to pick up a 1/4" downcut bit in the router bit section of your local hardware store. (Both Lowel’s and Home Depot stock them)

The downcut bit pushes down as it cuts, instead of lifting like a traditional bit.
This keeps the bit from tearing up the edges of the plywood as it cuts. It also keeps form lifting the center of a large edge clamped sheet up as it it cuts.

Here is an example of an array of larger holes in plywood I made with a 1/4" downcut bit:
(click the [image] link)

8

I got one of these at Lowes, in the router bits section for $18.99
Bosch 1/4-in Carbide-Tipped Downcut Spiral Bit
Item # 78081 Model # 85903MC

9

Thanks!!! This is super helpful and I will definitely take this into consideration when carving my board.