I am in the process of building my X-Carve machine now. I am brand new to this hobby. I was wondering if anyone has broken it down for the different drill bits for different materials? I am assuming you should change them out for different materials? Any assistance would be great.
I apologize in advance if this question has been asked.
Thanks Ted
I’m assuming you mean bit like end mills, etc., rather than ‘drill’ bits. There’s a good discussion on this thread:
And, you can find a lot of information by doing a forum search for bits.
I was in the same boat one month ago… The thread in the previous post has a ton of good info, but its also scattered out over ~100 messages.
I assume you got the DeWalt 611? If so, did you get the 1/8 collet adapter?
I would recommend getting some ‘cheap’ 1/8" double flute end mills to play with. I started with these from amazon and have abused the crap out of them… plywood, mdf, hardwood… etc.
Keep in mind that ‘downcut’ bits will leave a cleaner cut on the top… but they are also more $$
V-Bits (90° and 60°) are great fun for V-Carving if you have the software.
I’ve used those cheap 1/8" bits from amazon to cut .125" acrylic… But my best results have come from ‘Single Flute’ endmills.
For 3D carving you’ll want a nice Ball End bit for a smooth final cut…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-1250-CARBIDE-2-FLUTE-ENDMILLS-BALL-END-LONG-FLUTE-PLASTIC-WOOD-/381434463808?hash=item58cf440640
IMHO… i would just stick with good quality yet cheap basic end mills until you ‘need’ something else. I’ve been very happy with everything i’ve picked up from ‘Carbide Plus (drillman1)’ on ebay.
http://stores.ebay.com/CARBIDE-PLUS
Keep it simple until you get your feet wet… It won’t be long until your addicted to buying end mills just because they are cool (not because you have a need).
It’s far better to get a 1/8" collet from Elaire. Check the forum about that.
Agreed… that’s what i have on mine. i was just making sure he at least had a 1/8" collet.
When I ordered my 611 from Amazon, I got an adapter with it. I used it a couple of times and had some slippage, so I quickly ordered from Elaire.
