What is a good inexpensive finishing bit

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I use the tapered ballnose for final detail on 3D now, you can get them for a good price on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solid-Carbide-tapered-Ball-nose-end-mill-coating-R0-5-30-D6-75-TiAlN-HRC55-/182039235529?hash=item2a62624bc9:g:L8cAAOSw0vBUlCrO

You can get the tip diameter in about any size you want.

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@AllenMassey

whats the advantage of using a tapered end mill over a straight one?

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You get the advantage of a small tip for fine detail with most of the strength of a larger diameter bit. So they are not nearly as fragile and easy to break as a 1/16 or 1/32 straight bit. So you can run them at faster feed rates without fear.

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oh yeah that makes sense thanks

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I use that exact same bit for my lithophanes, I cut almost 0.25" in one shot at 65 inches per minute. Bear in mind, only the initial plunge is using the entire bit, after that it cuts with the side mostly.

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Of course it depends a lot on the material, for hardwood I run it at 40ipm on the finishing pass (after roughing) in corian or plastics where the material is very uniform with no sudden density changes I run it at 60ipm.

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I’ve been looking at getting one of these:

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