Custom router bits?

[sally ray]

Hi, I’m looking for down cut spiral bit. 1/8” shaft, 1/8” diameter and a 1 1/4” cut length to use on a CNC Router.

Can’t to find anything with a cut length longer than 13/16. Does anybody have a source for having a custom bit made?

Thanks!!

[Tom M King]

Hickory Saw and Tool if one off. Whiteside only does minimums of six now.

edited to add: Whiteside used to make custom bits for me, but I typically only want one of each. A couple of years ago, they referred me to Hickory, and they are very pleasant to deal with too.

[sally ray]

Thanks Tom!

[Jim Becker]

Harvey has a lot of esoteric cutters and I believe they will do custom, too. A 1/8" cutter that's long is atypical because of how brittle they can be. If you're cutting foam, well...less of an issue. Amana does have a few 1/8" cutters with longer cutting areas, but they top out at about 1 1/16" cut length for a down-cut carbide spiral.

https://www.toolstoday.com/solid-carbide-spiral-foam-cutting-up-cut-router-bits.html?variantids=13433,0&keywords=46562

[Peter Kelly]

Vortex makes custom bits https://www.vortextool.com/custom.html

Not sure if there's a minimum quantity tho.

[Brad Shipton]

The 1 1/4" length will be a problem to find. It is too long and will want to break. I would ask Kevin or Brian at Vortex.

[Richard Gonzalez]

Precisebits has a couple of deep reach 1/8 dia bits as stock items (upcut, ball end). 1.25 cut length. They probably could make custom ones as well.

https://www.precisebits.com/products/carbidebits/deepreach125b3f.asp

[Bill George]

Would a Roto Zip bit work? I know its not a router bit but its 1/8 inch and meant to cut on the side.

[Jim Becker]

Would a Roto Zip bit work? I know its not a router bit but its 1/8 inch and meant to cut on the side.
Probably not without being really, really careful with speeds'n'feeds...

[Bill George]

Probably not without being really, really careful with speeds'n'feeds...

I have seen them pretty abused, and the price is right to see IF they would work. If the OP is just using for cutting I think it would be worth a try. I have some out in the shop, if it was not raining so hard I might go out just to try on my little machine, yes its in the detached shop. So much rainfall here in Iowa.

[Jim Becker]

Bill, the danger with using tooling not designed for a CNC is that there may be a lot more stress put on it in multiple directions simultaneously and then there is the speed factor. I don't know what RPM the "roto-zip" type tools work at. One would have to take great care in that respect. RZ is a tool that your hand gets feedback from and you adjust accordingly. That's not there with the CNC router...it either works or goes "bang"...

[Jerome Stanek]

Roto zips run faster then the spindle around 30,000 rpm. I bouht some 1/8 inch 32 mm cut of E bay that I use for thick PVC

[Bill George]

The only RotoZip bits I could find in my unorganized mess, were the ones for cutting out around outlet boxes and the like, not a mill type head. I cut that off with a abrasive disk and tried in some white pine at 13mm depth of cut. High spindle speed and pretty fast feed rate and the thing cut but did not clear out the kerf as it was so narrow. For the cost of a few bits, less than $10 I would experiment a bit. I can only assume a custom made router bit is $100 or so? He might have the same issue as a narrow kerf. And if he is wanting the same diameter, then I will assume that a router bit that long would tend to snap also.


I did get a chance to try out the tips I learned here about high feed rate and high spindle speed and wow you guys are right.

[Bill George]

Roto zips run faster then the spindle around 30,000 rpm. I bouht some 1/8 inch 32 mm cut of E bay that I use for thick PVC

That's on your CNC router, what are you using for a machine? I wish now I had at least a 48x48 work area.

[Jim Becker]

I can only assume a custom made router bit is $100 or so?

While tooling does cost money, consider that a 4x8 sheet of 1" HDU can cost well over $400 and (assuming this is commercial work) the material markup, design costs and other factors are going to result in a good final price. So folks are going to be willing to invest in that longer tool if they need it to make the cut. What material the OP is working with is going to influence the risk factor of breakage and I don't believe she's indicated what they are cutting. But I can appreciate the situation as just yesterday I was cutting a small number sign for a house out of 1" HDU and mentally made the mistake of using my 1/8" end mill for the cut-out, forgetting that it was too short. That resulted in a very funky scrap-and-do-over. :) A 1/8" bit with more than 1" cutting depth was what I needed to do that and get better material yield than doing the cut-out with a 1/4" end mill. I ordered a longer 1/8" bit this afternoon, as a matter of fact.

[Randy Viellenave]

I was recently having trouble finding some too, a post in the CNC forum yielded speedy help. If 1-1/8" will do the trick, here is the one I got on Ebay. This seller has a very good selection.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-1250-2-FLUTE-LONG-FLUTE-1-125-CARBIDE-ENDMILLS-FOR-WOOD-OR-PLASTIC/152448862060?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.S EED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D4bd1f b4af2544c0a9fc602a74117e9d8%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D 1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D152448862060%26it m%3D152448862060&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Af6adc382-74b7-11e8-84bd-74dbd18081fe%7Cparentrq%3A1e760bad1640acc79ddfcc46 fffe6459%7Ciid%3A1

I see the post was moved from General to here.. My RSS feed didn't.
(https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-1250-2-FLUTE-LONG-FLUTE-1-125-CARBIDE-ENDMILLS-FOR-WOOD-OR-PLASTIC/152448862060?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.S EED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D4bd1f b4af2544c0a9fc602a74117e9d8%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D 1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dag%26sd%3D152448862060%26it m%3D152448862060&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Af6adc382-74b7-11e8-84bd-74dbd18081fe%7Cparentrq%3A1e760bad1640acc79ddfcc46 fffe6459%7Ciid%3A1)