[DistortedDesign]

Where is the best place to buy low to mid grade cnc end mill bits? I am not looking for junk that will work once but i dont have $30+ per bit starting out. I have to buy everything. I am just about to finish up my joes 2008 cnc. I will be cutting foam, plexiglass, mdf, hard wood, just no stone or metal.

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[LeeWay]

Ebay and Enco.
Oh and Harbor Freight.

[DistortedDesign]

Harbor freight stuff is very low end, and they don't carry cnc bits. They have router bits. Enco tends to be on the expensive side. Ebay could be ok but would have to have someone in specific. Too many chances of getting cheap chinese crap or regrinds sold as new. I found a couple of places online but don't knpw if their prices are high or low or if the bits are any good. I don't have a frame of referance.

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[LeeWay]

You asked about low to mid grade. HF does sell low grade end mills. Not sure about singles, but they do have sets.
Are you wanting end mills or router bits?
If it is a Joe's, then you are likely using a router.
I would eventually buy material specific bits.
Plastics needs it's own type. Foam can use very cheap ones and MDF and hardwood also need High quality bit.

Any that are really usable in those materials other than foam, will likely all be in about the same price range.
Since it is a router, I would never spin anything but quality tools in it.

HSS won't last as long, but will typically be cheaper.

I get my plastics bits from McMaster Carr.
Most of my other router bits come from Holbren bits.

He is a great guy to deal with and often has dirt cheap sales pricing.

[ger21]

Low grade bits tend to always be junk. I think what you want are inexpensive good bits? Unless your getting good deals on high quality bits on Ebay, then you get what you pay for. The more you spend, the better the quality.

they don't carry cnc bits. They have router bits.

Not sure what the difference is. I've been using router bits in $150,000 cnc's for over 15 years. Sure, they make router bits specifically for high speed cnc use, but unless your machine is capable of cutting 300+ipm through 3/4" MDF in one pass, you'll save a lot of money using standard carbide tipped router bits. THere's not much difference between pushing a router by hand, or having a machine push it.

For small bits, the best deal you'll find is on Ebay, from Drillman1. For larger bits, I've bought about $6000 worth of surplus Onsrud bits on EBay for about 1/3 their normal price. THe safest thing to do on Ebay is stick to well known brands, like Onsrud, Vortex, Amana, and Whiteside. There are plenty of other good manufacturers out there. If you don't know who made it, it's probably not very good.

[aarggh]

I buy heaps off various sellers on Ebay, this is one of the best sellers I've found to date:

10 PCS Single Flute Spiral CNC Router Bits 1 8 22mm | eBay

I've bought quite a lot of these and others over the years in solid carbide, carbide tipped, and HSS, and they are very, very cheap, and also work really well, and cut cleanly. For the general purpose stuff I do, they are more than adequate.

They may only last me half or a quarter (or worse) of what a better one will, but at a dollar or two each, I have no qualms using and abusing them, and tossing them after many, many hours use. The only ones I've ruined to date are the ones that I abused doing aluminium. But for plastics, timber, mdf, etc, if you don't want to pay very high costs, these are ideal in my opinion. Some of my single/two flute cutters have done around 100 hours machining with no sign of blunting yet. So for me they last really well.

Another thing that works a treat if you have at least an ER11 collet, is standard 1/4" router bits, you can get them in a set of 50 carbide tipped cutters on Ebay for $100 inc shipping. The ones with bearings are of limited use but the angle and straight cutters are fantastic value, and will last you absolutely ages. I've bought several of these and they are great value, even allowing for the ones you'll never use!

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/50-PC-Rou...item2c6f20d5a5

cheers, Ian

[aarggh]

Ok, nothing speaks louder than examples, so the pics here are a good sample of just how good some of the cheap cutters are. All the panels shown are just the last weeks work on the cnc, using a 6mm shank, 22mm diameter carbide tipped vee cutter.

I bought 6 of these cutters around 2 years back, and I'm only on the second cutter. The first I used on aluminium extensively which just wrecked it as the workpiece was vibrating under load. Not good. This one I thought I'd ruined today as I'd stuffed up my off-sets, and it started machining straight into the stainless steel guide and aluminium clamps held down with a steel screw. Made a bit of a mess of the sides as you can see, luckily the tip itself was untouched, so 'm still using it!

All my vee routing I do twice to clear up fuzzies, so all that you see on the table, with an imperial ruler for scale, has been completely machined twice! With a 2 year old, $3 router bit from a Chinese Ebay seller!

Some of the timber shown is Vic Ash, and some is Blackbutt, which is renowned for being difficult to machine, and requires a razor sharp cutter otherwise the timber immediately blackens and heats up the tool. All the faces and edges, and vee routing (which has all been done twice remember!) has no marks at all. The only marks you can see on a few smaller pieces, are from my trusty 30yo rip saw.

That's the kind of mileage I get, so I prefer to buy truckloads of dirt cheap cutters, and just toss them when they get damaged. I'm yet to actually wear out a carbide tipped router bit. I've had some of my router bits for over 30 years, and i'm still using them. And I am yet to see any appreciable longevity, or performance difference between the more expensive brand ones I have compared to the cheapo ones I've bought. These are router bits I'm talking though, professional end mills are a whole different ball game. But this is a good example of not needing to spend a lot to get million dollar results!

cheers, Ian

[SophieGirl]

Ian, are these "CNC end mill bits" or are they just ordinary carbide router bits. The panels look awesome.

[aarggh]

Ian, are these "CNC end mill bits" or are they just ordinary carbide router bits. The panels look awesome.

Thanks! They are both, the one on the right is a 1/4" two flute router bit, the one on the left is a 6mm Vee bit, but for my general work there's no difference between the generic cnc cutters and router bits I buy. I bought an imperial set of collets so I could use my wood router bits on the cnc machine as well.

I've also done a lot of 3D stuff using run of the mill round edge router bits.

cheers, Ian

[SophieGirl]

I think I just had an epiphany. Can I do this type of 3D carving with VCarve Pro, or will I need to get another program?