High all,
Just wondering what the smallest possible size endmill is to use on wood safely. Can you go .25" at a time with it? I want to make some wood signs and the size I'm making I use 1/8" right now and not enough detail on the edges yet.
Thanks. :)

Of course you can go smaller which usually dictates faster rpm, shallower cut and slower feeds or some combination of all three.

As an option have you thought about using the current bit for speed and then follow with a second operation only for those areas that require more detail using the smaller bit.


Ken

Yes, that is exactly what I want to do I want to cut it out with .25" or 1/8" and then use a small endmill for the edges and small details. I wonder if a 1/16" bit can handle a 1/4" at a time or do that small of endmills even have a flute length of that? Multpiple passes would work also though.
Thanks. :)

Yes I believe it may have a .250 flute length but that would be in my opinion way too deep a cut for a cutter of that size, I would think you would have better success with faster feed speeds, light DOC and multiple passes.
1/16 ain't much ;)

What do you mean faster feed speeds?
Thanks. :)

Faster feeds would be referring to travel speeds. I am used to using IPM or "Inches per Minute", some use IPT "Inches per tooth” or IPR "Inches per Revolution" but IPM seems less confusing for us less then experienced :)

So you take a lighter depth of cut and are then able to move faster through the material. This method seems to be gaining in popularity and gets almost bazar in complexity and will surley start an argument if you even dare try to call it HSM "High Speed Machining" :D of which in reading what it is by many, I am so confused that I just have made my own definition, KHSM or "Ken's High Speed Machining" :D

i've done 1/16 bit 1/4 deep in teak at 2 in/minute with noooo problem - it turns the wood to dust (spindle at max speed)

GCZ you are of course correct, you can slow down the feed to accommodate the cut. My opinion was based upon a gut feeling and not experience, but at 2 IPM it would seem to me that this would be a perfect candidate for what I was referring to. I am too old and do not have the time to operate at 2 IPM :D

Cool, where can you get a nice 1/16" bit? The flute is actually 1/4" ?
Thanks. :)

i get stuff on ebay - there's a guy there selling small carbide cutters only...
but i don't want to tell you this for a couple days so i can snipe the last 2 sets i need!

Ken- you just need more mills!!!! :)

my code generator assigns 50% of bit diameter as cut depth and i have used a few bits that are like needles no probs

I have looked at a few bits, is there any small 1/16" bits or 1/32" bits that have a flute of 1/4" or more because they all seem to have a smaller flute with the smaller diameter which makes sense but just wondering if they even go that deep?
Thanks. :)

i can find 1/32 with 1/8 flute length...that seems to be 'long' for that diameter.
1/16 i have are about .3 long (just measured)
until now i had been able to find mixed sets on ebay for as little as 10$ for 25 (drills and mills - microsize) but those seem to have long vanished...now i'm just getting my head around the idea i have to pay 3 or 4$ or more for a cutter...good thing i had the cheap ones to learn with.
finding cutters is no problem - finding cutters that one can afford IS a problem i'm trying to solve without a lot of success - i've looked hard!
i'm sooo not done learning how not to break em!

Here is a Canadian link

http://www.carbide.ca/prod.html?id=9

Here is A USA i think 1/16 X.250
http://www.gravers.com/s08cut7.html

those micro bits i was talking i got from grizzly or harbor freight been awhile its a set of like 25 bits and was like real cheap some of the bits i have had no use for ....yet ...but they are there if i ever need em so muti bit types micro sized (.0xx)

those micro bits i was talking i got from grizzly or harbor freight been awhile its a set of like 25 bits and was like real cheap some of the bits i have had no use for ....yet ...but they are there if i ever need em so muti bit types micro sized http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44924
like $5 for 20 or they have a 50 for $12.99

yeah buddy!
watch me click for a ton of those suckers right now!
even if i use but 3 bits of a set, i'm doing great!
thanks a ton for sharing that link!

done- got 10 sets of 50 comin!
thanks again strat!

The smallest ones that I've ever seen have been dental burrs. The ones that the dentist uses to drill into your teeth with.:D

There are two types, diamond and carbide. Use the carbide ones, they look like miniture mill bits and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They have a 1/16" shank on them. Due to their small size your feed rates won't be the fastest. I have used them before in all types of material (wood, plastic, metal and glass).

Google up "dental burrs" and you should come up with something. I have seen them for less than $1 each. Ask your dentist to save some of his old ones for you so you can try them out.

Great link. So if I wanted to cut 1/4" deep or maybe a little more, since the flute is 1/4" is there a straight piece of carbide right after the flute at the same diameter before it tapers into the shank diameter?
Thanks. :)

I use Micro100 Endmills on our Citizens... Small tools are Micro100's nitch...

http://www.micro100.com/cgi-bin/Inch.cgi/?Prefix=GEM

For a very small endmill I usually would make small, light cuts....

3000-4000 RPM depending on the SFM it recomends, and 1-2IPM. My DOC would be somewhere in the range of .020-.080 depending on the material. You can obviously cut Mag/bronze and aluminum easier than you can cut stainless...

:-)

Cool, where can you get a nice 1/16" bit? The flute is actually 1/4" ?
Thanks. :)
try KBC, they have 1/16 end mills. they are in Canada, have a dcecent catalogue and do mail order