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i was just wondering how often your bits break on router?
I have been using the CNC router at my work for more than a year now. Like any power tool I respect it’s power and try my best to follow all procedures. I am the first to put on safety glasses and ear protection. I knew human error would be the cause of my first "mishap". Written down next to my computer now is : .65" does not equal .065"
I was in a little bit of a rush today because the program that runs the router is on my co-workers computer and he was really busy designing something so I had to jump on there really quick to output something to the router. Well I wrote the material thickeness down wrong and before I knew it I routed into my table a half inch and broke my first router bit. I tried it again and somehow while changing router bits I broke another one on the interchange. 2 in one day…my first 2 in over a year. I was just wondering how often your bits break…if ever.
-Marek "Measure twice, then measure again to make sure you have it right" -
11 Replies
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marek, in 50 years I have never broken a bit!
Then again, I have never used a router.
Peter 😀 -
:lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
I was waiting for that one Peter. 😀
It was just one of those days today…couldn’t do anything right.
-Marek -
I am still looking for a measure-tape that reads in “mm” not “cm”. I am often make a mistake of counting and forgetting the extra zero when im rushing.
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one every other month for us.
operator error mostly from trying not to vertighten the collet so bit slips.
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i only have ever broke a 3mm router bit. this has happend mainly because i have left the travel speed too high in 2mm deep alliminium.
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I have broken 2 engraving bits in the year I have had the engraving machine. The first time was on the sharp learning curve a month after the purchase and the last one was last week when I forgot to alter the cutting depth after changing bits 😳 It cost me £20 to do a £15 job. 🙄 😥 (hot)
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Well Marekdlux (where do you get tha name from)
Broken router bits, Peter has never broken one, others break one every month or so !!!!!!! we break them every f****ng week.
I reckon 2 a month every month of the year and no we are not cutting stainlees steel every week (in fact we break more cutting acrylic than anything else)
We obviously need help, anyone got any constructive suggestions. (yes we do follow instructions are are using the right diameter bit at the right speed)
Regards Adrian
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We break them on an alarmingly regular basis, luckily it’s not us that foots the bill so we”re more than happy to push the recommended tolerances toward their operational ceiling 😀
Of course, we probably trash around half as many as we used to since we offloaded our Axyz router which seemed to have it’s own ideas on rpm and travel. Axyz supply the bits too so we were left wondering whether it was a sneaky program initiated so there tooling sales would stay buoyant.
Have any other readers experienced this?
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We break tons of em , however we make our own bits. We buy 1000’s of broken PCB shanks (carbide) and use a diamond wheel cutter grinder to 1/2 them and put our own cutting edge etc on them , 1/8 inch , 6mm and 1/4″
A cutter grinder is the most valuable accesory we have.
In terms of bits , it all depends on what you cut , acrylics should not be a problem , soapy water as a coolant will extend cutter life by huge amounts and give a high quality cut to boot.
Stuff like MDF is highly abraisive.
Using titanium coated cutters also can extend life hugely.
The most common mistake ppl make is using slow feed rates , this overheats the cutter and reduces life hugely. Collets are CONSUMABLES – you need to replace them regularily , the constant tightening etc makes em slightly off centre and distorted or they dont grip properly and induce chatter in the bit = breaks. Ideally you need the minimum protrusion from the collet for best cutting. Im not sure what bits you guys are using for what or what coolant systems , but essentially heat is the killer of any bit. Stuff like stainless is a b—stard as it work hardens if it gets hot and this becomes a viscious cycle – the bit breaks and where it breaks is so hard it can NEVER be cut.
Plunge rates and dwell are important too , as is the bit you use to plunge cut. If you arent running good lubricant systems , you are in for problems too. soft stuff needs special bits , you need to grind in a HUGE amount of back clearance so the swarf gets ejected properly.
Rigidity is king when cutting , especially the vices, clamps , vaccum system and the machine itself.
most bit problems are a result of trying to use one bit like a slot drill to do everything. Materials too are important , like use engravers brass vs 1/2 hard , the cut will be cleaner , no burrs and no lube required , same goes for ally , soft ally cuts FAR worse than 50 and 60 grade hard stuff. -
sheesh – whats with the censorship – I typed the word c h a t t e r and got a no ad’s and earlier on typed every tom d i c k and harry and got (oops I swore) with d–k 😉
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quote signco:Well Marekdlux (where do you get tha name from)
About 10 years ago when I first signed up with AOL (America Online) you had to create a screename. My friends name was SpyDeluxe (or something like that) named after a type of sunglass that he liked (I think), so to mess with him I came up with Marekdlux (there was a limit on how long it could be so I abbreviated deluxe) and it kind of stuck. I could never come up with something clever and I still use it today on my regular email. My “company” name is D-lux graphics so it kind of all ties in together.
Getting back to router bits….at least I am not alone in breaking them. 😀
-Marek
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