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Router bit for acrylic
Hi
Can anyone recommend a good router bit for use in my table mounted router when cutting acrylic, can be 1/2 or 1/4" shaft but would like cutting diameter as thin as possible.
Are their specific bit for plastics?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Elliott
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7 Replies
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You may find the spindle speed to fast on a hand held router which I am guessing you are using.
Have a look at ITC for bits suitable for cutting acrylic.http://www.itc-ltd.co.uk/products/sign- … g-products
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Thanks Martin
Interesting re the spindle speed, your right its a triton TA001 hand held router mounted in a router table, are you suggesting that slower is the way to go for acrylic?
ITC seem to have a suitable bit but not sure if its suitable for non cnc use, will contact them tomorrow.
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quote Elliott j Willis:Thanks Martin
Interesting re the spindle speed, your right its a triton TA001 hand held router mounted in a router table, are you suggesting that slower is the way to go for acrylic?
ITC seem to have a suitable bit but not sure if its suitable for non cnc use, will contact them tomorrow.
Not at all Elliot, when cutting any material particularly those that have a tendency to melt it’s important to get the speed & feed rate correct. With a hand held router it is difficult to get a fast feed rate so the option would be to slow the spindle speed down. Some hand held routers have no speed control at all, they run at a very high speed. Those that do have a variable speed still tend to have a reasonably high minimum speed.
As for bits being suitable there isn’t really any difference between a hand held router & a spindle used on a cnc machine except that the cnc spindle will normally have a wider range of collets for the chuck which means you can use a wider range of shank sizes.
My spindle has an er20 chuck which with the correct collet set will accept shank sizes from 1mm up to 1/2"Long as you can find either a 1/4" or 1/2" shank tool then it will fit in your router, ITC do some very good single flute upcut bits but not sure what shank sizes they come in.
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You may be able to use a CNC tool in your hand held router, but its an expensive way to go.
Trend make cutting tools for acrylic for their hand held routers, they should be available from all good tool shops ( trend stockists ) I have one here part number ACR 3/20, which has a quarter inch shank, I’m sure they to half inch versions too !
hope that helps.
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Do they work ok Dave? Reason I mentioned ITC was because I know that is where Phill Fenton got some bits for cutting acrylic on his home made cnc machine which uses a hand held router rather than a high speed spindle. Surprised Phill didn’t find the trend ones.
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Both tools will work fine, however the trend ones are designed for hand held routers, they are steel with two cutting carbide surfaces this makes them less brittle. They are also designed for cutting at much lower RPMs.
The ITC and similar CNC tools are mainly carbide which makes them, harder but brittle and sudden change in feed rates can cause them to break. I haven’t machined any acrylic for a while but if my memory is correct we machine acrylic at between 18,000 – 22,000 rpm which I believe is the speed range the ITC & belin single flute tools are designed for. Best bet is to speak to the tool manufacturers for conformation as there are a 100 and 1 possibilities. -
Thanks Dave and Martin, Ended up ordering a Trend and an ITC bit so testing on the cards this weekend.
Again thanks for help, genuinely appreciated.
Elliott
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