Machining Cutters You May Have Never Seen - But Should Own

The right cutter for the job always makes things go better. Here are some you may not be aware of. For laminates, wood and some plastics, these cutters are the best.

[deanneumann]

Kudos for yet another video that **instructs** rather than just *informs*. I learn more from your videos than from anyone else's. Thank you Joe.

[JusMeSpazzz]

In the woodworking world, those router bits are known as being 'down cut' bits. There are also 'up cut' bits which are conventional.
Though I know more woodworking than metal working, I enjoy your videos immensely. I may not be able to apply what you are teaching, I love trying to learn from you. Oh, and I complement you on your ability to draw very well on a white board! Straight lines and circular circles by free hand? Unheard of!

[beachcomberbob]

We used to use that Tufnol material in industrial electrical switchgear installations. It was a real swine to cut. Wish we'd had those burr cutters back then!

[sferg]

I'm a retired toolmaker, and I was tasked with making cams for Brown & Sharpe and INDEX screw machines. We had an INDEX cam milling attachment on a vertical mill and would use a reverse helix end mill on this attachment. We had to plunge cut into the cam blank at certain places around the cam, and if you tried to use a standard helix cutter, it would grab and scare the bejezers out of you when the whole machine would shake! Reverse helix is great for thin stuff like you said, and for profile milling parts from sheet plastic.

[TheMuzShop]

Excellent video Joe! Lots of great info! Thanks so much and be safe and healthy my friend.

[Room_for__more_fruit_tree]

There's even a compression cutter made specifically for wood used on cnc routers. They work amazing. Had the router running 400ipm and .73 doc. Clean bottom and top edge with vacuum table. I cant thank you enough for the videos and extra education your videos offer. Your a huge help to the community! Thanks Joe.

[gladiusilluminatus]

As a metric guy I really appreciate the conversions from inch to mm. It makes it so much easier to get a feel for the movements you are doing and the size of things. Usually, I always have a calculator open to convert measurements myself so I know what the numbers mean.
Btw really great videos, in general, they are much appreciated and have solved or even prevented quite a few headaches for me. I am currently teaching myself a little machining and setting up my own shop so I can get a better understanding of the things they teach us in school (I am studying Mechatronics).
Cheers from Swizerland

[MagnetOnlyMotors]

26:50 also don’t want to inhale that stuff, could be a bad phenolicky type day .😢
I’ve often used the burr cutters for removing ball bearing races that are either up against a shoulder on a shaft or in a closed bottom hole with no access to remove it . A double cut 180* apart always made them let go.

[timblack]

Great video. I bought a huge box of cutters, taps, dies, and drills from a guy who had passed away. Couple of the burr cutters in there... I assumed they were for some big die grinder. Great to know I have them now.

[karlomoharic]

I just enjoy watching your videos. You have a really neat skill of blending just enough technical information with practical examples, in a way that makes your videos easy to follow and fun to watch.

[howardosborne]

Hi Joe, Interesting content in this video. A close pal of mine is a very experienced master of machining and joining plastic components. He has an extensive collection of these special application cutters for his mill and routers. In a similar vain I have a good number of what we call 'down kerf' jigsaw blades for cutting delicate laminates etc. The operating principle is very similar thinking. Carbide burrs of single and double cut I have loads of them. Some for free hand use in a die grinder some solely for use on the milling machine. There are occasions when I have used a straight shank carbide router cutter to put a fine finished edge on plastics in the mill. They need to be stoned to razor keen edge to get best effect... Good stuff you demonstrate here👍

[swanvalleymachineshop]

Interesting, i was reading about the downward flute cutters the other day . Cheers Joe .

[Ferndalien]

You have solved a puzzle for me. After my father passed away about 8 years ago (he was 92) I went through his shop and cleaned out a lot of stuff, but kept many tool and milling bits and burrs, like the one in the video, without knowing what they were used for. He also left some large sheets of 5/8" thick Bakelite reinforced with cloth. Thanks to this video I know how to mill that stuff.

[MikeBramm]

In woodworking, we use lots of up-cutting and down-cutting spiral router bits for the exact reasons you showed. There are also bits that can cut both up and down at the same time (towards the middle of the cutter), very useful when trimming the edge of plywood, so both outer surfaces get sheared towards the middle of the plywood, leaving both surfaces very clean with very little tear-out. I would imagine you could probably use router bits in a vertical mill as well. Thin material like veneers and plastic sheet should be cut while using a backing material under them and using a down-cutting spiral cutter, similar to what you showed. It's a very common practice.

[scottthornton]

I had to thin down some aluminum honeycomb. Tried a 2 flute and 4 flute carbide, got crap results with both. On a whim, I put a 1" diam. Burr cutter in the mill, The resulting cut / finish was amazing! Great demonstration, Joe!

[kimworthington]

Hey Joe. I love your videos, specifically your teaching style and ability to demonstrate and break down seemingly complex tasks into straightforward logical processes . You’re a credit to the industry. (Coming from a total hobbyist) :)

[PeriodWoodworker]

This is a fantastic presentation. I have worked wood for 40+ years and I am very familiar with the benefit of “down-cut” router bits. However I have only been working metal (including plastics) for a few years - a retirement hobby. This opened my eyes to these similar tools for metal (plastics) work. Thank you so much for sharing with us, Steve

[jskelton]

Now I know the purpose/how to use those “unusual” bits that came with my Dremel. Thanks Joe!!

[JohnSmith-ln]

Thats deffinately an accurate title. i used to have to cut sheet copper i wish id had some of these to try on that. Thanks for the video.

[smacknives]

I was turning some Micarta today, and had the shopvac following the cut while it was on powerfeed(respirator and goggles on)will definitely get some of the carbide burrs now, after seeing how well it cuts through the Mic.


Thanks for the tip, Joe,


Scott.