V bits?

[WMNH]

Does anyone make a down spiral v bit? A quick search didn't find any. This sounds like a way to keep tearout down while v carving.

[steve_g]

Smitty...
They are on my wish list also. I have asked and searched and come back empty. I'll post if I ever hear of any thing. I'd be happy if they just had a bit of down cut angle... not even a full spiral.

You can get a spiral taper... so it looks like the technology is not the issue. Some manufacturer just needs to see the need!

SG

[WMNH]

Thanks. I'm surprised because you can get just about everything else. Hopefully someone decides to make one.

[Chuck Keysor]

Smitty, I have done a bunch of V-carving, of very detailed images and have never had a problem with tear out. IF you are doing fine V-carving, as am I, the reality appears to be that the very fine tip is so small, it doesn't even really have flutes on it, it is just a point at the tip. (My lines often are as fine as 1/32" wide, or maybe less.)

One material I have carved a lot of because it has no grain and lays flat, is Vinyl composite tile (1 foot squares). With that material, I need an upcut to remove all the gunk from the grooves. Where wood cuts and turns to dust, this material must be doing a little remelt, and it plugs the grooves. my usual V-bit is the CMT 60 degree "Laser" bit. It is a straight/no spiral bit. So I thought I may benefit from an upcut engraving bit, despite my logic that the tip is too fine to actually provide any functional flutes at the tip where most of my cutting takes place.

I did find some up-spiral bits from a company that people here talk about. But the first two bits of theirs that I used, the tips broke off the instant I started to carve. Or maybe they broke during the z-zero process, and I didn't even think to check.... so I never even got to see if their upspiral even helped in the least. (I also bought some inter-rchangable tip "engraving" bits (almost like X-acto blades), and their tips also broke right away, at the very tip, again, carving in Vinyl tile, at 1.5 IPS.)

Sorry, this wasn't a direct answer, but I was offering what I could, as it may help a little. Chuck

[WMNH]

Thanks Chuck,

I've just been playing around v-carving in some pine and have gotten decent results after running my file twice. It just seems to me a downcut spiral or even an angle like Steve mentioned would help reduce tearout.


Quote: "despite my logic that the tip is too fine to actually provide any functional flutes at the tip where most of my cutting takes place"

I hadn't thought about that. That also explains why I get better results on larger letters than the small stuff.

Thanks!

[Chuck Keysor]

You are welcome Smitty.

A minor follow-up note.... The smaller the characters you carve, the more critical it becomes that your material be perfectly flat. Any deviation in the height of your material will result in significant changes in the width of your cut lines.

I once carved the last paragraph of Lincoln's second inaugural address (with malice towards none and charity for all,,,,) on a beautiful piece of quarter sawn white oak. The wood was perfectly flat (I made it so!) before I varnished it. I varnished both sides, yet it developed a very slight crown. It seemed so slight, I figured I'd try to carve it, and I zeroed on the high center of the material. But this barely perceptible crown made it so the text in the top and bottom lines was noticeably under-engraved. I had to break the text into 5 or 6 individual lines, and zero the bit for each line in order to get a perfect cut.

That is the appeal of the vinyl tile, it lays perfectly flat, and is totally uniform in thickness (within any one piece).

Chuck