Router Bit Spotlight

Solid Carbide “O” Flutes

Amana Tool’s solid carbide spiral plastic “O” flute router bits are designed to produce super clean, smooth cuts in acrylic materials such as Plexiglas®, Lucite® and other plastic materials. The bits are made of an exclusive carbide grade and finished to a mirror finish with Amana’s unique polishing process. The bits are available in a 1/4” diameter with a right-hand Helix cut, which is designed to throw the chips upward, and a left-hand Helix cut designed to throw the chips downward. These two popular designs work well with most CNC vacuum systems and are designed to cut acrylic, nylon, ABS, PE, acetal, PET, HDPE, UHMW, polycarbonates, polypropylene, wood and solid surface.

Amana offers same-day shipping across North America. Products can be received in as little as one day from fully stocked East and West Coast fulfillment centers.

For additional information, contact Michele Spiegel, Amana Tool, 120 Carolyn Blvd., Farmingdale, NY 11735, 800-445-0077, Fax: 631-752-1674, E-mail: sales@amanatool.com, Web: www.amanatool.com.

Router Bits & End Mills

AD Beyond now carries the Euracryl end mills in solid carbide or with monocrystalline diamond cutters. The tooling creates a highly transparent finish on acrylic. Now you have the opportunity to create shapes with rounded, beveled edges with your CNC or milling machine and have a polished finish. The tooling can put a radius or bevel on the inside of a straight hole from its diameter up to 20mm, to any capacity of your machine (limited size bevel).

In some cases you can polish steps in the thickness of the material, either straight or bevel finish. You can also polish a through hole with their special tooling (machinery requirement differs). Special shapes available upon request.

The tools are available 6mm and 8mm shanks with .05 radius on natural diamond and 6mm to 20mm on PCD and carbide.

For additional information, contact J.D. Steffen, AD Beyond, P.O. Box 952596, Lake Mary, FL 32795, E-mail: adbeyond@aol.com.

Router Bits for Plastics

Selecting the right tooling for your CNC Router system is just as important as the machine itself. The quality of the finished cut and appearance of your completed products are totally dependent on selecting the correct tool for the job.

With literally thousands of machines in use in the plastics industry it is no surprise that AXYZ Automation’s engineers have enormous applications experience and are always available to pass this on to customers. This may be simply a case of suggesting the best tool for a particular type of plastic or, more likely, what are the best cutting parameters for specific material/router bit combinations. This is usually the key area that can make all the difference between a good clean cut or a rough finish with melted edges. Achieving the right combination of feed rate, plunge rate, spindle rpm and direction of cut takes time and experience and if not set correctly this can be the most common cause of cutting problems, excessive tool wear and broken bits.

AXYZ International has been supplying the highest quality router bits, tooling and accessories for over 20 years and prides themselves on quality of service. All AXYZ router bits are sourced from leading suppliers around the world and have been selected only after rigorous in-house testing has shown them to offer the best performance and value for money.

For additional information, contact Greg Jenkins, AXYZ Automation, Inc., 5330 S. Service Road, Burlington, ON, L7L 5L1, Canada, 800-361-3408/905-634-4940, Fax: 905-634-4966, E-mail: sales@axyz.com, Web: www.axyz.com.

New Router Bit Line

FTM is now "The Fabricators Source™" for Whiteside router bits. FTM has just announced that they are now a stocking distributor of Whiteside Machine Company's complete line of high quality router bits for plastics. Made from solid alloy steel, the bits are precision ground for proper balance at high rpms. Whiteside uses the highest quality American made micrograin carbide. High hook and relief angles make for better chip ejection. The tooling is made with thick carbide for extra sharpenings.

For additional information, contact David Geer, FTM, Inc., 327 Industrial Drive, Unit 1, Placerville, CA 95667, 530-626-1986, Fax: 530-642-2602, E-mail: info@123ftm.com, Web: www.123ftm.com.

Honeycomb Cutters

Onsrud Cutter LP, a leading US manufacturer of cutting tools, has released a new catalog featuring tooling for the fabrication of honeycomb core and honeycomb panel materials.

The catalog contains new products including diamond grit and solid carbide roughers and blades designed for today's high-tech materials. Honeycomb materials are used in the aerospace, automotive, marine, wind energy and other industries where low weight, high strength construction is required.

Onsrud Cutter is the only cutting tool facility in the United States that manufactures high-speed steel, carbide tipped, solid carbide, diamond coated and PCD CNC tooling to cut a wide range of materials including plastics, nonferrous metals, wood and composites. Onsrud manufactured their first router bit in 1920.

For additional information, contact Leslie Banduch, Onsrud Cutter, LP, 800 Liberty Drive, Libertyville, IL 60048, 847-362-1560, Web: www.onsrud.com.

Custom Tooling Kits

Techno, Inc. offers six Custom Application Tooling Kits. With over 22 years of CNC router experience, Techno designed these six new Tooling Kits with the understanding that different routing applications require different cutting tools.

Each kit is unique and geared towards specific applications. The Nested-based, Solid Wood, Sign Makers, Nonferrous Upcut, Nonferrous Downcut and Plastic Tooling Kits all come with high-quality, precision cutting tools neatly stored in a custom wooden case. Techno’s new tooling kits offer both novice and experienced professionals complete tooling packages at one low price. Nested-based kits provide continuity and accuracy for cabinetry applications while the Solid Wood kits rout hardwoods with speed and accuracy. Sign Maker kits prove perfect for routing, carving, lettering and grooving. Both Nonferrous Metal Upcut and Downcut kits utilize the “O” Flute geometry efficiently performing in a conventional, one-pass machining environment. Plastic Tool kits are made from a solid carbide material, ideal for producing smooth cuts in acrylics and a variety of other plastics.

For additional information, contact Ray Jakas, Techno, Inc., P.O. Box 5416, New Hyde Park, NY 11042, 516-328- 3970, Fax: 516-358-2576, E-mail: tooling@technocnc.com, Web: www.techno-isel.com/tooling.

Complete Line of Router Tooling for Plastics

Vortex Tool Company, Inc. offers a complete selection of router tooling dedicated to the plastics industry with hundreds of standard tool designs in stock and ready for immediate shipment. All plastics tooling feature polished flutes and come in a wide range of tool geometries for various grades and styles of plastics routing. Vortex continuously tests bits in-house for both customers and plastics manufacturers to ensure its tooling meets the needs of the ever-changing marketplace.

Vortex Tool Company, Inc., designs and manufactures a wide variety of standard and custom high-performance router and insert cutting tools for the woodworking and plastics industries, and provides re-tipping and sharpening services.

For additional information, contact Mike Serwa, Vortex Tool Company, 5605 Jelinek Avenue, Schofield, WI 54476, 800-355-7708, Fax: 715-355-7353, E-mail: info@vortextool.com, Web: www.vortextool.com.

Router Bit Website Directory
Amana Tool	www.amanatool.com
AD Beyond	adbeyond@aol.com
AXYZ Automation, Inc.	www.axyz.com
FTM, Inc.	www.123ftm.com
Onsrud Cutter LP	www.onsrud.com
Techno, Inc.	www.techno-isel.com/tooling
Vortex Tool Company	www.vortextool.com