Best bits to cut wood with Dremel

[RobCee]

If you are getting tearing along the edge of your cuts, you could try running a 'roughing' then a 'finishing' cut along them.
The Roughing cut should be set to remove 90-95% of the material and can be done quickly and will leave a rough edge for you. This is similar to how you might cut out a complex shape with scissors from paper.
The Finishing cut would be at a slower feed rate, but would only be removing a very small amount of material, so the surface finish (and possible tearout) would be minimised.

This is a more time consuming process than doing everything in one pass, but will improve your finish significantly.

It is possible to do this with MakerCam, but some of the commercial packages can make it simpler.

[RobCee]

Typically, engraving is done with V-Carving or Engraving bits, which are usually single flute V-Shaped bits at angles like 10, 20, 30, 45, 60, 90 degrees. The angle determines how precise and fine you can make the engraving lines.
A 10 or 20 degree cutter is typically used for cutting the tracks on PCBs. I use 30 degree cutters for small text and I have not got round to using any 60 or 90 degree cutters yet.

The trick with them is getting the cut depth correct for the width of cut at the surface you need.
If you try out CamBam, it has an engraving tool path for basic engraving and a free extension for V-Carving that works pretty well too.
There are lots of other software that can do engraving/carving, some of the projects in the forum here use a variety of these tools.

[rocketboy]

Thanks!

Hmm Tried using a V-Cutter (I don't have a proper milling v-cutter bit yet so I just bought a dremel one from the local hardware store that has 4 flutes) and I wasn't having much luck, I guess I'll order a proper one.

I am using Cambam, it feels a lot nicer than makercam and I figured for 140$ was a pretty good deal. I'll have to check out the extensions I didn't notice those.

I don't know how well roughing/finishing will go as the channels I'm cutting for the letters are only wide enough from one pass..to rough it I'm going to have to step down my bit size, so it sounds like a V-Cutter is really the way I need to go.

Dan.

[cowolter]

Slowly, dangerously and generally inaccurately.

I would need more specifics to answer in more detail. I've been “cutting wood” for 10–15 years and I've never used a dremel tool for anything other than carving wood and even then there are better , more powerful tools.

Look into a jigsaw, circular saw or a table saw and see if that fits your need.

I basically live life by the motto that there is the right tool for every job and if you have the wrong tool, you buy the right one.

[CastIrony]

Slowly, dangerously and generally inaccurately.

I would need more specifics to answer in more detail. I've been “cutting wood” for 10–15 years and I've never used a dremel for anything other than carving wood and even then there are better , more powerful tools.

Look into a jigsaw, circular saw or a table saw and see if that fits your need.

I basically live life by the motto that there is the right tool for every job and if you have the wrong tool, you buy the right one.

A Dremel-style rotary tool was the standard spindle used on the Shapeoko back when all the other posts in this super old thread were written.

[Johnywalter]

You guys talking about saws.
i'm interested of new table saw,but I can not understand what brand and model to take.I watched a couple videos on youtube and I liked the brand DeWalt
I need it for a similar task.
Thanks in advance

[CrazyBillybob]

Jonny,

Table saws can be tricky to pick the right one out. A lot of it comes down to how much you want to spend, and how much space you have. If you have a large area and to plan to use ti a lot go with a unit that has a heavy cast iron top and a solid base. My 10" Rigid (that I love) has a cast top good stiff legs and comes on a lifting caster setup (means I can wheel it around the shop to allow me to work on large sheets of stock like plywood but move it out of the way so I can use the center of the floor for assembly.) But it eats up 3'x3'x3' chunk of shop space. For me it's not a big deal, but if you're working in an apartment or sharing the garage space with your wife's car it might be. In those cases look into the "contractor" style table saws most of those will be 8" blades but they have aluminum tops and are normally only 24"x24"x18" so not as big of a pain to store (ie they fit in the hall closet). In the bigger saws your limited to brands like Rigid, Sawstop, craftsman, Grizzly,Jet, Delta and a fewer high end models. These are going to run $600 (in the USA) and up. Example https://www.homedepot.com/p/RIDGID-13-A ... /202500206 (I have an older one of these models circa 2005 and love it). The contractor saws can be had for $299 and up. Most major Tool brands have a contractor grade table saw. They very in quality and price just like all power tools do. I'd stay away from the Harbor freight type saws if you want any precision, if your just rough cutting large stock down for your CNC it might work fine. I've only had experiences with a few brands and models of contractor table saws and they all were about the same. They cut and can do a good job, but I found their tables a bit small for doing any kind of exact cutting on large sheet materials (plywood) but if you buck it down with a circ. saw you can do pretty good. I know that doesn't help on the go buy this brand front... But my experience with tools is most guys have a favorite color tool company so lean that way, but go to a few stores and look at the tool. Grab the saws wiggle the fence, look for looseness in the spindle, compare standard options, make sure the dust port fits your shop vac/ dust collection system, look at the warranty! (rigid has a lifetime warranty but you have to mail in the little card with a receipt!) I have some tools that are orange in my shop, I have some black and red tools, I have some yellow tools, and I have some HF tools. I look at a all of the units out there and pick the best one for my needs (cost, quality, cost of ownership, etc).

CBB

[Johnywalter]

Thanks for respond!