1" Surfacing Bit in Dewalt Router

I bought a 3 flute 1" surfacing bit to re-level my MDF bed. It’s a really cheap one similar to this:

Can I run it on a dewalt router? I’m concerned about the high RPMs.

If it’s ok to use then what kind of feeds and speeds should I run?

Looks like the McFly that’s available from Carbide, but with 3 blades rather than 4.

Maybe copy the McFly tool in your library and change what you can (name etc) for your tool, but feed it a little slower than the McFly due to the fewer cutting surfaces.

Others here can probably offer more finite recommendations than I have.

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While the C3D tool library is usually conservative, I think 18000 RPM is a bit fast for that bit at that diameter. I would try a test run at 8000 RPM and up to 60 IPM. Then maybe sneak the speed up to 10000 RPM, bumping the feedrate up to 80 IPM.
I don’t usually take more than 0.005" - 0.010" when surfacing my spoilboard. So you can probably get away with a 0.75" stepover.
For slabbing a workpiece you can likely get away with a 0.050" DOC, maybe even 0.100", but stepover less than 0.500" (Half the tool).

Listen to your router/tool and look at the cut quality. It will complain if you push it too hard. :wink:

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IMO your concern about high speeds is well justified (for both safety and performance). Even though Amana’s (crazy!) speeds and feeds for their spoilboard surfacing bits are for 18,000 RPM (as usual), they’re rated for 28,000 Max. RPM (see the attachment). So - it seems like using one of them with Carbide 3D spoilboard surfacing recommendations should work well.
45522 Carbide Tipped Spoilboard Surfacing, Rabbeting, Flycutter, Slab Leveler, Surface Planer & Flattening 1 Dia x 1_4 x 1_4 Inch Shank Router Bit.pdf (883.6 KB)

One thing I don’t see on the shaft of this bit is a mark to set the amount of shaft that goes in the router. When you place this bit in the router collet it needs to be inserted to a depth like this bit
image

See the line with the v on top. This indicates the minimum amount of shaft that needs to be in the collet. If more of the shaft is exposed the greater chance the bit will bend or do any other things you don’t want it to do.

Off brand bits are not hardened like brand name bits and tend to do unexpected things.

If I had to use this I would use slow router speed (the lowest), slow feed speeds and a .010 to .015 DOC max.

Anthony

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The resurfacing was supposed to take around 5 hours. At 2.5 hours carbide maker lost connection, the machine ran for around another 30 seconds then stopped.

Should I run the shop vac and router from an outlet in a different room?

The router cord is fed out the top of the enclosure but I velcro’d it onto the shop vac hose, so it comes close to the shapeoko circuitry. Could this be causing the issue?

Ideally, the spindle/vacuum would be on a different circuit than the machine/computer

5 hours sounds like a long while — how deep were you cutting? Feeds and speeds?

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Resurfacing your driveway? If not, significantly increase your feedrate.

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Got the bed resurfaced. I noticed on my first run that failed that the center of the bed was sagging. I had forgot to secure it from underneath, so I added some plywood.

When I ran the next pass it took some much deeper passes than intended, I’d say .5-.75mm (program was set to cut at .25mm passes). It took more because of the plywood. It handled the workload quite easily though.

I did manage to hit a screw. It was 2mm under the board, but it was loose (board stripped) so the vac sucked it up into the bit and spat it out. The bit was damaged but still worked well enough to finish the work.

Here’s the details:

Material to remove from surface: 0.04" / 1mm
Depth per pass: 0.01" / 0.25mm
Stepover: 0.5"
Plunge rate: 10
Feed rate: 60
RPMs: 12000 approx (speed 1 setting dewalt router)

haha :sweat_smile: I was a bit worried I would need to sit in front of the machine for 5 hours. Ended up just working out, making food etc and checking on it every few mins. Is that dangerous or acceptable for long jobs? I want to get a webcam so I can watch it work from my phone, also need to setup a remote pause system somehow, any ideas?

From the shapeoko a-z book I read it said it’s ideal to take deeper cuts then move at a slower feedrate because that engages more of the cutting surface of the bit. I didn’t want to take deep cuts though because I had to keep an eye on the screws that are only 1-2mm under the bed surface.

For surfacing tools, a thin/skim cut is preferable since that preserves more of the baseplate, and exerts less force so that things won’t shift (and it minimizes the possibility of hitting hardware w/ an expensive, large tool)

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I’d take it all in one pass (1mm depth).
Stepover: 0.9"
Plunge rate: Z-plus? I’d say at least 25in/min
Feed: 150 in/min
Speed: bump this up if you feel you need to reduce cutting force

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I have a Whiteside planing bit just like this and used it on an MDF wasteboard too. I am also working with a DWP611 for a spindle and everything was fine except for the fact that my 2015-era X-Carve is flimsy as all hell and so the bit was tilting a bit out from the forces which resulted in a very shallow sawtooth effect going on there. I believe I had about a 1/2" stepover, and my cuts were pretty shallow. I am pretty sure I went over it again because it’s flat and smooth now. I’m actually due to plane it again soon and have been re-thinking how I was going to go about it with such a flimsy machine. Ultimately my plan is to replace all of the Inventables ‘makerslide’ with some proper extrusion that’s rigid. I wish I had just gotten a Shapeoko back when I had the funds to buy a CNC router :stuck_out_tongue:

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