Tapered ball nose bits

[Jlpotts410 (Josh Potts)]

I am trying to manually enter the tool parameters for an Amana bit # 46473 the details of which are shown below:

CNC 2D and 3D Carving 6.2 Deg Tapered Angle Ball Tip x 0.5mm Dia x 0.25mm Radius x 26.5mm x 6mm Shank x 75mm Long x 3 Flute Up-Cut Spiral Solid Carbide ZrN Coated

I’m not sure if I should enter this as a ball nose bit or an engraving bit. When I try and manually enter as a ball nose it won’t allow me to alter the “included angle”.

I entered first as a Vee bit so that I could use as I would use any other Vee bit for Zank inlay technique. The pocket part of the inlay worked fine but when I milled the male/plug part of the inlay it milled more than was intended so the plug didn’t fit snug into the pocket.

I’m wondering if anyone has any advice for how to enter this tool manually, maybe as engraving tool?

[MadHatter]

I’m not positive, but I don’t think CC supports tapered ball nose bits as of now.

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

@MadHatter is correct, at this time, Carbide Create doesn’t support such tool geometry.

You can enter them as ball-nosed endmills, so long as you are careful to never use them on projects which do not have steeper features than the taper.

[ColdCoffee (Robert)]

I have successfully used tapered ball nose bits in Carbide Create. As @WillAdams suggested I have them setup as (standard) ball nose bits.

However that is assuming you are using these for 3D carving, an assumption that may not be correct. The #46473 bit goes down to a very small 0.5mm which has me wondering if you are using this more as a very fine pointed endmill (cutting vs sculping).

Just be aware that if you set this up as either an end mill or a ball mill, the software isn’t really going to know about the 6.2 degree (a° and B in image below). Which is fine if you are 3D carving and no material would get into that area. But if you are cutting the software is going to think this just a long 0.5mm end/ball mill without any taper. Just be aware of that limitation.

[Jlpotts410 (Josh Potts)]

Thanks for that info. I was using for cutting instead of sculpting. I was hoping to create tighter fitting plugs for vcarve inlays. I have seen a few people use this bit but I’m guessing that they are using Vectric software to create the tool paths. Do you know if there is a way to use an engraving bit or one that has a sharper angle to preserve more detail when creating inlays?

[ColdCoffee (Robert)]

The tutorials I have watched for wood inlays use a traditional “V” bit, not a tapered ball nose bit. Not that there is a lot of a difference between them, but the “V” should give you better results.

@fenrus diagramed this well, these pictures helped me a lot… Using “Advanced VCarve” in Carbide Create 461 to make Inlays - Tutorials - Carbide 3D Community Site

I have accomplished handful of successful wood inlays using Carbide Create after getting some help. There some math involved, but once you visualize whats going on it starts to click.