Plastic Cutting Bit (Polycarbonate)

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Anyone have recommendations on plastic cutting bits? I have been using a couple single flute Spektra bits but they seem dull with polycarbonate quicker than I would like.

Any other single flute bit recommendations?

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John, I don’t have any single-flute recommendations, but I typically use 2 or 4 flute bits mostly because that’s what I happen to have on-hand. They seem to do a pretty decent job and don’t dull too fast. I’ve done a few polycarbonate jobs for Xometry with no issues.

These are what I mostly use. I don’t recall where I got my 2-flute cutters, but they don’t seem as sharp as these do.

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3

I cut HDPE and usually use the Amana 51410-K for finished products. I have these cheap Amazon bits as backup and cutting wood…

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I used a a two flute the other day with polycarbonate and had a lot of melted pieces at the edges unfortunately. Not a big deal for one or two but when I am making 30 of them it is a lot of extra time to clean up. :confused:

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Yeah, for sure. Might have something to do with initial bit sharpness. The 2 flute bits in my collection seem a bit cheap. The shanks are a tight fit into the collet, and they don’t really seem quite as sharp as my 4 flute ones. I usually leave .005" or so for a finish pass to clean things up.

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6

I used a regular 1/8th on polycarbonate. I cant remember the setting but remember needing to keep the revs down to stop melting.

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7

You ever used an O flute?

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I used this bit to cut 1/8 and 3/8 acrylic and it worked perfectly, no melting or anything. I ordered this collet as well (since they are 1/8 shank bits). I think they’d work as well on polycarbonate too.

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@Santos76 I haven’t heard of 0 flute?

Edit: Ah sorry that is what I am using now from Amana, I though they were called single flute.

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I guess I should have been a little more clear in what i was looking for, I was looking for experiences with other plastic cutting bits from different manufactures other that Amana.

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O-flute (not 0) I believe refers to the geometry of the helix and not the number of flutes, you can get double O-flute cutters and regular single flute cutters. I’m still researching exactly what the O means though.

Edit: I think O means open, as the flutes are cut a lot deeper than a normal bit so you can get bigger chips

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