Freud’s Quadra-Cut Router Bits

charlieb wrote:
| Popular Woodworking's e-mail news letter has an article about
| Freud's Quadra-Cut router bits. Now their innovation sounds
| like something that's obvious - instead of two carbide edges
| cutting - why not four!. By doubling the cuts per revolution that
| should produce a finer cut surface - DUH!. But it could also
| produce some burning especially on woods prone to burning -
| say cherry or maple. Like life, there always seems to be
| trade offs. But what Freud is doing - pairs of cutters with
| PART of the profile on each pair makes a lot of sense. Less
| wood removed by each per revolution but some overlapping
| where a lot of wood is being removed. Makes even better
| sense than just doubling the cutters.
|
| Wonder what obvious (once you see it) innovations are on the
| horizon.

I still prefer three flutes for the simple reason that if cutting is
paused for a moment, three flutes doesn't seem to leave the wide spot
that two (and four) flutes make.

The solutions to burning, regardless of the number of cutting edges,
are to make sure the bit is sharp and to increase the feed speed.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

The other - and perhaps more important - part of this innovation is that
the two edges at the bottom of the profile edges are angled for a
shearing upcut, while the other two have a shearing downcut. Kind of
like the straight bits that have a half and half spiral on them, always
with a shear cut towards the center of the workpiece.

I wonder if Freud is able to patent this configuration?
--
JeffB
remove no.spam. to email


charlieb wrote:
> Popular Woodworking's e-mail news letter has an article about
> Freud’s Quadra-Cut router bits. Now their innovation sounds
> like something that's obvious - instead of two carbide edges
> cutting - why not four!. By doubling the cuts per revolution that
> should produce a finer cut surface - DUH!. But it could also
> produce some burning especially on woods prone to burning -
> say cherry or maple. Like life, there always seems to be
> trade offs. But what Freud is doing - pairs of cutters with
> PART of the profile on each pair makes a lot of sense. Less
> wood removed by each per revolution but some overlapping
> where a lot of wood is being removed. Makes even better
> sense than just doubling the cutters.
>
> Wonder what obvious (once you see it) innovations are on the
> horizon.
>
> charlie b

In article <[email protected]>,
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Oddly and I still don't get this, Amana claims a single flute cuts more
> efficiently that a double flute straight carbide bit. Apparently the larger
> the number of flutes the harder it is to clear the chips out.

In my business, heat is the big enemy. Every manufacturer of solid
surface materials has a set of fabrication manuals.
ALL inside holes/corners/openings for things like sinks and cook-tops
must be cut with a single flute, straight bit. It minimises chip
build-up and therefore, as the chips are ejected, so is the heat along
with it.
In a pinch, I have used two-flute bits in the same application, and
indeed, I had to mess with the feed-rate, bit-speed and the amount of
material I took out at each pass.
In those applications, single flute bits simply out-perform the other
choices; that included up/down spiral single-fluted bits.
With sharp single-flute bits, I get flakes, with sharp two-fluted bits,
I get powder.
In all cutting action, it all comes down to chip-removal. IMHO.

r

"charlieb" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Popular Woodworking's e-mail news letter has an article about
> Freud's Quadra-Cut router bits. Now their innovation sounds
> like something that's obvious - instead of two carbide edges
> cutting - why not four!. By doubling the cuts per revolution that
> should produce a finer cut surface - DUH!. But it could also
> produce some burning especially on woods prone to burning -
> say cherry or maple. Like life, there always seems to be
> trade offs. But what Freud is doing - pairs of cutters with
> PART of the profile on each pair makes a lot of sense. Less
> wood removed by each per revolution but some overlapping
> where a lot of wood is being removed. Makes even better
> sense than just doubling the cutters.
>
> Wonder what obvious (once you see it) innovations are on the
> horizon.
>
> charlie b

Oddly and I still don't get this, Amana claims a single flute cuts more
efficiently that a double flute straight carbide bit. Apparently the larger
the number of flutes the harder it is to clear the chips out.