small router/end mill bits

[Craig]

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"Originally Posted on:Tue May 25, 2010 9:56 am"

Does anyone know of an Australian source for bits smaller than 1/32". ?

They are available from Precise Bits ( USA) but the shipping is a killer as they won't use ASPS only Fedex .

[John Steele]

Hey Craig;
Not sure if it will help but take a look for dental bits. They are pretty cheap and come in mm sizes. Their limits seem to be in depth of cut (6-8mm). I can round up a link if you'd like.
J

[kiwigeo]

Craig,

Most of my smaller 1/4" shank cutters (down to 2mm diam) came from this mob:

http://www.carbitool.com.au/index.html

I found then good to deal with.

Cheers Martin

[matthew]

kiwigeo wrote:
Craig,
Most of my smaller 1/4" shank cutters (down to 2mm diam) came from this mob:
http://www.carbitool.com.au/index.html

They don't seem to do any wood bits below 3.18mm ... according to their catalogue at least

[kiwigeo]

That's strange...Ive got two of their 2mm single flute straight cutters sitting in my workshop...I use them for cutting saddle slots.

Check the single flute cutters top right of this page of the catalogue..they go down to 1/16": http://www.carbitool.com.au/routing_cat ... page6.html

matthew wrote:

kiwigeo wrote:
Craig,
Most of my smaller 1/4" shank cutters (down to 2mm diam) came from this mob:
http://www.carbitool.com.au/index.html

They don't seem to do any wood bits below 3.18mm ... according to their catalogue at least

[Craig]

Cheers and thanks Martin , but I'm after something less than 1/32" ( .8mm) .

.5 or .6 mm. would be perfect.

Incidently, Precise Bits have them as small as .25 mm. . They also have specialty bits for Luthiers .56mm. and .58 mm. ( .023" ) Perfect for fret slots.
I was just hoping I could get hold of some smaller ones here in Australia.

[kiwigeo]

Talk to your dentist.....Im not sure what size shanks they use but they might be suitable for use in a Dremel

Craig wrote:
Cheers and thanks Martin , but I'm after something less than 1/32" ( .8mm) .

.5 or .6 mm. would be perfect.

Incidently, Precise Bits have them as small as .25 mm. . They also have specialty bits for Luthiers .56mm. and .58 mm. ( .023" ) Perfect for fret slots.
I was just hoping I could get hold of some smaller ones here in Australia.

[Hippety Hop]

AJS Online (Jeweller's Supplies) might be worth a look. No endmills. Just burrs & drills. Like this

Good luck,
Hip.

[Kim]

The solid carbide bits that Stewmac sells are real good.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Inlay,_pear ... _Bits.html

That is until your half cut mate wanders into the shed, grabs the neato little cardboard tube they come in, slides it apart in curiosity with the black insert pointing down hill and sends your brand new, never used, 1/32" bit sailing into the concrete floor to smash before you ever get to fit it into a machine.

He said "Oh geez mate, real sorry, I'll buy you a new one" I said, "That would be real good mate, I need one by the weekend"

Two days latter he's back with his tail between his legs and a carton of me faves explaining how he had looked everywhere but noone has anything 'that' small. He would not believe me when I told him it cost me around $25 with shipping from the USA until I took him in and showed him the website. I then told him that I had done the very same thing he had done with the last one and we both pissed ourselves laughing.

Anyhow, there are probably cheaper options but I can say that the stewmac carbide down cut spiral bits are real good, as are the LMI brad-point bits.

Cheers

Kim

[Craig]

Thanks Hip , I'll have a closer look at that site , but I'm really after an endmill type bit .
Kim , I have a number of bits I've bought from Stewmac . They're great but they have none smaller than 1/32 " ( .8 mm. ) .

Looks like I might have to go to Precise Bits after all.. I was wrong before , their smallest endmill is a whopping .125 mm. (.005") with an 1/8 " shank

Dennis has kindly offered to send my order . Thanks mate.

Kim ,,, well, you were no help at all

[vandenboom]

I am curious about what you would use a bit this fine for? You refer to fret slots at one point - if so, do you really need such precision in a fret slot?

Frank

[Kim]

Craig wrote:
Kim ,,, well, you were no help at all

[Craig]

vandenboom wrote:
I am curious about what you would use a bit this fine for? You refer to fret slots at one point - if so, do you really need such precision in a fret slot?
Frank

G'day Frank , They have fret slot end mills @ .56mm , .58 mm. and .62 mm. Good to have the right size . I mainly wanted the smaller bits ( 1/64 th , 0.4 mm. etc ) for inlaying.

[Dennis Leahy]

Craig wrote:
... Precise Bits ...there smallest endmill is a whopping .125 mm. (.005") with an 1/8 " shank Very Happy

Dennis has kindly offered to send my order . Thanks mate.

And with one of those, you can cut channels to inlay hairs. Laughing

Happy to help you, Craig.

-Dennis

[Allen]

Your eyes must be a hell of a lot better than mine Craig. Laughing I'd never be able to see something that fine.

[Craig]

Allen wrote:
Your eyes must be a hell of a lot better than mine Craig. Laughing I'd never be able to see something that fine.

Magnification Allen,,and a steady hand

[Lillian]

Reply by "TDA"

Sorry for the trouble Craig. If there was some way we could use the post office we would. But we have had too many issues with delivery, tracking, and insurance (not to mention pickup). Again sorry for the trouble.

[Lillian]

John, I know that the P.O. doesn't go out of their way to explain things, but International Express has insurance and tracking. Its a bear to find the information on their website and not always clear. I found about the benefits of International Express from an employee of the Australian Postal Service. And if I am reading it correctly you get a discount for purchasing the postage on line and you can arrange for pick up.

http://www.usps.com/international/expre ... tional.htm
http://www.usps.com/prices/express-mail ... prices.htm

[Lillian]

Reply by "TDA"

The problem is not that they do not offer it. The problem is that they don't honor it. We have been burned more then a few times now over insurance. Mostly because after they pass it off to another country's post office they do not consider themselves responsible. And since you didn't purchase insurance through the other country's post office they aren't going to pay you either.

Tracking may have gotten better since we last tried but the insurance issue has left more then just a bad taste in our mouths.

There are other issues as well but I doubt anyone really wants to know. The bottom line came down to how much time and money we were sinking into it. We can't afford (and don't want to pass on) the cost of something that was eating so much of our resources.

Maybe things will change in the future but for now we do not consider USPS a shipping option for domestic or international shipping.

Once again I apologize for the inconvenience.

[Lillian]

John, no need to apologize. We've all run into issues with shipping, domestic or international, doesn't matter. I for one appreciate your efforts and your desire not to pass the buck off to your customers.

[Craig]

G'day John , Nice of you to drop by

I agree with Lillian, an apology isn't needed. I'm sure you're doing what you consider best for your customers .

Because I live in the bush here in Australia, parcels other than by Post office tend to get dropped off somewhere without notice. I found my last parcel at a local Engineer's shop.

On the whole, our Australian Post Office service is very good, just a shame about your end. Looking forward to using these end mills John and appreciate the products you've made for luthiers in particular

http://www.precisebits.com/

[HiString]

I long ago lost track of how much gear for our studio (ie: mics, rack units, etc., etc.) has come from the States via USPS........never had a problem. I looked at Fedex and UPS a couple of times but their pricing and dubious local delivery didn't win me over.

[Kim]

Same deal here, over 5 years of regular deliveries from the US from all kind of vendors all over the USA and never a single problem and I only use USPS or I simply won't buy.

It is not just the initial cost of other carriers compared to USPS rates that steers me away, although that is reason enough, but other carriers have a habit of charging you at the shipping end, with the vendor thinking the deal is done, and then the slimy buggers will hold your goods to ransom once they are in AU and hit you up again for all kinds of trumped up charges that do not even exist with the USPS/Australia Post delivery agreement.

To add insult to injury, these other unscrupulous mongrels also insist the you then come and pick your parcel up from their depot if it has fees (and most times it will) so you end up paying 3 or 4 times what you should have and you don't even get the bloody item delivered by the robbing bassturds!

I am dead serious, I will NEVER do business with a vendor who insists on only shipping UPS/FEDEX from the USA to AU because it is simply not a viable option and it is not worth all the grief it takes to get 'MY' property from the carrier cartels.

With that, I have a question for John. With all this trouble you have had over the years wasting resources chasing things that go missing and no insurance backup from the postal system, how many instances had involved items shipped to Australia??

Here is another question for everyone here. With all of the 'thousands' and thousands of items we have collectively bought in from the USA over the years via USPS, how many of you have had items go missing?????

Yeah, I thought so. Boy does it give me the royal shites when 'AUSTRALIA' a country that does have a pretty dam good mailing system in place, gets bundled up and persecuted by vendors who had a bad experience shipping to bloody ITALY!!. Some of these folks should buy themselves a globe and get themselves educated because they are missing sales and we are missing service.

And that is all I have to say on the matter

Cheers and eat more lamb.

P.S. I have edited out some of the harsher expletives from this post that had been included earlier to reflect the true depth of disdain I hold for international shipping agency's and carriers alike. I do not begrudge anyone making a fair buck, but what is happening with international freight to this country has absolutely NOTHING to do with fairness and everything to do with exploitation vandalizing trade exchange in what is supposed to be a free trade market.

Cheers

Kim

[Dennis Leahy]

Interesting you mention Italy, Kim, because I have seen a few folks selling stuff on Ebay that refuse to ship to Italy. I suspect that a faction of the Italian postal service has been taken over by Mafia mentality - they simply steal whatever they want.

I have shipped, via USPS, to England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Israel, Australia, Malawi, Montserrat, and Canada. Everything made it just fine. (The customs officials in Malawi and in Montserrat did hold the packages for 'duty'/ransom, but I think that is true with every item from every carrier shipping to those countries.)

Yes, there is a 'Catch 22' with buying USPS insurance on an international package: the box is sealed shut, and something arrives broken - each country's postal service refuses to accept the onus for breaking the thing, so neither will pay. I generally do not insure international packages, but when I do, I realize that I am insuring against loss within the US border, period. I know once it is out of the US, I have no chance in hell of getting reimbursed for loss or damage. But, so far, every package has been delivered.

Dennis

[jeffhigh]

Kim,
Hundreds of items via USPS for me, the only thing I can think of that went astray was a fret crowning file which cut it's way out of the envelope due to inadequate wrapping (entirely the vendors fault)
And I avoid USPS from Stewmac now because the seem to send it via Europe, DHL is fine and cheap from them.