HQMaster Spiral Router Bits Down Cut 1/4 inch Shank Solid Carbide Nano Blue Coated Spiral Downcut CNC Bits End Mill for Wood Cut Carving Engraver (1/8 Cutting Diameter)

This is a nice router bit to finish up details when coming close to the edges of a pattern line. Its well made and nicely machined. I would not use it to hog out material, but for detail work, I would recommend it.

Worked well even with a very high feed rate and stepover of about half the width using the entirety of the flute for quick roughing. Ran it for about 8 hours so far and it still feels very sharp.

Skip it, buy a higher quality bit and save the headache.

Nice carbide router bit, leaves a great finish on all wood types. Stays sharp and cuts very well.

HQMaster’s 1/8-inch carbide ball nose end mill with nano blue coating and 1/4-shaft is a well-made and sharp bit. The nano blue coating improves the heat performance of the bit, and the 1/4-shaft adds rigidity. Both features will increase the life of the end mill. The bit comes packaged in a typical rectangular plastic box. The bit itself comes without any markings on it shaft. I much prefer that the end mill be labelled to allow easy identification and to prevent tool mix-ups. This is a good workhorse type end mill that I will find a lot of use for.

This cutter is dimensionally accurate according to my caliper. That is good as sometimes 6mm shank are sold as 1/4 (6.35mm). Under magnification the ball end is smooth without burrs. It is only 2-flute so I wouldnt try to cut metal with it but wood and plastic should be fine.

Tested in mild steel. The cut was very smooth as the bit is very sharp. Should work well in many materials. After testing I used a 1/8 drill to check the size. The naked eye said it was a little large. Was it runout from my setup ? Bent bit ? Manufacturing defect? I checked with a micrometer and found the bit measured .126 Probably not a really big deal in most cases. I will call it a quality control issue. Or maybe when these are sent to us vine reviewers we get the ones that didn’t pass quality control. Might just be the perfect size for some project.

The quality is fantastic and I use 1/4 more than any other and do tend to wear on them. These hold an edge well and have been put to great use cranking out holiday gifts. I cant think of an argument to pay more when this quality stands up to other really expensive options Ive tried. Update: This bit continues to hold an edge well after dozens of operations through hardwood at pretty aggressive settings of speeds. These are a fantastic workhorse bit to use.

Ive been using this bit in my wooden sign making business and so far it works great and has remained sharp. Ive used it for 3d roughing passes in hardwood and in other applications where a ballnose bit is useful. So far, I havent noticed much difference in the quality of cuts from my more expensive bits. Its amazing to me that you can get quality tooling these days at this price point. These bits would make a great go to bit for production without having to stop to resharpen tooling. I would definitely recommend, and will order more!

Got this as a cheap alternative for my CNC for some relief carvings Ive been doing. It works well, havent seen any real issues so far. Im about 5-6 jobs in and still doing its thang so we will see how long it holds up. For now .. for the price ... Its definitely a good bit.