Inlay bits - observations and questions

[mcraigchr]

Howdy from the frozen tundra of central Texas.

Most of the projects I do with my machine are wood inlays.  I have been having some issues with tearout, especially on small, sharp points.  I have tried a number of different things to limit this, with little success.  Changing feed rates, speed, etc.

Typically, I use amana 45611-k as my vcarving tool.   It is very precise and I like its durability.  However, I get the aforementioned tearout pretty regularly.  At one point I thought, "well that's just the nature of wood".  But I want to do better.  When using this bit, I have a vcarve toolpath for the pocket AND the plug.

I have been watching some youtube videos and there is one wherein the author of the video claims that if I were to use amana 46280-k my results would be much better.  This requires a change in the toolpaths.  ie. a vcarve for the pocket and a pocket for the plug.  I have modeled this and it seems to work.

Before I go down the path of buying a new tool, etc.  I was wondering how many of you see the same issues with tearout?  What tools do you use and how have you tried to limit it?

Thanks,
CC

[loren]

Two ideas:
- A thin wash coat of clear epoxy before carving will consolidate fine wood fibers and will minimize tearout in fine detail.
- End grain wood has less tearout with v cutters of any profile.

[germanguitars]

If you are talking about tearout on acute angles of the positive portion of the inlay, I have found that you can sometimes pre-drill holes along the profile path the bit will take in order to minimize the amount of material the flute can grab as it goes around the endgrain on a corner. YMMV

[trainmaker]

I had the same problem when making the inlay of a maple leaf[Zank method], especially when using curly maple. After having tried a number of different methods I switched to a Whiteside bit 1541.Proplem solved.

[zaxis4]

I would suggest using an Amana 45733 60 degree vbit. I have used this extensively for inlay and never have had any issues. The bit you are using is more for engraving or fine lettering and besides that it is a 15 degree angle tip. I think it would be more likely to tear out on detailed outlines. I think any bit with flutes would work better.