2021 Product Showcase: Freud Ball Nose Bits

Next thing we're going to have a look at is a little bit of CNC stuff. And we're specifically talking about what are called ball nose cutters. And they're from Freud. And we can be more specific here, tapered ball nose cutter. And one of the things that's amazing to me with these, it never ceases to amaze me, is the incredible detail that you can get from these. And we'll show you some examples in just a little bit, but prior to what we want to talk about is we've got a quarter inch ball nose in front of us here, and a 32nd of an inch ball nose in front of us here, and obviously quite a different size array, but let's look at why we're talking about different sizes. What we're looking at there is matching what you're doing to the size cutter used, match the cutter to the scale of the work that you're trying to produce. So in this case, where we've got a field that's about 10 by 22 inches long, and then same artwork, but in a smaller scale, so it was a quarter inch ball nose that did this one, an eighth inch ball nose that did this one, then give them that last one, Paul, it was the 32nd of an inch ball nose that did this one. And in fact, this eagle, which I'm just, I can't get over the detail there, that eagle is one that we cut ahead of time, so you could watch the work. Let's have a look at that video. I'm set up here on the CNC to do a very finely detailed cut. It's a really amazing 3D cut. And I've already done a roughing pass with an eighth inch ball nose, now I'm set up with a one 32nd ball nose to finish us off. Watch the detail we pick up here. 3D carvings done on a CNC can really add a lot of value to your work. I know in my case, I can't carve with my hands at all, but the CNC sure does a good job of doing that for me. And I love as it works its way across the pattern here, across the cut, when a shape itself starts to develop and we can see where it's going, we can see what's coming. In this case, this is an eagle head. And when that small bit starts to work its way across the feathers and the feathers are visible through the cut, it's just an amazing part to me of the CNC work, that we can get this level of detail out of these cutters. And again, a big part of this is making sure that you're matching the scale of the tapered ball nose bit you're using to the scale of the work that you're doing. Now, as we get to the head of the eagle, man, have a look at that, it's the detail in the beak, the detail in the eye, the feathers, it's really astounding, just the crispness of the detail we have in this work. I keep using the word detail over and over again, but I can't help it because again, the eagle has landed here, baby, and look at the detail in that eagle. And to give you scale, there's a quarter. That is a really small 3D carving with just impeccable detail from that router bit. What do you think? Well, I'm a computer guy by day, so I understand the world of digital precision, but I've never imagined that you could have a router bit that could transfer that kind of precision and hold that level of detail onto actually wood as a material. Yeah, and part of it comes from a material choice. Maple is a great wood to do CNC work in. That's what we've got here. But too, like you said, the bit and its ability to transfer that detail, and I love cutting this eagle as an example of that, cause its ability to pick up those feathers, and I intentionally put the quarter up at the end there in the video, and I know when I first did that, I sent a picture to Paul, because I couldn't get over it. And I put the quarter on there for scale for his picture too, because it's such a tiny piece of artwork and it maintained that detail throughout. It's incredible. It's a great look at ball nose bits.