Any reco's for 1/4" shank, die-grinder bits? Am using cheap rasps (<$1 apiece) and want something better, but $50 for (1) piece is insane!

[SU2]

Well, "insane" to a poor guy like me lol, I'm sure the Samurai and Terrier bits from Kaizen that I drool over are worth every penny, as are the myriad options of wood-carving-specific rasp-bits available from Saburr, however even those are $30-50 for single rasp-bits!!

I'm able to get "generic" rasp-bits for <$1 apiece (10 pack for ~$8 bucks at Harbor Freight, obviously not high-end stuff but they work great for me, just gotta do the occasional cleaning- I've found the "foaming oven-cleaner" approach to work perfect for this!), they're clearly "generic-purpose" rasps:


but they work great with my 25k RPM / 4.3A, long-shaft die-grinder, so I just make-do with those despite knowing there's bits with far longer teeth (ie, for wood-work specifically)... I can't shed the feeling that there's some "middle ground" of pricing between my generic, <$1 rasps and the $30-50+ ones that are on Saburr's or Kaizen's sites, am hoping someone here can help guide me to a url/retailer(s) that are an in-between, I mean ideally I'd find something that isn't a rasp but more like a Terrier bit in the ~$20's, but at minimum I'm hoping/expecting that there are wood-specific, 1/4" shanked rasps out there that are closer to a few bucks than $30+!

Thanks a ton for any reco's, am able to do pretty much anything I need w/ my current setup but (obviously) I'd love the advantage of faster wood-removal by using taller-spiked (ie wood-specific) rasps and I just can't fathom there being none out there that are more in-line w/ the HF pricing than Saburr/Kaizen! (FWIW, Kaizen/G.Potter are amazing and I look up to them a lot, and do intend to get an authentic Terrier at some point, but that point isn't now for financial reasons and I'm hoping to get in a lot of carving this growing-season before winter!)

 

[BrianBay9]

Kaizen's terrier bits are worth every penny. Do what I did and suggest them for a gift-giving opportunity? These showed up for me on Fathers Day!

 

[wsteinhoff]

Kutzall burrs are pretty good.

 

[jeanluc83]

I've had good luck using a 1/4" round nose router bit. I picked up a solid carbide one for around $15. They take a bit of practice to use and they do tend to grab if you are not expecting it. You can remove a good amount of material in a relatively short time.

I have been looking into Kutzall and Saburr Tooth burrs. I haven't actually picked up any yet but they look like they are not a bad price. Around $20 a piece. I would be interested to know how fast they clog before needing to be cleaned.

 

[Jcmmaple]

Wow thanks for sharing, as I’m a bonsai budget. I will definitely pick these up from harbor frieght and practice. How did you like using them?

 

[jeanluc83]

Last night I picked up one of the Saburr Tooth burs from ebay. It was about $20 with free shipping. I got the green 1/4" round nose bit. I'll try to report back how works out. If I like it I may try to pick up some of their other bits.

1/4" Shank Ball Nose 1/4" (Coarse Grit)

 

[stevek]

I bought the 1/4" and Dremel size course flame bits from saburr for my club. I won the Dremel one and it works fine. if you do most of your wood gouging with hand tools like in the old days, you still get rid of a lot of wood, and done right you get the natural graining. then you can finish up with the electric stuff. not as quiet as the hand tool. sk.

 

[SU2]

Wow thanks for sharing, as I’m a bonsai budget. I will definitely pick these up from harbor frieght and practice. How did you like using them?

Love them! They're great and move through a lot, I just wanted more because, well, I figured if they're able to be sold at <$1 apiece for 'general purpose' rasps then I'd have thought I could get wood ones for $5-10 (or less- the rasps I use are fine enough that I wouldn't pay magnitudes more for a bit more 'bite')

I should mention that it's not my main removal tool, I use an angle-grinder with my chainsaw disk first (just got that disk a few weeks ago, thing is insane!) and a rasp-disk, the rasp-disk on the angle-grinder is what gets most of the material removed, then I go in with the die-grinder to 'clean up' & get areas I couldn't reach with the angle-grinder.

(for what it's worth, Harbor Freight has a replacement plan, I got my die-grinder for $40 and paid $10 I think for a 2yr replacement-plan. I got all my gear there, including the angle-grinder, which was on sale for $10 (usually $15, worth every penny!), the rasp-disk is $10 from HF and the pack of rasp-bits for the die-grinder was <$10, the only 'pricey' part was my newest piece the chainsaw-disk for $30 but really that's just a nice thing to have it's not letting me do anything I couldn't do with the rasp-disk in a little more time! Remember that this stuff is the cheapest imaginable, I've had 1 product failure but fixed it myself (the power-cable for the angle-grinder had a bad spot in it, unsure if it was a defect or if I bent it, either way it was worrisome in that I hadn't been beating on the thing, but at the same time I've put a TON of use on these things and, for the cost, would buy again!)

Oh and all of these rasp-type disks&bits do get clogged-up but it's not that fast, and it comes off incredibly easy if you spray foaming oven cleaner on them (I've heard toilet-bowl cleaners work well too, imagine any heavy-duty stuff would work well enough)

 

[SU2]

Last night I picked up one of the Saburr Tooth burs from ebay. It was about $20 with free shipping. I got the green 1/4" round nose bit. I'll try to report back how works out. If I like it I may try to pick up some of their other bits.

1/4" Shank Ball Nose 1/4" (Coarse Grit)

Please do report back! That's precisely what I was looking for, just can't stomach the idea of paying a $20 surcharge because it's 'for wood'!

 

[jeanluc83]

Please do report back! That's precisely what I was looking for, just can't stomach the idea of paying a $20 surcharge because it's 'for wood'!

I haven't had a chance to use it yet but it looks like it should work great. The grit is more aggressive than I was expecting. I'm really looking forward to trying it out.



Here is the router bit I've been using. A carbide 1/4" round nose bit. It is solid carbide so it should hold an edge for a long time. You do need to be careful not to drop it or it will chip. It was about $15 off eBay a couple of years ago.

It works great but it can grab on you if you are not supporting the grinder enough. Usually when trying to work in a tight spot.

 

[jeanluc83]

So far I really like the way the Saburtooth Burr performs. It is aggressive enough to remove material quickly but easy to control. I have not had any problems with it loading up with dry or green wood. I've used it for probably 3-4 hours and, other than some of the green coating wearing off, it has shown no signs of degradation.

The resulting finish can be somewhat rough depending on how hard the wood is. It looks like a rough sanded finish. Soft woods tend to fuzz when cut across the grain but it is not as much if an issue with hard woods. I have found it works best for rough carving.

I have also picked up a carbide ball rotary Burr off eBay for ~$8. It is an aluminum cut vs the steel cut so it has 6 flutes. It cuts really well and leaves a nice finish. It did load up on me once but was easy to clean.

 

[Potawatomi13]

Try local pawn shops.

 

[jeanluc83]

Try local pawn shops.

You might get lucky and find a reasonably priced die grinder but I doubt you would find any bits that are worth your time.

 

[grouper52]

There's nothing at all that compares with a core box bit mounted on a die grinder in skillful hands, IMHO. You get what you pay for - or substantially less - with all the rest of that stuff. I have some respect for the results that can be had with sand-blasters, but other than that you'd do well to spend your money on the really good stuff if you're serious about the sculptural carving of deadwood, and that means core box bits of good quality.