Howdy! I got Bridgeport approved a little while ago and for my current project I need to use a dovetail cutting bit (45° bevel). Would there be a place where these may live? I checked the cabinet as fully as I could, including some of the general bins that had various bits tossed in, but could not find any bevel bits.
I also thought this would be a good thread to start for other specialty bits others may request whereabouts on. Thanks in advance!
When you say “bevel bit”, are you asking for a dovetail bit or a chamfer bit?
I’m not aware of us having any dovetail bits because there’s not really any such thing as a generic dovetail bit (size matters, not just the angle). AFAIK, most of us buy our own dovetail cutters because they are so specific.
You may be able to find a chamfer bit in the HAAS toolbox.
Question it, how big? You need to also be sure of your angle. There are almost any angle you could imagine. Normal angles are 45,50,60 & I think I’ve seen 67degree
The cut I’m going for isn’t in front of me but it can’t be more than 7-8mm in height. I’m looking for a 45 degree angle dovetail (trying to cut the female part of the dovetail for another piece I already have to slide into). I’m thinking so long as I have a 45 degree dovetail cutter it’s likely going to be deep enough for the groove I need it for.
Dovetail cutters are specified as a combination of angle, diameter, height (width of cut), and neck length (plus standard stuff like shank diameter, cutter length, finish, etc.). Sometimes you will also see the neck diameter specified. The cutter needs to match the angled cutout profile of what you’re trying to cut. You can’t cut the angled part deeper or wider than the cutter tips. You can only vary the center slot width.
It looks like you’re going to need a dovetail cutter with a minimum diameter of 1/2" to get the width of cut, i.e., height, that you’re identifying.
You could probably put a smaller male part into larger female dovetail as long as the neck length works and the slot width along the top is narrow enough to constrain your part.
Here are some example cutters; all of which are 45 degree cutters. You can see from the pictures that each of these is going to cut a unique dovetail profile that is unlike each of the others. If you look at the half inch cutters you will notice that they have different cut widths so therefore the dovetail profiles differ.
If you’re not looking for anything exotic (i.e., willing to buy the “Value Collection”) you can probably get one for about $50 at MSC.
Just a reminder … remember to mill out the center slot first with a square end endmill to reduce the chances of snapping off the fragile cutter tips.
Thanks for the detailed followup! It looks like I’m needing a 5mm width of cut and the head diameter could vary (its not super deep). I’ve cut dovetails before and luckily I think that making the female part will be much easier since it’s the end that clamps down so a teensy bit of play won’t ruin the project. If they aren’t hiding somewhere in the shop that I didn’t think to look, I’ll take a look at buying one of your suggestions above!
Perhaps bringing the male part into DMS for Tim’s Shop Time Q&A (on Thursday’s 6-8pm) would allow another experienced set of eyes on the part nail down what tooling you need.
