July 12, 2022 Rohit Chitnis

Applications of Carbide Burs by Their Types and Recommended Speeds

Carbide burrs are cutting tools made of an extremely hard material, tungsten carbide. Tungsten carbide material can tolerate high temperatures. They are about three times more rigid than steel. Carbide burrs feature a sharp cutting edge for best performance and its rigid characteristic makes it ideal for longer operations.

Carbide burs are also known as die grinder bits or rotary files. These rotary burrs are used for grinding, deburring, shaping, cutting, and chamfering hard materials. Different carbide burr cuts work well with different materials.

Carbide burrs are used with a variety of air tools such as pneumatic rotary tools, die grinders, high-speed engravers, flexible shafts, and Dremels.

Applications of Carbide Burr

Carbide burrs are typically used for grinding, shaping, and metal cutting, as well as for the removal of excess material, burrs, and sharp edges.

Die grinder bits can be used on various materials, including aluminum, steel, fiberglass, acrylic, cast iron, and various types of wood, and plastic. Additionally, carbide rotary burrs are also perfect for working on soft metals such as silver, gold, and platinum.

Depending on the cut, there are three types of tungsten carbide burrs used to apply on different materials based on their toughness and durability.

1. Aluminum/Single Cut Burr

Aluminum cut or single-cut burrs have a right-cut spiral flute. These burrs have a fast stock material removal rate and can perform cuts without clogging (clogging occurs mostly with aluminum). Aluminum or single-cut carbide burrs are used for cutting various ferrous metals such as steel, brass, copper, forged iron, and aluminum. However, they do not provide a fine and smooth finish as double-cut carbide burs.

Applications of aluma cut burr:

Aluminum or single-cut carbide burrs are used to cut aluminum, plastic, hard rubber, zinc alloys, and magnesium.

2. Diamond/Double Cut Burr

Diamond cut or double cut has right and left cuts for sharpening and better finishing. Diamond-cut burs are also known as cross-cut burs because carbide burs have 2 flutes cut across each other.

Diamond-cut carbide burrs provide a fine and smooth finish than aluminum-cut carbide burrs. As each diamond-cut carbide burrs has a cross head, they are more suitable for cutting low-density materials such as wood, plastic, and aluminum. They are also used for any DIY woodworking project, including polishing, carving, and engraving.

Applications of diamond cut burr:

Diamond cut or double-cut carbide burrs are used to cut copper, fiberglass, cast iron, plastic, hard rubber, iron alloys, stainless steel, nickel, and titanium.

3. Standard Cut Carbide Burr

Standard-cut carbide burr has a fluted structure or a traditional cut used for fine material removal and general-purpose applications. Standard-cut carbide burrs are widely used for primary deburring and removal of excess or fine material. These carbide burrs produce long chips while removing excess material from steel, cast iron, stainless steel, bronze, and copper.

Applications of standard cut burr:

Standard-cut carbide burrs are used to cut aluminum, cast iron, plastic, hard rubber, stainless steel, nickel, and titanium.

Recommended Operating Speed Based on Head Diameter

Carbide burrs are available with a variety of head diameters. To get maximum output with speed first, identify the diameter of your carbide burr head and then follow the below-mentioned recommended speed chart.

Based on head diameter the recommended carbide burr speed are:

1/8 Inch, 1/4 Inch, 3/8 Inch, 1/2 Inch, 5/8 Inch