What Can You Do with YoraHome 1/4" Router Bits?

Janice SherriffsUpdated: Jul 21, 2022

If you are lucky enough to have already one of the ranges of YoraHome carving machines, 3018-Pro, Mandrill 3036, or SilverBack 6060, you probably already have a range of router bits.

Now, you can get yourself the YoraHome 1/4" Router Bits Kit!

This set of 5 bits will take you to the next level of carving. 

So, what can they actually do? I set up a simple test in Easel to show what each bit would do.

Quarter-Inch-Bits-Easel-Test

1/4” Corn Milling Bit

Corn Mill Bits go by several names, Roughing End Mills, Hog Mills and so on. They have numerous serrations to remove large amounts of material, the cutting edges are very sharp, reducing cutting resistance, and allowing high-speed cutting, giving a quick rough finish with low vibration, which will then be fine finished with another bit.

Corn-Mill-Hog-Mill-1/4"-Yorahome

This type of bit does generate a bit of dust.

Dust-From-Corn-Mill-1/4"-Yorahome

But, a quick vac and you can see exactly how it has cut.

Corn-Mill-Test-Result-1/4"-Yorahome

1/4” Flat Nose Bit

Flat Nose Bits are great general-purpose tools and used very commonly. They can deliver 90-degree corners and produce sharp edges at the bottom of the cuts. Flat Nose Bits or Square End Bits can be suitable for both roughing and finishing applications.

Flat-Nose-Bit-1/4"-Yorahome

You can see the actual edges of the pockets are sharp.

Flat-Nose-Bit-Test-Result-1/4"-Yorahome

1/4” Ball Nose Bit

Ball Nose Bits or Round Nose Bits have a rounded end which makes a nicer surface finish which makes them ideal for 3D contouring as they leave nice, rounded edges. (Quick Tip – use a roughing end mill to remove large areas of material then finish off with the Ball Nose.)

Ball-Nose-Bit-1/4"-Yorahome

You can notice the edges of the pockets are now rounded.

Ball-Nose-Test-Result-1/4"-Yorahome

1/4” Tapered Ball Nose Bit

Tapered ball-nose end-mills are commonly used cutters for deep CNC carving. Due to their tapered profile, they are much stronger than a straight wall tool with the same end diameter but are able to remove large amounts of material in one pass.

Tapered-Ball-Nose-Bit-1/4"-Yorahome

You can see that the smaller end size does mean a “slimmer” cut.

Tapered-Ball-Nose-Test-Result-1/4"-Yorahome

1/4” V-Shape Bit (60 degree)

V-bits or Engraving Bits produce a “V” shaped pass and are used for engraving, particularly for making signs. The small angles and tips provided on these V-shaped engraving bits are able to produce narrow cuts and small, delicate engraving of lettering and lines.

V-Bit-Engraving-Bit-1/4"-Yorahome

OK this example doesn’t show it at its best, but it does generate smaller thinner lines.

V-Bit-Engraving-Bit-1/4"-YoraHome

Doing a comparison across all 5 bits, you can see the differences. You can see the differences that each style produces, from the Corn Mill end on the left, then Flat Nose, Round Nose, Tapered Nose and on its own the V-Shape bit (bit of wood wasn’t long enough).

YoraHome-1/4"-Bits-Comparison 

I must say at this point, this was done as a very quick test. Have a look at the simulation from Easel, yes that really does say 2 minutes.

Easel-Test-Simulation-1/4"-Bits-YoraHome

The speed and feed rates shown are what I used on my YoraHome Mandrill CNC Router 3036 which I could then adjust with the Control Box. You would need to adjust for your own machine.

Feeds-and-Speeds-for-Easel-Testing-1/4"-YoraHome

You will find that these bits will run faster and deeper than what you are used to, but take your time, try your settings first, do not over stress your machine.

Oh and by the way, the 1/4” bits might just fit into the 6mm collet from the YoraHome CNC High Carbon Steel Extension Rod Collets (7 Pcs) if you’ve already got them.

But for a perfect fit, you can get the YoraHome 1/4" ER11 Spring Collet.

1/4"-Collet-Yorahome 

Surfacing Bit

Not content with the five standard 1/4" bits, YoraHome also have available a Surfacing Bit that has a 1/4" shank as well.

To explain exactly how this bit is used, imagine you have your piece of material that you want to carve and when you check it, it's not completely flat – like that ever happens…..

Is-Your-Material-Flat-YoraHome

Obviously when using log slices for example. they are not square in shape, but you would set it up in Easel to cut the square shape to encompass the piece of material.

Bottoming-Bit-Use-In-Easel

Depending on how “un-flat” the piece is, you would adjust the depth of cut to achieve a flat piece. You may even need to flatten both sides. 

Running-Bottoming-Bit-YoraHome

You might need a slightly smoother surface, as the stepover as standard in Easel is 40%, on 1 mm end mills, this is still very close together, with a surfacing bit of 7/8", 40% is not so far off half an inch.

To adjust the stepover to make the cuts closer together click on Machine, then General Settings.

Adjust-Step-Over-Easel

Adjust Step Over to your choice, I went with 10 %.

Adjust-Step-Over-in-Easel-for-Bottoming-Bit

This makes a much smoother finish.

Smoothed-after-bottoming-bit-1/4"-Yorahome

There is also a great way to use the surfacing bit. If you wanted to try making valet trays, just look what it makes possible very easily.

Using-Bottoming-Bit-1/4"-Yorahome

A quick dust off and this isn’t too far off being ready for a smooth and seal.

Bottom-Clearing-Bit-Tray-1/4"-Yorahome

This is just so easy to achieve and looks so cool.

You can draw your own dog paw or whatever you choose and import the image into Easel.

Image-import-to-easel-to carve-bottom-cleaning-bit

Set your material size and thickness.

Material-and-dimensions-for-bottom-cleaning-bit

Set the cut depth, this will depend on how deep you want the dish parts to be.

bottom-cleaning-bit-cut-depth

Set the Cut Settings, again I was using my YoraHome Mandrill CNC Router 3036 and could adjust my speed with the Control Box. You would need to adjust for your own machine.

YoraHome-Bottom-Cleaning-Bit-Settings

Then, all that’s left to do is carve!

And just because I liked the dog paw so much, here it is again!

YoraHome has done it again with amazing additions to their inventory, get yourself some 1/4" bits  and show what you are now capable of doing with these fabulous CNC router machines, endmills and accessories.