Serious question, why does everyone at the Milwaukee shop love those carbide burr sets?

Stopped by the tool supply place on 3rd last tuesday and grabbed one of those 10-piece carbide burr sets everyone talks about. Tried it on some aluminum parts and the thing chattered like crazy compared to my old HSS bits. I get that carbide lasts longer but for the money I'd rather just swap out the cheaper bits more often. Am I missing something or is this just hype?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane1704d ago

Exploded on his first stainless job" yeah that tracks honestly. The thing with those cheap 10-piece sets is the carbide grade is all over the place. You get a mix of decent inserts and total duds. The chatter you saw on aluminum is a sign the edge geometry is off or the coating is junk. For aluminum you want sharp polished flutes not whatever rough finish they grind on those budget bits. Stainless will absolutely punish that inconsistency too, thermal shock on a bad grind will shatter the tip quick. I tried to use one on some mild steel once and it sounded like a bag of marbles in a blender. You really gotta spend more for the name brand burrs if you want them to actually cut clean.

henry1505d ago

Buddy bought one and it exploded on his first stainless job.

-3

lisab324d ago

Hang on, hold up. People are way too quick to trash these cheap burr sets. I bought one of those 10-piece packs from the bargain bin at a tool show last year and it's honestly been fine for most of what I do. Sure, maybe they're not the best for production work running stainless all day long, but for a homeowner or a hobbyist who might use a rotary tool twice a month they're totally adequate. The key is you have to take it easy on the feed rate and not just jam it into the metal like you hate it. Stories about them exploding are probably from guys who are way too aggressive and then blame the tool for their own heavy hand.