What is a Carbide Bur used for?

What is a carbide bur used for?  Carbide Burs are used for cutting, shaping, grinding and for the removal of sharp edges, burrs and excess material (deburring).

For drilling holes or cutting a hole in metal then a carbide drill or a carbide end mill, carbide slot drill or a carbide router is required rather than a carbide burr. For carving into stone you would ideally use a Diamond Burr.

Carbide Bur

Carbide Burrs Can be Used on Many Materials

Tungsten Carbide burrs can be used on many materials: metals including steel, aluminum and cast iron, all types of wood, acrylics, fibreglass and plastics. When used on soft metals such as gold, platinum and silver, carbide burrs are ideal as they will last a long time with no chipping or breaking.

Steel, Carbon Steel & Stainless Steel
Cast Iron
Aluminium
Titanium
Cobalt
Nickel
Gold, Platinum & Silver
Ceramics
Fibreglass
Plastic, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CRP), Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GRP)
Brass, Copper & Bronze
Zinc
Wood
Different cuts of carbide burrs will be best suited to certain materials, see the next point below to find out about the different cuts.

What Do You Use Carbide Burs In?

Ideally carbide burrs are used in Air Tools i.e Die Grinders, Pneumatic rotary tools and high speed engravers. Micro Motors, Pendant Drills, Flexible Shafts, and hobby rotary tools such as a Dremel.

Always use a handpiece that runs true i.e with no wobble.

Who Uses Carbide Burs?

Carbide burrs are widely used for metalwork, tool making, engineering, model engineering, wood carving, jewellery making, welding, chamferring, casting, deburring, grinding, cylinder head porting and sculpting. And are used in the aerospace, automotive, dental, metal sculpting, and metal smith industries to name but a few.

Uses for Carbide Bur Cutting Tools:

Aluminum
Brass
Bronze
Carbon fiber
Cast iron
Ceramics
Copper
Fiberglass
Gold
Hard rubber
Plastic
Platinum
Silver
Steel
Stone
Titanium
Wood
Zinc

Burs (burrs) come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each of which can be used for different purposes:

Arch ball/pointed nose – engraving, texturing, increasing hole size
Ball – concave cuts, hollowing, shaping, carving. Useful for wood, stone, metal engraving.
Ball nose cone – rounding edges, surface finishing, tight spaces, and angles.
Carbide Ball nose cylinder- contour finishing
Ball nose tree (also known as tapered) – concave cuts and rounding edges
Cone – rounding edges, surface finishing, tight spaces, hard to reach areas.
Cylindrical – contour finishing and right-angled corners
Cylindrical end cut – contour finishing
Carbide Cylindrical no end cut – contour finishing
Flame – channel work and shaping
Inverted cone – v-cuts and rear-side chamfering
Oval – die grinding and engraving
Pointed tree – concave cuts, rounding edges, access to hard-to-reach areas, and acute angles.
Rounded tree – concave cuts and rounding edges

Need a longer reach?
Try our 4″ and 9″ extension tool for your carbide bur bits

Burs (burrs) also come in a variety of ranges, each of which has a specific benefit in their use:

Alloy-specific – heads have varying shapes used with certain metal alloys – used in the
aerospace/aviation industry
Base metal range – used for deburring on softer metals
Bolt remover range – used for the removal of broken studs
Foundry metal range – used for deburring on harder metals, stone, etc.
Inox range – specifically used with stainless steel
Locksmith range – used by locksmiths
Long shank range – general-purpose; long shafts useful for deeper, hard-to-reach areas
Miniature range – miniature heads useful for engraving and fine detail work
New geometry range – used for all general metal removal
Steel range – heads have specialized fluting to cut stainless steel
Universal range – general-purpose, best on metals such as copper, iron, nickel, and steel

Carbide burs (burrs) require a bit of special care to keep them performing optimally. To preserve the life
of your carbide burs (burrs), ensure your handpiece does not wobble. The speed of your pneumatic rotary tool
should not exceed 35,000 RPMs, and speed should be gradually increased. Please note, however,
that higher speeds will prevent flute clogging inside the bur (burr). If you apply too much pressure to the
bur (burr), the edges may chip, resulting in premature dulling.

Carbide Bur

Choose Double or Single Cut Carbide Bur?

Double Cut

Used on ferrous and non ferrous metals, aluminium, soft steel and also for all non-metal materials such as stone, plastics, hard wood and ceramic. Double cut have more cutting edges and will remove material much faster. Double cut will leave a smoother finish than single cut due to producing smaller chips as they cut away the material. Use for medium-light stock removal, deburring, finishing and cleaning.
Designed for medium- light removal of material, deburring, fine finishing, cleaning, smooth finish, and creating small chips.

Single Cut

Usually used with stainless steel, hardened steel, copper, cast iron, and ferrous metals and will remove material quickly with a smooth finish. Use for heavy stock removal, milling, deburring and cleaning.
Designed for heavy removal of material, milling, deburring, cleaning, and creating long chips.

Aluminum Cut

Non-ferrous are exactly what you would expect them to be. Use our cutting tools on non-ferrous materials such as aluminum, copper and magnesium.

Our USA made tungsten carbide burrs can be used on most hard materials including steel, aluminum and cast iron, all types of stone, ceramic, porcelain, hard wood, acrylics, fibreglass and reinforced plastics. If you use our burs on soft metals such as gold, platinum and silver, carbide burrs are perfect as they will last for a long time with no breaking or chipping.

Different cuts of carbide burrs will be best suited for certain materials.

Try our 1/4” to 1/8” Collet Reducer
Allows you to use 1/8” shank carbide bits in your 1/4” die grinder

Uses for Carbide Bur Die Grinder Bits

Carbide burs are widely used in metalworking, tool making, engineering, model engineering, wood carving, jewelry making, welding, chamferring, casting, deburring, grinding, cylinder head porting and sculpting. Carbide burs can be used in the aerospace, automotive, dentistry, stone and metalsmith industries.

All our USA made carbide bur cutting tools ship SAME DAY ordered by USPS Mail with online tracking.

We can also dropship the carbide bur die grinder bits, if interested in joining our FREE dropship program.

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