1/8" Ballnose

ID: B03

Type: Ball Nose

B01’s little sibling: same ball geometry, half the diameter, a straight 1/8” shank instead of B01’s 1/4”. A red/maroon band marks it on the shelf. Longer cutting length relative to its size than B01 too — 0.87” of flute on a bit this thin, more reach for fine 3D contours in deeper pockets.

Specifications

Property Value
Cutting diameter 0.125”
Shank diameter 0.125” (straight through)
Flutes 2
Cutting length 0.870”
Overall length 1.770”
Geometry Ball nose, RE = 0.0625”
Material Solid carbide
Coating None

Feeds & Speeds

For the X-Carve Pro and its 1.5 kW spindle. Halved chipload and feed from B01’s wood ballnose numbers for the smaller diameter, same rpm ladder, stepover halved to keep the same scallop-height-to-radius ratio on finishing passes.

Material RPM Feed Chipload Plunge Stepover
Hard maple / oak 16,000 90 ipm 0.0028” 15 ipm 0.0125”
Soft maple / walnut / cherry 16,000 100 ipm 0.0031” 15 ipm 0.0125”
Plywood 16,000 110 ipm 0.0034” 18 ipm 0.0125”
MDF / laminate 18,000 125 ipm 0.0035” 20 ipm 0.015”
Softwood / pine 18,000 125 ipm 0.0035” 20 ipm 0.015”
Acrylic / HDPE 14,000 75 ipm 0.0027” 13 ipm 0.010”

Notes

3D finishing only, same as B01 — the center of a ball nose runs at near-zero surface speed regardless of rpm, so it’s the wrong tool for slotting or clearing. Reach for U05, U06, or U07 for material removal at this diameter.

Smaller radius means finer detail, not just a smaller version of B01. A 0.0625” ball resolves contours and fillets B01’s 0.125” ball can’t get into — the reason to reach for this one specifically isn’t size, it’s the geometry it can trace.

0.87” cutting length is generous for a 1/8” tool. Plenty of reach for a deep 3D contour, though a longer unsupported flute also means more deflection risk on aggressive passes — keep stepover conservative on anything but a light finishing pass.

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