The router bit is the smallest and cheapest component in the template workflow, and the fastest way to ruin the most expensive one — a sheet mid-cut. The rules are few and worth knowing cold: one bit family for PVC, another for epoxy, and change on groove quality. (For the machine side, see the template cutting machine guide.)
Single-flute bits: the PVC and PET workhorse
Rigid PVC and PET are soft, thermoplastic and easy to cut — and easy to melt. Heat is the enemy: dwell too long, or fail to clear chips, and the plastic re-welds behind the cutter into a beaded, ragged groove.
The single-flute (O-flute) carbide bit exists for exactly this. One large flute gives the chip an unobstructed exit, so heat leaves with the chip. The standard sizes in template work are 3.175 mm shank with 3.175, 4.0 and 5.0 mm cutting diameters — small for tight groove radii, larger for outlines and faster clearing.
Running notes: keep feeds brisk (slow feed means more heat, not more finish), keep the vacuum strong so the sheet cannot chatter, and cut over a felt underlay at through-cut depth.
Corn-teeth bits: what epoxy demands
Epoxy board is a different animal: glass fiber in a hard resin matrix, abrasive enough to sand a single-flute edge dull in short order, with fibers that fray instead of shearing when the edge goes.
The corn-teeth bit — a diamond-pattern, many-small-teeth cutter — is the answer. The overlapping teeth shear fibers cleanly in both directions and distribute the abrasive wear across dozens of edges. Common sizes mirror the PVC lineup at 3.175 and 4.0 mm.
Two non-negotiables when cutting epoxy: dust extraction (glass-fiber dust is abrasive to machine ways and unkind to lungs) and patience on feed — epoxy cuts slower than PVC, and forcing it chips edges and snaps small-diameter bits.
Import-grade or standard carbide
Bits are sold by the box of ten and priced low either way, so this is not where a budget is won — but edge life differs. Higher-grade imported carbide (the 3A/5A grades in supplier catalogs) holds its edge meaningfully longer, which shows up most in epoxy work and long production runs. A sensible stocking policy: imported corn-teeth for all epoxy cutting, imported single-flute for production PVC, standard single-flute for samples and trials. The router bits page lists both grades in all sizes.
Reading wear before it costs you
The groove is the gauge. In PVC: fuzz, then melt-bead, then dimensional drift. In epoxy: whitened, frayed edges and a louder cut. Any of these mid-sheet means the bit should have been changed a groove ago — the discipline that works is a fresh-bit rule for production sheets and a quick loupe check at shift start.
Keep a full box of each type in the drawer; a template room stopped for want of a bit is the most avoidable downtime in the building. Bits ride along at no meaningful freight cost in any consolidated order — add boxes of each size to your sheet order, and if you tell us your machine’s collet size and materials mix, we will spec the assortment for you. (Planning the whole room? Start with the template room setup guide.)
