CNC: Should I use forstner bits or a 1/4" milling bit?

[ohmbrew]

Don't know if this is an appropriate forum for this question...

I had previously used forstner bits to manually drill out large holes in my pinball playfield. They created very nice holes using a hand held drill.

But now, I'm creating a FreeCAD model to create gcode to get the whole thing drilled out nicely using a CNC. Question: should I just be using a standard milling bit (i.e. 1/4") to mill out the 2.5" hole, instead of setting the Path Workbench tool for a 2.5" drill hole bit? It will decrease my tool bit changes and I started researching online and sites were saying not to use forstner bits in routers/CNC because they spin too fast.

[sliptonic]

That's not really a Freecad or Path question. You'll get better information from cnczone or the community for your machine. Also a woodworking site will be helpful. A lot of those guys are using cncs now.

The important thing is to get the right tool and use it correctly (ie correct feeds and speeds). There are a million different tools with different geometry like upcut, downcut, compression, different flute counts and all that will affect your surface quality. A tool that works well on solid maple may perform poorly on Baltic birch ply.

[Steveco]

The answer depends on your CNC. Personally I haven't seen a Forstner bit rated for over 750 RPM, and the slowest my CNC spindle will go is 6,000 RPM, so I can't use Forstner bits with my CNC. I use a 1/4" endmill instead. If I had a CNC that could do 500 RPM I might try a Forstner bit in that. (I once overheated a Forstner bit while drilling with a manual drill press, and that ruined the cutting edge, so I am cautious with them.)