I've purchased one of these 3mm dia. compression bits from Wealden's..... http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/...ssion_230.html

I've cut into 6mm Plywood with a DOC of 4mm and also cut 4mm Plywood wih a DOC of 4.2mm single pass... the full depth cut worked but I didn't intend to do the full depth and was concerned about breaking the bit so slowed everything down. I wasn't too impressed by the cut finish although I'm sure this was my fault because the cut in the 6mm plywood was really nice with little sanding required.

Can anyone offer me any advice on the depth of cut I should be aiming for? Maybe I'm pushing the bit too hard? Somewhere I saw recommended DOC to be half of the bit dia but in other places I have seen people cutting deeper than the diameter of the bit. I also saw a video cutting 18mm ply with a 3mm compression bit in 4 passes which suggests that I could get away with 4mm DOC.

Also the compression bit cuts really noisy compared to my up cutting bits - is that normal?

Cheers - any other advice appreciated!!!!