Bitcrib is a feeds-and-speeds app for hobby CNC router owners, built around the bits you physically own. It keeps a crib of your cutters, drawn to size, each showing the spindle speed and feed that cut clean last time and how many hours it has run. Log how each cut went, and after a few cuts the app shows your own working chipload for that bit, in that material, on your machine — plotted against the published figure it started from.
Everything stays on your iPhone. Bitcrib has no accounts, no sign-in, no ads, and makes no network call except to the App Store for the one optional purchase.
Getting help
If something is wrong, or a number looks off, email me and I will answer personally.
Email: [email protected]
Please include your iPhone model and iOS version. If it is about a specific bit, material or machine, tell me which, and what the screen showed against what you expected. A screenshot of the calculate screen is the fastest way for me to reproduce a wrong number.
Common questions
Are the numbers safe to use as they are?
Treat them as a starting point, not an instruction. The shipped chipload tables come from published manufacturer charts, and each material names the chart it was taken from. But your machine, your router, your workholding and your bit’s condition all matter, and a chipload that is fine on a rigid mill can chatter or snap a cutter on a hobby router. Start conservatively, listen to the cut, and log the outcome. Bitcrib gets more useful precisely because it learns from what actually happened on your machine.
Why does it say “catalog” for some bits and “yours” for others?
Until a bit has a few logged cuts in a material, Bitcrib can only show the published baseline, and it says so. Once enough cuts are logged, it derives your own chipload from them: the clean cuts set the number, a logged chatter sets the ceiling, and burning or chip weld push it the other way. The count of cuts behind the figure is printed underneath, so you always know how much evidence it rests on.
My router has a dial, not an rpm display
Profiles for the DeWalt DWP611 and Makita RT0701C work in dial positions, because that is all their manuals publish. Pick the dial stop and Bitcrib uses the rpm the manual lists for it. If your router is not built in, add a machine profile with its rpm range, or duplicate a shipped one and edit the copy.
Does it work in millimetres?
Not in this version. Bitcrib works in inches throughout: bit diameters, depth of cut, feed in inches per minute. Metric support is on the list; if it matters to you, tell me so I can weigh it.
What does the free crib include, and what does the purchase add?
The free crib holds five bits, with the calculator, the cut log and your derived chipload all working. A single one-time purchase lifts the five-bit cap. Nothing else is locked, there is no subscription, and the purchase restores on any iPhone signed into the same Apple Account (Setup → Restore purchase).
Where is my data stored?
On your iPhone, and nowhere else. Bitcrib has no server and no sync, so your bits, machines, materials and cut log never leave the device. It works the same in a garage with no signal.
Is my data backed up?
Bitcrib itself does not back anything up. Your data is included in your normal iPhone backup — iCloud Backup or an encrypted backup to a Mac — like any other app’s data.
What happens if I delete the app?
Deleting Bitcrib removes its data from your iPhone along with it, including your cut log. Your purchase is kept by the App Store and can be restored if you reinstall.
Does it work on iPad or Apple Watch?
Not yet. Bitcrib is an iPhone app, designed to be read at the machine with dusty hands.
Contact
Questions, bugs, or feature requests:
Email: [email protected]
For privacy questions specifically, see the Bitcrib Privacy Policy or email [email protected].
See also our Terms and Conditions.