trying to pick a router

I am almost done with my machine, but I can't figure out which router to use. I bought a 2hp wood router, but I've been lead to believe it is not a good choice if I want to work with aluminum. I am most interested in cutting wood, but I do want to work with aluminum up to 1/2" if possible as well as certain types of plastic.

I've searched this forum for the last hour and found nothing. I either didn't enter the right search strings or I just haven't found an answer to my question. I have also been doing research about variable vs fixed speed routers, but none of them seem to be what I want. Ideally I would like to find a router that can be geared down (someone told me this exists, but I can't find one).

Here is a video of my machine. I tested it last night and it is accurate to about 0.0002" (with no load). I was very surprised!

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyxQY5q1MCc"]YouTube - CNC Machine - new bearings, faster rapids, executing G codes[/nomedia]


Any advice would be appreciated.

If you want to start running the machine, mount the router you have and start cutting materials.
If you want to spend a lot of money so you can brag you spent a lot of money, go finance the most expensive high-speed spindle you've ever heard of.
If you want to machine 1/2" thick aluminum stock, go buy a mill.

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Originally Posted by Dorsal

If you want to start running the machine, mount the router you have and start cutting materials.
If you want to spend a lot of money so you can brag you spent a lot of money, go finance the most expensive high-speed spindle you've ever heard of.
If you want to machine 1/2" thick aluminum stock, go buy a mill.

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I apologize if I am reading this wrong, but your post seems pretty rude and unnecessary.

good looking machine and nicely done
the problem is that it won't be solid enough for any heavy metal machining , but it doesn't mean that you can't do any ally . wood routers work ok as long as you take passes .05' or less , and looking at the design of your machine I'd imagine that's the max you'd be able to push it on aluminum anyhow .
.05" at 50-100 ipm will remove material quite rapidly as long as you are strategic in your toolpathing . conventional milling will probably produce the best results
. I've managed to cut mild steel at 120 imp with my wood router as a test and it cut it pretty easily , i just wouldn't do it on a regular basis ;),
since you've got the router then you may as well throw it on and see what you can do with it
I have to agree somewhat with the last comment and that is if you plan to machine lots of metal then your best option would be to have a mill , or to build a beast that can handle the punishment

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Originally Posted by dertsap

good looking machine and nicely done
the problem is that it won't be solid enough for any heavy metal machining , but it doesn't mean that you can't do any ally . wood routers work ok as long as you take passes .05' or less , and looking at the design of your machine I'd imagine that's the max you'd be able to push it on aluminum anyhow .
.05" at 50-100 ipm will remove material quite rapidly as long as you are strategic in your toolpathing . conventional milling will probably produce the best results
. I've managed to cut mild steel at 120 imp with my wood router as a test and it cut it pretty easily , i just wouldn't do it on a regular basis ;),
since you've got the router then you may as well throw it on and see what you can do with it
I have to agree somewhat with the last comment and that is if you plan to machine lots of metal then your best option would be to have a mill , or to build a beast that can handle the punishment

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Thanks for your advice. I realize the limitations since it is built out of aluminum instead of something stronger, but I was just hoping to do at least basic cuts in up to 1/2" aluminum. I can't afford a mill, so that's why I was hoping to get some ideas from the community about how to make my current solution meet all of my needs if possible. As I said in the original post, I just don't know what router to get or if a spindle is the right choice. I'd give you all the relevant information if I could, but I'm not even sure how to make this decision. The more research I do the more I realize that there are a lot of unknown variables that I need to solve. I also don't want to mount my current router as I just purchased it and it is still in brand new condition. I could return it if it isn't going to meet my needs, but if I mount it I am stuck with it.

I know for sure I want to work with wood, plastic, and to make PCBs. Optionally, I would love to be able to handle some amount of metal, even if it isn't anything complicated. I just want to have the option if it can be reasonably included in whatever router/spindle I end up using. I've seen the Paul Jones spindle for PCB manufacturing, but that obviously won't work for other materials and projects.

I hope this clears things up a little. Thanks again.

Sorry, I forgot to include the flowers and poetry, to soothe your mind and ease you into the truth. I leave that part for others to complete.

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Originally Posted by Dorsal

Sorry, I forgot to include the flowers and poetry, to soothe your mind and ease you into the truth. I leave that part for others to complete.

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You should be ashamed of your attitude. Please stop posting in my thread if you have nothing to contribute.

You posted a serious question, I thought you wanted a serious answer. Sorry, my mistake.

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Originally Posted by Dorsal

You posted a serious question, I thought you wanted a serious answer. Sorry, my mistake.

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You're right. This seems completely serious and not at all condescending or sarcastic.

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If you want to spend a lot of money so you can brag you spent a lot of money, go finance the most expensive high-speed spindle you've ever heard of.

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Also, thanks for explaining to me why my idea won't work or is unreasonable. You really cleared things up.

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If you want to machine 1/2" thick aluminum stock, go buy a mill.

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I've seen plenty of people on these boards cutting aluminum on machines made out of MDF or aluminum without high cost spindles. I'm obviously a novice so acting superior is lame when I came here for advice and help. I'd appreciate it if you could stop derailing my thread.

I'm certainly no expert but I've been down the path you're about to start and I can share my experiences with you.

I have an old ShopBot PRT which works great for cutting wood. I tried to cut aluminum and found two problems. The first was that a wood router spun the bits too fast which was easily solved by using a Sherline spindle. The second problem was that I got lots of chatter because the moving gantry design paticularly of my old style ShopBot was not particularly rigid. You can reduce cutting forces and chatter by taking very light cuts.

Interestingly, the Sherline spindle works great for cutting plastics because I was able to cut the plastic at lower temperatures with slower cut speeds.

Hope this helps.

Don

BTW I'm making a small fixed gantry router that I hope will be able to cut fine details in small aluminum parts (using bits 1/8" and smaller). I've tried to make it as rigid as possible to reduce chatter.http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...ter_build.html

Bit temp plays a part with alum as well. routers becides spinning the bits faster then perhaps you would want the motor also self heats the bit so it's motor heat + cutting heat can result in gummy aluminum cuts and broken bits.

when I cut aluminum (sheet) material like .040 thick on my router I use onstrud single flute cutters and run at pretty fast speeds. The cutters make most of the difference though. (course I also have a VFD spindle which does not heat bits like router motors do and can also run slower RPM's then my router could)..

also don't forget cutting oil could be of some help as well but hard to use that and not make a mess of a nice MDF table

b.

b.

Thanks for the information guys. I did some more research after you both gave me some things to think about and I'm wondering if the Hitachi KM12VC will work for my application. I've noticed quiet a few people using it to cut aluminum as well as wood, but I'm confused about how they are putting smaller bits in it when it can only accept .25" and .5" shanks. How would I put a 1/8" or smaller bit in it? I know this is a silly question, but I can't find an answer.

You get an 1/8" collet. The nice ones are from precisebits. You can also get one from gpcollets for less $$.

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Originally Posted by bandtank

I'm confused about how they are putting smaller bits in it when it can only accept .25" and .5" shanks. How would I put a 1/8" or smaller bit in it? I know this is a silly question, but I can't find an answer.

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I'd look at getting something that is capable of a 1/2" shank
my router has a 1/2" collet and i cut down to length an er holder like this ER16 1/2" STRAIGHT SHANK CHUCK CNC MILLING LATHE #F89 - eBay (item 110608641883 end time Dec-07-10 05:52:12 PST)

I figured the balance would be off but its not and it works great , some guys on ebay sell them with a complete set of er16 collets , i think i payed $35 for the holder and 10 collets

Ah, makes sense. I picked up a Hitachi M12VC and it came with a 1/2" and 1/4" collet. I think I will pick-up something like what you suggested on ebay to get a whole range of collets as I plan on using several different sizes.

Thanks everyone for all of your help. I learned a lot from this thread. I'll post back with any other details and updates as I get it figured out.