[Biggs427]

I know that a router is spinning too fast and will burn the bit but what I'm concerned with is the bearing life of my Makita router.

For holes bigger than 5mm I mill a pocket with a 1/16 bit but anything smaller I have to plunge in to matter and I'm reluctant to do so.

1/8 drill bits fits in my router and are dirt cheap so it could be used to drill in wood and when the bit is burned I can trow it in the recycling bin.

But what about the bearing?

[DonKes]

I made parts of my router by using a drill motor mounted instead of the router motor.

Consider using a drill motor for large hole drilling. I think you will use it a lot.

Don

[wizard]

I know that a router is spinning too fast and will burn the bit but what I'm concerned with is the bearing life of my Makita router.

For holes bigger than 5mm I mill a pocket with a 1/16 bit but anything smaller I have to plunge in to matter and I'm reluctant to do so.

1/8 drill bits fits in my router and are dirt cheap so it could be used to drill in wood and when the bit is burned I can trow it in the recycling bin.

But what about the bearing?

When the bearings go bad you can throw them out too. Learning to rebuild your router is part of running a machine. Ideally you buy routers that are easy to rebuild.

Your only other choice would be to build your own spindle with suitable angular contact bearings that can handle the thrust.

If you have a huge number of holes to drill, all of one size, you can get spindles specifically designed for hole drilling. AutoDrill AutoDrill is one example, Ingersoll Rand has a series of air driven drills like: Par-A-Matic Series Self-Feed Drills. Of course the Air powered tools could be a problem without a compressor to drive them. The thing here is that they revery compact and can sit right be side you router on a Z axis.

[ger21]

I've drilled lots of holes with my PC690, controlled with a SuperPID at 5000 rpm. I've used both 1/8" and 1/4" drill bits. The forces are actually pretty low, and I haven't seen any bearing issues at all. The forces are much less than plunging a router bit.
And at 5000 rpm, I've never seen any burning either.

[Biggs427]

Thanks for the answers.

I think it's time to buy/build a PID controller