I have a large CNC knee mill in my home shop. Recently, I made a mount to attach a Milwaukee 2.25 HP router to the Z-axis. It is a model 5616-20.
I was very happy with the router when I first bought it, as the runout and endplay was very good. I have put very little time on it, and all of it has been light cuts in wood and acrylic. The router is still essentially new. I just noticed it has developed .005" of axial (up and down) end play in the spindle. Radial is still tight.
I am considering replacing the bearings in the router with something of a higher quality. I did a little searching, and did come across this: http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/Kit7550 It is a ceramic hybrid design. I am a bit confused by bearing specs, and wonder, would an ABEC 3 or 7 bearing be significantly tighter in terms of axial and radial play?
Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, had any luck improving it? I work mostly in metal, so this router is an accessory. I would love to have a nice, water cooled spindle running on a VFD, but it just isn't in the budget right now.
If anyone could share some insight on this, I would be very grateful.
Jon