[Orion13]

I'm needing to purchase a router for my cnc machine. I'm needing something more then just a hobby but not a full production type setup. I see Lowe's has a Bosch for $209. Is that one more then I need? I have a 4 ft by 2 ft cutting area with 8 inches of Z. My steppers are all 425 oz/in of torque. The z is on a 1/2" 5 start 2 turns per inch acme screw. I have that on 1/4 micro stepping so it is at 1600 steps per inch. So I think I can support that router but I would rather let someone with more experience make that suggestion.
Router info from Lowes
Bosch 2.25 HP Variable Speed Corded Router
Item #: 136633 | Model #: 1617EVSPK

Are you better off with Hitachi or Porter Cable? I've seen those tossed around in the forums but I'm having a hard time nailing down a recommended one by doing a search.

Thanks!

[OCNC]

I'm needing to purchase a router for my cnc machine. I'm needing something more then just a hobby but not a full production type setup. I see Lowe's has a Bosch for $209. Is that one more then I need? I have a 4 ft by 2 ft cutting area with 8 inches of Z. My steppers are all 425 oz/in of torque. The z is on a 1/2" 5 start 2 turns per inch acme screw. I have that on 1/4 micro stepping so it is at 1600 steps per inch. So I think I can support that router but I would rather let someone with more experience make that suggestion.
Router info from Lowes
Bosch 2.25 HP Variable Speed Corded Router
Item #: 136633 | Model #: 1617EVSPK

Are you better off with Hitachi or Porter Cable? I've seen those tossed around in the forums but I'm having a hard time nailing down a recommended one by doing a search.

Thanks!

Your link brings up a Dewalt Router from Home Depot.

What I look for in a router is good bearings, a good collet system , enough torque at the speeds I intend to run at to do the work planned and the ease of mounting the unit to the cnc machine.

Chris

[ger21]

The Bosch is a good router, and I'd buy either a Bosch or Porter Cable before the Hitachi. If you want to save $50, get it from Amazon.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-1617EVS-2-1-Variable-Speed-Router/dp/B00004TKHV/ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1330127809&sr=1-2]Amazon.com: Bosch 1617EVS 2-1/4 HP Variable-Speed Router: Home Improvement[/ame]

[Orion13]

The link to Home Depot is an auto link due to the words not one I put there my self. All I supplied was the text make and model because I wasn't sure about providing a direct link to a websites product. I really appreciate the info. I didn't know if one model had better TIR over another or not. But if most of it is in the collet then I guess the investment in a good collet is in order after the purchase of a router with good bearings.

Thanks for the info guys. I appreciate it.

Gregg

[ger21]

Runout in handheld routers will vary from tool to tool, even in the same models. Unless you get a bad one, any of the brands mentioned should be fine. I personally prefer the PC collets to the Bosch collets.

If you need really low runout, go to PreciseBits.com and get their collets.

[Orion13]

I think there is accurate and then there is anal when it comes to cutting in wood projects. I'm just going for accurate. I'm not saying that at some point one of my anal friends with an RC helicopter wouldn't want a piece of aluminum machined out though so having it as an option isn't bad either. But just for my own taste accurate is good enough. LOL

Orion13

[Frederic Gagnon]

...one of my anal friends ...Orion13

LOL

[Orion13]

LOL

Yeah I had one in mind when I typed that. he will see my cnc as an excuse to measure everything that comes out of it to the micron. LOL friends, gotta love them!


Orion
Sent using Tapatalk HD

[freecncplans]

The Bosch 1617EVS router from my experience will run the following for me using Centurian Tools bits at a single pass.
1/8" downspiral @ 150 IPM 1/2" birch
5/32" downspiral @100 IPM 3/4" birch

It doesn't like the 5/32" at 3/4" depth of cut as much, but it does run it. My machine actually has issues sometimes. In pine, it will usually run it without any issues.

I also had a router (#2 out of 5) that was a lemon when it came in.

The routers seem to last about 9 months for me. Some longer, some shorter. Usually the bearings give out. I run these 6 hours a day 4-5 days a week.

Sean

[IBBruin]

Good or bad I just bought this one. I'm a fan of Porter Cable. Yes it takes two wrenches to replace a tool, no it's no variable speed. I believe it will work for me for many years and that's exactly what I'm looking for.

BTW it has 1/4 and 1/2 collets.

Porter-Cable 1.75 HP Router Kit 9690LR at The Home Depot

[freecncplans]

27,500 RPM is pretty high. That might burn bits up if you can't run it fast enough.

Sean

[IBBruin]

Yes that rpm will burn a bit pretty quick. I use one of these.

Router Speed Control

[Orion13]

The only issue I have seen with the $20 one from Harbor freight is you still don't know what speed your router is at. To that point figuring out chip load is harder spot to hit in my thoughts. I'm still at calibration stage of my machine so I really don't have proof of how hard the chip load sweet spot is. It would just seem to me something that would show you rpm and could maintain it would be beneficial and that is why I think I'm leaning toward the super-pid device for this. I think a $155 up front cost might save money in broken and burned router bits trying to find and figure out how to tame down a 25k spinning router with Low/med/high ranges marked out on a slide. Just my .02 cents for no more then I know at this point. It might not even be worth .02 at this point.

Orion

[IBBruin]

The super PID is in my future, just not my immediate future. I'm sure the Porter Cable will last until I can buy one. Buy cheap and you'll be buying again soon. It wouldn't surprise me if the cheapo HF controller burnt out tomorrow, but just maybe it will last until I can get the pid. I'd rather buy a replaceable component than to spend several hundred dollars on a single unit that may fail if any one of it's electronic components fail. I can put brushes, bearings and switches in anything. My weak point is being able to tell if the $125 electronic speed board needs to be replaced in my $300 router because of rpm fluctuations. I'll stick with what I know. I can buy both bearings and the switch for less than $25 from Porter Cable. I'm sure I could source the bearing for a lot less. Besides letting the brushes get so bad in a router that it damages the armature, what else can go wrong besides the armature? As long as you maintain your quality router it should never need to be replaced. I see posts talking about it all the time. Listen to your router, I assure you it will start to complain when it needs attention.

As an example, my craftsman garage door opener just all of a sudden stopped working. I disassembled it to find the main transformer had burnt the traces on the printed circuit board to the first electronic component. I'm not an electronics person by any stretch of the imagination. I checked with sears and the single board was $125. I paid $135 for the whole opener 2 years ago. The more complicated a single component is, the more possibilities it has for failure. There's my $.01 (It was $.02 before taxes)

[vtx1029]

Get the Super PID! I just got mine up and running and I can tell its going to be sweet being able to have the program adjust the speed as needed. Only downfall for the super PID is having to wait for it to ship from down under.

For feeds and speeds get G-wizzard. GWizard: A CNC Machinist's Calculator for Feeds and Speeds In the long run I think it will save you more $ then it costs in bits and better cuts.

[Orion13]

As an example, my craftsman garage door opener just all of a sudden stopped working. I disassembled it to find the main transformer had burnt the traces on the printed circuit board to the first electronic component. I'm not an electronics person by any stretch of the imagination. I checked with sears and the single board was $125. I paid $135 for the whole opener 2 years ago. The more complicated a single component is, the more possibilities it has for failure. There's my $.01 (It was $.02 before taxes)

I completely understand your keeping things simple mentality and can respect it. I wasn't worried about burning the router up though. I was worried about the end mills I spent +25 plus on a piece. It doesn't take wasting a few of those by burning them up because I had the router spinning too fast and the feed rate too slow to get the correct chip load. Like I said I'm new to all of this. I'm just drawing with mine right now. Makes a great plotter! LOL I have to move it to the garage this weekend to start cutting. I built it in my computer room since it was winter and I like the indoor temps and my power chair works better inside during the winter. Using the super-pid for me is a way to make simple for me. Once I get my feed rates per bit dialed in then it will be in my gcode when i generate it and I won't have to think about it past that. With the meds I take any manual steps I can take out is a plus. I appreciate your insight and opinion though.



Orion
Sent using Tapatalk HD

[cletero]

How has the router been running with that speed control? Any issues so far? I have the same exact control which I bought sometime ago and was planning on buying that same porter cable router, I wonder since some people do not recommend using speed controls (unless it's super PID).

Any idea on what's the lowest speed you got from it?

[vtx1029]

How has the router been running with that speed control? Any issues so far? I have the same exact control which I bought sometime ago and was planning on buying that same porter cable router, I wonder since some people do not recommend using speed controls (unless it's super PID).

Any idea on what's the lowest speed you got from it?

Other speed controllers will cause you to loose torque when lowering the rpm. You can control the RPM of your router with the super pid from 5,000-30,000 rpm