[ajayre]

Hello, sorry if I put this in the wrong place.

A few years ago I moved from the UK to the UK and brought with me my desktop CNC machine for cutting wood.

The machine has a Ridgid R2400 trim/laminate router and precision ER20 collets from precisebits.com.

I am in the process of setting the machine back up and I am stuck on what to do about the router.

The router requires 60Hz. I can get a work-site step-down transformer for it but I have heard that if it is 50Hz in then it is 50Hz out and this can lead to the motor in the router overheating.

So, looking at the precisebits website the collets I have are compatible with the Bosch Colt, which is the Bosch GKF600 in the UK. Great! But then I read that the quality of these routers has declined since 2011 and precision collets can only be successfully used in less than 50% of them now. Sigh.

Are there any trim/laminate routers available in the UK that are of good quality and accept ER20 collets?

Or should I just resign myself to the fact that I will need to get a completely new router and new precision collets?

Any recommendations for a trim/laminate router with low runout?

Perhaps the Ridgid R2400 was sold as something else in the UK? The AEG MF1400KE looks very similar and seems to be available in Germany but the price is staggering in comparison.

What would you do, considering I was hoping to limit further investment in my machine as much as I can?

Thanks, Andy

[wizard]

Hello, sorry if I put this in the wrong place.

A few years ago I moved from the UK to the UK and brought with me my desktop CNC machine for cutting wood.

I'm assuming here you mean US to UK

The machine has a Ridgid R2400 trim/laminate router and precision ER20 collets from precisebits.com.

I am in the process of setting the machine back up and I am stuck on what to do about the router.

The router requires 60Hz. I can get a work-site step-down transformer for it but I have heard that if it is 50Hz in then it is 50Hz out and this can lead to the motor in the router overheating.

You can run into trouble that varies with the design of the motor. Some are rated for 50/60 Hz others aren't and some just don't seem to know. It can be a significant factor in an squirel cage induction motor but not so much of a problem in a universal motor

So, looking at the precisebits website the collets I have are compatible with the Bosch Colt, which is the Bosch GKF600 in the UK. Great! But then I read that the quality of these routers has declined since 2011 and precision collets can only be successfully used in less than 50% of them now. Sigh.

Are there any trim/laminate routers available in the UK that are of good quality and accept ER20 collets?

Can't say but then again I'm in the USA. As for the Bosch Colt I've never heard of the quality issue you allude to. It would seem to me that a spindle that doesn't conform to a standard 50% of the time wouldn't hold cutters well at all 50% of the time.

Or should I just resign myself to the fact that I will need to get a completely new router and new precision collets?

Or just run your current router until it fails. This could be months, years or even hours depending upon how hard you run the machine. most routers of this type have universal motors so I'm not sure you can hurt the unit much. If True (I have no data on the colt) you could run the router on DC.

Any recommendations for a trim/laminate router with low runout?

Perhaps the Ridgid R2400 was sold as something else in the UK? The AEG MF1400KE looks very similar and seems to be available in Germany but the price is staggering in comparison.

What would you do, considering I was hoping to limit further investment in my machine as much as I can?

Thanks, Andy

Seriously, don't invest in it at all now. Run the current router until it dies. Further i'd save up for a real router spindle for that day in the future when the motor dies or you decide to upgrade or build a new machine.

[ajayre]

Wizard,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I think you are right. I will give it a try on 50Hz.

FYI the information about the quality of the Bosch Colt is here: Bosch Colt TIR Measurement

[wizard]

Wizard,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I think you are right. I will give it a try on 50Hz.

The one thing I wonder about is if this unit has an electronic speed control. 50 HZ might cause trouble with that if it isn't well designed.

FYI the information about the quality of the Bosch Colt is here: Bosch Colt TIR Measurement

That is an extremely sad bit of reading there. The last time I read anything about the Bosch Colt (admittedly years ago) it was considered one of the better small routers. It is too bad that Bosch has let quality slip for what amounts to at least a couple of years now. Doesn't really say much for Bosch if they can't get the taper cut in a consistent manner.

I'm actually happy that you posted this because I was actually thinking about another Bosch router purchase. I already have a larger one I use for manual woodworking, which has been nice, but that was purchased a long time ago. Bosch should really be embarrassed here, but I guess it is common practice to hook the market these days with a good product then let quality slip to rake in the profits. Sucks really.