I am currently using a Makita RT0701C as my spindle, but I miss not having it readily available as a conventional trim router. Its becoming a PITA to remove it from the MPCNC frequently. Also the rubber strain relief boot on the power cord annoys the hell out of me when its mounted.
I originally planned to get a Dewalt DW660, but when I was strolling through my local HF, I saw their cut-off tool, which they compare to the DW660. The HF tool is 3.5 amps, compared to dewalt, at 5amps. But at $24.99, I just might get it. I don’t think the power will be an issue for now, if I need more power, I could just remount my Makita. The DW660 also has the annoying strain relief boot that Makita has, but I don’t feel like voiding the warranty by cutting it off. I’m not gonna worry about voiding the HF warranty, because its so cheap anyway.
In a purely vain sense, I just can’t bring myself to buy a yellow colored tool, it would clash severly with all my Makita teal tools. I wouldn’t hesitate to camoflage the HF cut-off tool with black spray paint.
LOL.
If anyone has an thoughts or experience with the HF cut-off tool, I’d love to hear about them.
i was thinking of maybe getting the HF tool as well, i did find a mount for it on Cults, but it is for the Burly model and would need to be adapted for Primo. my big question would be how it compares in size. would it have the full range of motion (like the Makita your using now) or would it loose a little (like the DW660)?
I’m not familiar with Cults…do you have a link for that? I was afraid I’d have to design my own mount. But if there is already one designed for the Burly, I’d like to take a look at it. I haven’t seen one on Thingiverse – or just haven’t used the right keyword search.
cults is just another website like Thingiverse, i like to check both when I’m looking for something really specific (actually i have 3 big ones i check and another 5 little ones). probably because i’m lazy and don’t like to design my own stuff lol
Anything will work. The two main downsides are potentially large run out, and/or low brush life. Power wise it should be okay, you can hear if you are pushing it too hard.
My experience with Harbor Freight power tools is that you definitely get what you pay for. Now that being said, you can buy 3 of those for the cost of a Dewalt. My day job is as an AV installer and I’ve had a few instances when mounting TV’s under people’s covered porches outdoors that instead of going with a $3500 Sunbrite, they just get a $300 TCL and replace it when it inevitably goes bad.
Oh I’m familiar with the brush life on HF tools. A while back, the first angle grinder I ever used was a HF. The brushes lasted two days. It included extra brushes which I installed just to confirm. Sure enough, it worked. But I returned it anyway.
I got the Harbor Freight CutOut tool. It came with both a 1/4 inch and 1/8 inch collet. So far so good. I used the mount that Atom posted a link to above…the mount fits well.
I took apart the plastic housing, thinking I could just mount the motor, kinda like those cheap spindles you see on Aliexpress, but the housing is what keeps the motor together. Oh well…
It seems to get the job done. And now I have my Makita back as a regular trim router.
I do like the harbor freight Bauer makita clone… bought it for my new lowrider but had to put it in my mpcnc when my dewalt blew up. The variable speed is nice and it’s far less shrill than the dewalt. Just get the $10 warranty.
I just returned the cut-out tool to Harbor Freight. I noticed black soot staining around the vent holes, so I didn’t want to continue using it. Thankfully, HF didn’t give me any hassles in returning it.
So I reinstalled my Makita into the MPCNC. I now have justification for buying the 18v LXT version of the Makita trim router, which I’ve been wanting to get for a long time. My birthday is in a few weeks, so I’ll get it as a gift to myself, LOL.
