All good! The main difference between a 1/4" palm/trim router like we use here and a bigger 1/2" plunge or fixed base router is the size and power. That size is referring to the largest shank of bit that it can take. Bigger bits with large profiles tend to only come in 1/2" shank because they need the strength of that shank as well as needing the torque of the much bigger router. My limited understanding is that in the past most woodworking routers were larger 1/2" versions while 1/4" trim routers were used for lighter duty things like mild roundovers and flush trimming cuts on the job site, etc.
The routers we use for CNC machines are pretty much always 1/4" shank palm/trim routers like the Makita RT0700 series youâre talking about. They have tons of power for what we need because the hobbiest CNC platforms arenât rigid enough to apply much more force than you can do by hand. As a result, we tend to take lighter cuts with simpler bits and move faster. So you might cut out a shape in 19mm plywood by making 6 passes at 4mm depth of cut each pass while by hand you might move slower and do it in 2 passes because more is annoying, or if youâre using a 1/2" router youâd hog it all out in one go but your router would be 4x the size and twice the price, etc.
I have the Makita RT0700 series router in my MPCNC and the 18V brushless version as my general âeverything elseâ handheld router. I also have a much larger Hikoki 1/2" router that Iâve used for some bigger bits, mainly either very large roundover bits as mentioned before or flattening slabs using a sled with a 2" diameter surfacing bit.
The great thing about the 1/2" router in that case is that it has tons of power and you can remove a ton of material quickly because the bits are really strong. The downside is that itâs expensive and very heavy.
So, if you donât have a router yet and arenât looking to tool up with a variety of hand/power tools of limited utility then you can safely ignore most of my suggestions about roundover bits. To do a 60mm dowel youâd need a 30mm roundover bit which is a bit large for a 1/4" shank, so youâd need a 1/2" router etc. etc. and it all gets a bit much for a single task.
I think thatâs because Iâm explaining myself very poorly and without enough context. Iâm giving a non-CNC option that is potentially easier than building out a machine with a rotary axis. I should have made that much more clear. If you follow that Stumpy Nubs video that I linked, thatâs basically what I did but using the router hand-held, rather than using it in a router table.
The thing with the CNC options is that theyâre great once theyâre going, but in my experience theyâre vastly, vastly more work to get there. If your goal is to have a hobby of building CNC machines then go nuts, itâs great fun! If your goal is to just make a single dowel because you need it for another project then holy cow is doing it on a CNC machine the hardest way you could approach it! If you think youâd also use it to make rails for a staircase, decorative table legs etc. or features that are hard to do by hand then itâs back to potentially being a great thing for a rotary axis, etc. If you were thinking about doing it commercially then maybe itâs a mix, if custom work then CNC, if needing to make bulk parts out quickly then probably not CNC, etc. Itâs all about matching the tools and process to the goals at hand!
Mostly I was hoping that someone else with 4th axis experience might dive in here and give a counterpoint because I donât know anything about them aside from having used them once or twice on a university laser engraver. I think the software tools for them get a little odd or expensive, too, but for something like making a dowel you could program the entire thing by hand quite easily, I think.
For roundovers that size youâll definitely be in the range of things that need a 1/2" shank, so youâd need a bigger router than youâd buy for CNC uses. If youâve got a local makerspace or friendly woodworker you may be able to borrow one, or they might come up 2nd hand. Definitely have a watch of that video I linked, it should give you the general rough idea of how I was approaching doing it by hand. The thing is that itâs pretty much just rounding over 4 corners of a piece of stock the right size. The first 3 corners are easy because youâve got a flat surface to rest on the router base on and follow along the edge with the bearing. The last corner is the tricky one because youâre cutting away the last of the flat surface as you go. Itâs possible, just tricky. Having the router in a table is one way to approach that. Using something like another piece the same thickness to âextendâ your surface is another way of doing it. Leaving the squares on the ends gives you a nice way to reference everything and make sure stuff lines up.
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