Collet Vs. Collet Adapter for Makita Router?

Mostly Printed CNC - MPCNC Advice
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Hi everybody,

I finally got my Makita RT0700C that will be mounted to my future mpcnc, once I finally finish the torsion box and assembly. The router comes with a 6 and 8mm collet.
Now, most European milling bits have a shaft diameter of 3 or 4mm.

Do you recommend getting the appropriate collets or are the more widely-available collet size adapters - for instance from 6 to 4mm - fine to use?

The collets are kinda hard to find, it seems. I found the 3mm one on ebay, but the 4mm one seems to be available only from a specific US manufacturer.
I don’t like to import stuff from the US any more, because import taxes are currently ludicrous and on top you often times get scammed by the delivery service, which advances the import tax for you, and each day that the package can’t get delivered, you get billed an interest rate on top.

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I’m in Canada, so my Makita came with a 1/4" collet.

I bought a package of adapters to use with 1/8" endmills, and they worked well enough. I bought the collet anyway, but I still have the adapters. I like to have fewer moving parts where I can, as it reduces the chances for something to go wrong, but so long as the adapter is reasonably well made, it should be fine.

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That totally makes sense! Thanks for your reply.
I always thought somehow that in Canada the metric system was used.

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Ive got the adapters but will someday get the colett. I have had a few slips with the adapters but overall for $6 they have been ok.

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I bought the collet Ryan offers, but got it directly from Elaire because he wasn’t offering it at this time. Worth every Euro. :slight_smile:

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Nominally, Canada uses the metric system, but the reality in many areas is that because of proximity to the USA, some things just never really got converted.

I was in elementary school during the official transition in the late 70s, and some things have been converted. Temperatures, road speed limits, etc have been changed over, but carpentry and woodworking hasn’t made much if any progress towards metric. It’s nearly impossible to buy metric drill bits, and for hardware like nuts and bolts, screws etc, you need to go to specialty supply places, as the local big box stores won’t carry much, and what they do have is outrageously expensive. Wrench and socket sets are often dual standard, but only because of the number of import cars around, I’m sure. Lumber is … weird. I can get plywood in 12mm, or 1/2". Sometimes one measure is sold as the other, which makes me crazy with the CNC, because making a dado for 12mm or 12.7mm is a different drawing, or 18mm vs 19.05mm (3/4") Now I take calipers to the Home Despot when I’m buying lumber so that I know what I’m actually getting.

So when it comes to measurements, we’re a bit schizophrenic. I still kind of understand degrees Fahrenheit, but am just young enough that I have to translate to centigrade, but I still refer to people’s height and weight in feet/inches and pounds (Again though I understand centimeters and kilograms well enough.) Car speed is still km/h except when racing, then it’s mph, because that’s what the timeslip at the track gives you. The grocery stores will have signs for produce and meat in $/lb, though the receipt will tell you grams (Because that’s what it’s actually officially sold as).

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The two issues I’ve seen come across the forum concerning adapters are:

  1. Runout (wobble) can be significant. It means less accuracy with cutting (or having to compensate) and difficulty with using smaller bits.
  2. Reduced working height. This means a lower limit on acceptable stock thickness or having to raise the legs of the MPCNC (which has downsides).

Of course these issues will be impacted by the quality and design of your adapter.

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You should carve a little guide you can keep in your pocket/wallet with common sizes on it. You could use that slick new laser setup and an unused business card…

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