Hey everyone, in the process of building a Lowrider v3. I have a dewalt 618 wondering if that will work or if I really need to get a lesser HP router. Amazon was out of 76oz steppers so I went with 84oz so I have access to a little more torque. I’d rather save the money buying a new lesser powerful router and instead upgrade to aluminum plates or something of the sort, But if its going to ultimately be an extreme headache on the integrity of the machine I’ll find another option.
The weight of the router should not be a problem. There is a video of the LR 2 weightlifting. 
You have to try to find a router mount, I am not sure it has been done yet.
The Lowrider will handle the weight, but more weight will have at least some impact on acceleration. I’ve not seen a Lowrider mount for the DW618, so you will need to design your own. This is a non-trivial task for the LR3. While I’m not sure without looking at the geometry, the larger router will likely cost you some working area. Finally, 1/8" router bits are commonly used on V1 machines, so you will need to see if there is a collet solution for 1/8" router bits for the DW618, or go in with the understanding that you will be “stuck” with 1/4" or 1/2" shank bits.
1/4" to 1/8" collet adapter: Amazon.com
This looks like a better adapter than I’ve seen in the past. There are two potential issues with adapters. First, they are a potential source of runout (wobble). Second, they usually cost you some working height. If you are using this adapter, I suggest you run some tests to determine your runout.
I’ve used adapters like that and encountered issues with both accuracy and the bit coming loose. I’ve had no issues once I swapped to a 1/8 collet on my makita.
Unfortunately, a Dewalt 618’s collet assembly uses a 1/2" collet as a shaft-mounted permanent collet, and the 1/4" collet is actually a reducer that clamps in the 1/2" collet. I didn’t see a 1/8" collet as a replacement option of the 1/4" one when I was looking online for one.
You don’t want to stack collet reducers…
1/4" collet options do exist, and I use quite a few of them. I have several 1/8" cutters with 1/4" shafts, and even have a 1/16" cutter with a quarter inch shaft.
So it can be done, but the 1/8" shaft cutters are cheaper and more convenient.
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