I will be cutting ABS/Polycarbonate hybrid plastic, which is roughly 1/8 inch thick. I believe I need a variable speed miller / router / spindle, so that I can experiment to find the best spinning speed and movement speed combo for my projects. I estimate this will be 10,000-15,000 RPM.
Ive been recommended single or double flute endmills. I would like the smallest endmill realistically possible, as well as a V carving endmill (the one that’s a cone shaped bit).
I dont think I need it to be watercooled. An air blower would be helpful, to blow away scraps.
Dewalt, Carbine, Makita, can any of you recommend me a specific spindle that should work for me? If possible I would greatly appreciate links, as the only makita I found that might work so far disappeared from amazon recently.
I’ve not done enough plastic cutting to give you a recommendation, but I can give you a bit of info.
There are specialty bits for cutting plastics. Their geometry is different than standard end mills. They likely will outperform standard end mills cutting plastic, but unfortunately they are expensive.
The DW660 does not have a speed control, but speed control boxes can be purchased and are relatively cheap. You would probably lose more torque with a box vs. a built-in speed control, but you gain the ability to change the spindle speed without pausing the cut. In addition the minimum rpm is likely lower than the built-in speed controls. The DW660 is the lightest choice and it comes with both 1/8" and 1/4’" collets.
The Makita RT0701CX7 has the built-in speed control. It comes stock with only a 1/4" collet, so you will need to purchase an after market 1/8" collet. Ryan sell them in his store. The listed minimum rpm is 10,000.
The Carbide router is a clone of the Makita with a longer cord. In addition to the 1/4" stock collet, the Carbide router includes precision 1/4" and 1/8" collets. It ships with no extras, so it does not include the base plate. The base plate is required for the LowRider, but is not needed for the Primo. The minimum rpm is listed at 12k, but I tested mine and found at the lowest setting (no load) it ran at 8,600 rpm.
The DWP611 is the heaviest router and includes a speed control, though the minimum rpm listed at 16,000. It has a built-in light which some people really like. It comes with a 1/4" collet, and Ryan sells a 1/8" collet in his store.
Ryan has created mounts for the DW660 and the Makita/Carbide routers. The only DWP611 Primo mount I’m aware of is this one on Thingiverse.. If you go beyond this small circle of routers, you likely have to design your own mount or use the Burly mounting plate and a Burly mount.
Measured weights not including the cord:
DW660 is 2.6 lbs.
Makita RT0701C is 3.1 lbs.
DWP611 is 3.3 lbs.
Edit to add links. I just did a quick search on Amazon:
With that it looks to me like the Carbide will be the best option. Its the cheapest with variable RPM, it has a 1/8" collet. My final question for you is that you said the carbide was able to achieve 8600RPM with no load. Will it also be able to run this slow with a load?
I have no idea if 8,600 is typical for the lowest setting. I just ran an RPM check for all the settings so that I could build a table matching settings to RPM. I’ve had no problems with my Carbide router, but I don’t have a huge number of hours on it. I changed to the Carbide from the DW660 when I upgraded to the Primo. You do have to pay shipping for the Carbide router which you don’t if you have a Prime account and purchase from Amazon, which makes it a bit less of a deal.
In theory the precision 1/4" collet that comes with the Carbide router is better than the stock 1/4" collet. It should have less runout (orbital wiggle). Since Carbide ships both with the router, I ran some cutting comparisons (boring holes) just after I got the router and found that the holes using the precision collet were just a bit tighter.
I also notice the DW660 is 120V at 5 amps, which is about 0.7 horsepower. The Makita was 1.25, and I imagine the carbide is likely also 1.25, although it neither provides amps nor horsepower as a stat
I was not disciplined starting out (still not) with feeds and speeds. As a result I struggled with this aspect of CNC cutting. Most of my learning is from YouTube and other internet sites. The best information I found for hobby class CNC feeds and speeds was for the Shapeoko. Tables like this one, or all the speeds and feeds that Winston Moy mentions on his channel when doing his various projects. So I “upgraded” to one of the routers they were using in their speeds and feeds table. I find their settings a good starting point. I have to dial back the DOC and the speed some from their values. This is in part because I built my Primo to handle 2" foam and therefore it has a higher Z working height than recommended.
I don’t notice a huge difference in cutting between the Carbide and the DW660. I never felt the DW660 was under powered even though it has less horsepower. I expect the Carbide horsepower to be similar to the Makita. It was mention in a couple of places that the Carbide router was built in the same factory as the Makita, but I’m not sure how reliable that information is.
The solution consists of an arduino nano interfaced with an RPM sensor added to the DW660 and a PWM AC controller board to provide PID control of the DW660.
Here is an interesting discussion started by someone who has used three different spindle options: the Makita, the DW660, and a 500W spindle. He found the spindle underpowered, but maybe your material choice makes that okay These spindles are much quieter than routers. Also there you would likely need to purchase 1/4" and 1/8" ER11 collets since the ones listed are all metric. This is a cheap fix at $10. And I don’t know of a Primo mount for this spindle yet, but you can use the Burly mounting plate and a Burly mount.
I’m glad to know you actually use one of these. I remember when they came out, there were a few questions about whether they had the same speed control as the makita, that would maintain the speed, or if it just set the free air speed like most cheap routers. The idea was that maybe ditching the feedback control was part of how they got the price down. That’s what kept me from buying one.
