What spindle and endmills should I get?

Collets hold the bit into the router. Without a 1/8" collet, you will not be able to use 1/8" shank end mills. I’ll fix the Makita link.

Is the dial on the top the RPM control or torque control? I know on a drill, the dial controls torque, not speed.

It controls spindle speed.

Does the carbide require an external speed controller?

The Carbide does not require an external speed controller. It is clone of the Makita…same dimensions and the same features.

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.

Ill take a look at the DW660. What speed controller did you use?

I used this one. There are much cheaper ones including the one from Harbor Freight. I had no trouble with it.

What made you switch from the carbide to the dewalt with a speed controller?

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.

I haven’t got a lot of cutting experience on it yet, but the preliminary testing I’ve done with the RPM management solution described in the PID -Hardware needed for a software fix here on the forums, based on this hardware from the V1 shop has been very positive.

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.

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What are your thoughts about this spindle?

CNC Spindle Kit 500W Air Cooled 0.5kw Milling Motor + Spindle Speed Power Converter + 52mm Clamp + 13pcs ER11 Collet + 10pcs CNC Bits

What kind of cutting can this do? Looks like all in one package.

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.

I just purchased Makita from HD online today. It will be delivered on 21st. I am in no hurry though.

I’m looking for this in the store but cannot find it. Can you please help? I must be blind!

Here is a link: https://shop.v1engineering.com/products/makita-1-8-collet.

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FWIW, the link you provided to the Carbide router says shipping is free in the US and Canada.

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