I have a DeWalt palm router (I’ll get the model number later). It has a collet, not a chuck, so it can take 1/4″ shank bits only. Speed change bits don’t work. Just round-shank router bits.
I ran the endmill into a bolt head yesterday, and that pretty well ruined it. So, while I am waiting for another 1/4″ endmill to arrive, I am casting about trying to figure out how to continue working.
Regular router bits are not very good at drilling.
I have been trying to figure out how to get my router to accept 1/8″ bits, because Roto-Zip bits are widely available and very cheap, so I wouldn’t mind if I ate one on a bolt head, y’know?
A lot of DIY CNC’ers use these palm routers, but most buy either the Porter Cable 7310 or the Bosch Colt (PR20EVSK). SO I can find replacement collets for these routers, but not for my DeWalt. So it turns out that Porter Cable and DeWalt are owned by the same company. And the 7310 and my router seem to have the exact same outer casing, so I have every reason to believe that a 7310 collet will fit the DeWalt. But I am not sure that they are exactly the same, and replacement collets are not exactly cheap.
So while I was at the hardware store, I found out an important piece of information: The Bosch Colt and the Porter Cable 7310 can use the same collet nut! w00t! This opens my options considerably.
I need to take in the collet nut from my router to see if it will fit the other two.
Also, I found a Roto-Zip attachment that converts a 1/4″ shank into a 1/8″ shank. Nice!
I also bought a 1/4″ router bit with a 1″ blade, so at least I can do the profiling I need to do.
In all, it was a successful trip to the hardware store.
And I may be on the road to using 1/8″ bits, which means I can start thinking PCB. Or detail work.