A New Spindle

For a while now, I have been debating the stoutness of the spindle motor that came with the OZO.  It is very quite and high speed but seems to lack enough torque to really bite down and make deeper cuts.  The last thing I cut with the machine, oh so long ago now, was thin plywood.  I tried to cut the whole thickness in one pass, and while the spindle managed the chore it screeched and whined and complained the whole time.  Continuing to use it in that capacity would eventually wear it out and break it.  I decided to save it back for finer task, like circuit board milling (probably what it was designed for) and move on to something with a little more guts.

After researching many CNC forums and DIY build write ups I decided on this.

bosch

Its the Bosch PR20EVSK, about $110 at the time of this writing from Amazon.  Turns out it was also available in my local hardware store for about the same price, so next time I will have a look there first.  It seems very capable, adjustable speed, which was important to me.  This tool has a 1.0 HP (Max. Tool Output) — 5.6 Amp Motor -35,000 RPM.  It also has a slow startup and reports from other people using them on there machines are positive. Almost all of the negative feedback I found about the router centered on the quick tool change button slipping.  People where having to file down wrenches and such to get at the nut on the collet shaft in order to change bits.  I am happy to report that my router came with the xtra wrench all ready in the box, and so far the quick change button works, though I have only cycled a few bits.

Best of all Precise Bits has a precision collet set for this router.  These have lower runout and also will take 1/8 shank bits, important because I have a small collection of these.  Keep in mind the precision collet set, if you get all the pieces, will set you back about as much as the router itself.

Of course the obvious next step in this process is mounting it to the machine.  Those details however I will save for the next post.

Here is a link for a 1/4 inch jacobs chuck adaptor that will fit this router for around 30.00  Collet Set

Leave a Reply