I bought a new Shapeoko and Dewalt 611 to do some aluminum machining. I have previously been cutting wood on another Shapeoko 3 with the Porter Cable 450 router. I’ve noticed that on the Dewalt the collet nut gets very, very hot after a few minutes of machining, too hot to touch until it cools down for a few minutes. Has anyone else noticed this? The Porter Cable would get somewhat hot after a very long job, but not like this. That was in wood and running at full speed (since the speed isn’t adjustable on those). I’ve only run the Dewalt at 16000 RPM, and only cut aluminum with it so far. Just wondering if there is an issue with the router or if that is normal.
Maybe check your feeds/speeds, it could be heat transferring from the end mill to the collet due to rubbing. Also cutting aluminum are you using any sort of coolant? What bit, speeds, feeds, DOC, and what alloy(e.g. 6061, 7075, 2024, temper?).
Dan
It may be heat coming through the end mill, but the end mill itself doesn’t seem to be getting as hot. I’ve tried a number of different parameters. I setup an air/coolant system which keeps the bit very cool (until it chipped, but that’s another story), but the router collet seems just as hot. I may do a test to see how hot it gets just running with no load.
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Please check the bearings in your trim router and that your collet is in good condition — in at least one instance this was caused by a cracked housing.
Mine will get this hot when cutting wood, but only after a very long, aggressive job (multiple hours with 5 minute breaks every 45 minutes or so, running at “2” on the dewalt dial, with a 1/8" end mill in maple)
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I bought the DeWalt from Lowe’s so I took it back and picked up a Makita from Home Depot instead. I really wanted the lower speed option anyway. It’s also $40 cheaper, so that’s nice.
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