I’m on about day 9 with my shapeoko XXL and have cut a few small pieces. Last night while doing a very short 1.5 minute cut with a 1/4" end mill followed by a 30 second cut with an 1/8" end mill I noticed the collet was really hot. When I went to change tools it was almost enough to burn me. It cooled off quick, but it got me wondering if something might be off with my spindle. This is the first time I’ve changed tools immediately after cutting, so it may have been getting hot the whole time.
What are other people’s experiences with this? I found a few threads, but they were geared towards people cutting for very long periods of time.
There is a tremendous amount of energy exerted on a router bit during cutting. Even small cuts generate energy and that is translated into heat. Feel the body of the router and see if that is hot as well. If the router is not all that hot I would not worry about it. The router will heat up with use but there is an internal fan that keeps the router cool but still warm. I have a Dewalt but the CC router probably sends the air down towards the spoil board. Take your bit out and collet off and turn the router on and see if you feel the air movement. Just be careful not to touch the rotating spindle. The down draft keeps chips from being sucked into the router. The intake is on top of the router through the vents. Check to see if your vents are clogged. If you use dust extraction it is most likely to be clean. If you do not have dust extraction the dust in the air can be sucked in through the fan.
Most likely not an issue but CC Router owners can chime in.
I don’t believe the endmills should be getting that hot, there is either a lot of rubbing happening (poor feeds and speeds) and/or the router is getting hotter than usual. I push my Makita router pretty hard and haven’t see it’s aluminum body get hotter than 20C on these cool spring days. During tool changes, endmills are warm if anything.
What material are you cutting and what’s your cutting parameters (speeds & feeds)? I may also recommend you contact Carbide3D, they can be helpful especially if the router is defective.
I agree with Dan in that it is likely incorrect feeds and speeds for the material you are cutting. Can you share your parameters and what material you are cutting?
feeds and speeds are incorrect, causing thermal energy to build up in the endmill as it rubs against the stock including not getting shed into chips
a flaw in the router where something is rubbing higher up in the mechanism and getting transferred down
Determine which it is — for the former, adjust feeds and speeds and use a testing technique — for the latter, let us know at support@carbide3d.com and we’ll do our best to work this out with you.
First cut (12 Holes):
Boring Op1
1/4" EM
18000 RPM
30 IPM(0.00083 IPT)
0.04 Pitch
MDF 0.78" Deep
Boring Op2
1/4" EM
18000 RPM
30 IPM(0.00083 IPT)
0.04 Pitch
MDF .75" Counter Bore .1" Deep
Tool Change
Second Cut(8 Holes):
Boring Op3
1/8" EM
20500 RPM
30 IPM(0.00073 IPT)
0.03 Pitch
0.3" Deep in Baltic Birch Plywood
Both of these are slower than I usually run in both materials, but I was having issues with these holes being round and on center.
Edit: I just went into the garage to double check my speed on the 1/8" EM, so I decided to run turn the spindle on for 30 seconds and see where it got. It was already quite hot, but not burning me. Ambient temp was maybe 45-50*.