I need to drill a bunch of 3/32" holes with my Shapeoko, and the research I’ve done says use a drill bit instead of a flat end mill. My question is what do I need to do to get the drill bit to work with it, since the collet is 1/4". Links to appropriate products are appreciated!
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Unfortunately, drill bits aren’t suited to spinning at the speeds of a trim router.
To make 3/32" holes the best thing to do is to use a smaller endmill and cut them as pockets.
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Depending on the application, it might help to spot the holes with a v-bit and come back with a real drill to make the holes.
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From the other side of the coin…
I do a LOT of small hole drilling on my Shapeoko. First I purchased some extra collets (for my machine, I have 2mm, 4mm, 6mm (because metric cutters are CHEAP), 1/8" 1/4" and 3/8"). Next I purchased some 1/8" shank carbide drills sets from ebay.
The drills average about $4 a set of 10 (or 40 cents each). I have from 0.05mm to 3.1mm. Yes they are metric, but I can usually find something that is close enough for my work, since the drills are in 0.004" steps. For 3/32 you can pick 2.3mm = 0.0905 or 2.4mm = 0.0944.
PS I also use a Fusion 360 Deep Hole Drilling cycle…since these drills are pretty fragile. (depth per rotation: 0.003" to 0.010" depending on the diameter)
To date (2 years plus), I have only broken ONE drill and that was because I didn’t take it out of the router and it got caught on a rag during a daily wipe down… like I said, fragile…
In the future, now that I recently purchased a 3/8 collet, I will buy a High Speed Balanced keyless drill chuck with a 3/8" straight shank for drilling hole from 1/8 to 1/4" (they are made to run at 25,000 rpm). But they are $$$$
A word of caution. I only use carbide (stubby, or micro length) because using a long drill in a high speed router IS very dangerous.
Ebay Example: (I don’t buy from anyone ONE seller:)
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Does it make a difference that I’m drilling into plywood? I didn’t mention that in my original post, I should have though. Sorry.
Nope! Deep holes may be a problem with short drills…
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@RichCournoyer I think you have a Makita Router in your Shapeoko. Would you mind sharing your source for the numerous collets you have purchased, many thanks.
Same place that Will mentions… ((except for the 3/8"))
http://elairecorp.com/makitaroutercollets.html
3/8 Collet I picked up from eBay:
Seller: toolpartspro
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Thanks Richard, I should have looked.
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