I just noticed that when I bought the smaller end mills they didn’t have a 1/4" shank. Which means I need a 1/4" collet reducer or something than… Im just not sure whats the code for that or name of them. They do have small collets for this right?
You can get other collets for the Dewalt 611 from PreciseBits:
http://www.precisebits.com/products/equipment/dewalt_611_kits.asp?tsPT=!!!Dewalt_611!!!Kit!!!PG!!!
It may be a little more money than you were looking to spend, but I assume you are looking for an 1/8 inch collet. There may be other solutions/vendors but PreciseBits do sell very good products.
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Elaire also makes aftermarket collets. See the wiki for a discussion of this: http://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Spindle_Options
Best bang for your buck. Allows you to use 1/8 bits.
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Yes, those work but a proper collet will avoid increasing the runout of the router. Adapters like this increase the runout.
The collets (and collet nuts) that come with routers are not in the same class as those used for machining. One can improve the quality of their cuts by using a machining quality collet and collect nut.
While a router itself doesn’t have the low runout (itself) as a spindle, a router with a machining quality collet and collet nut, particularly when they are new, can often come pretty close.
Machining quality collets (and collet nuts) are not expensive and have known runout characteristics. Chose a grade that is better than 0.001"… but no need to go crazy and get the finest.
IMHO, got for a few machining grade collets and get a matching improved quality collet nut.
@zymurgy, myself and many others can speak the high quality of the PrecisionBits collets and collet nuts. They also make nice sets. @zymurgy pointed to one of them.
mark
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Just to be clear — I’ve bought a pair of Elaire Corp. collets for the Makita, and will attest to their quality, precision and accuracy (link to the testing which the guy who first had a set made on the Shapeoko wiki). I’m sure their Dewalt collets are just as good.
The Precise Bits stuff has a good reputation, and I certainly respect how the principals conduct themselves (they freely share information on the forums and are forthright about their commercial affiliation), but I haven’t bought any of their stuff yet. In addition to reducing runout, their ER-style collets have better clamping over a wider range of diameters, and afford more convenient tool changes, esp. if one invests in a matching nut for each collet.
We went through the adapters over on the Shapeoko forums back when the project was first starting out — they work okay, but add an additional point of potential problems / failure, so should be avoided if budget/circumstances allows. (there should be links to Forum discussions documenting this on the Shapeoko wiki)
I bought some cheap adapters to use with my Rigid trim router I had on my Shapeoko 1 and had issues with the bits pulling out.
I bought the Precise Bits collets for my Rigid trim router and they didn’t fit very well (a known issue - Rigid changed the way they made the routers) and the people at Precise Bits let me return them, no questions asked.
I bought the Precise Bits collets for my DeWalt DWP611 on my Shapeoko 3 and they work great. I recommend them.
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