You might be familiar with the native size for Makita’s and Carbide3D’s most popular routers for the Shapeoko: 3/8". It requires a special collet (which is actually just a tapered split collet), which I have: https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/763619-3
Are you thinking what I’m thinking? I really want to cut off most of the shank and fit this into the C3D router permanently. It may end up killing the bearings in the router prematurely, but considering the price I think it may be worth it. It’s only rated for 10K, but other than the danger of it shooting my eye out, can you think of a good reason not to at least try this setup?
This basically turns the router into a disposable commodity item - which is kind of is already - instead of the primary user interface for tool insertion. Anyone who has gotten a Makita collet stuck has been on the lookout for an alternative.
More than just about changing tools though, I have to assume that the increased spinning mass would probably help more than hinder. Looking for others’ opinions on this.
@WillAdams That first link was me asking far dumber questions earlier this year. Now that I finally found the Amana adapter, which I could not find for some reason before, I think I’m going to try it. The other link basically confirms that I’m not crazy. What a relief!
One of the unique advantages of the Shapeoko 4 is that it is trivial to raise the entire XYZ assembly by turning taller standoffs. Because of some quality control issues, I haven’t actually finished assembling mine, so I might later find that this isn’t the case. I hope not!
I received the Amano Tool ER20 adapter/extension today, and it is pretty much everything I was hoping for and more!
I’ll have to cut off about 63-ish millimeters from the shank (that’s about 2-1/2") for it to work with the CCR (or Makita), but I expected that. It was a surprise that it is as compact as it is! Part of that is the blind bottom of the bore, which is very rough from a large drill point. This keeps the overall mass quite low, since it doesn’t need a coolant-through bore or tool-setting screw at the bottom. With the included 1/4" ER20 collet, the mass is 181 grams, however I suspect it will be around 110-ish grams after the shank is cut down.
I’ll have more photos once I cut off the excess shank, but here it is after unpacking. Bic pen for scale. Also shown is the required Makita 3/8" collet, which does not use the 3/8" cylindrical extension of most other collets. It doesn’t need that part for 3/8" tools.
I’m curious if you have any regrets or if you would have done anything differently. How are your bearings holding up, for starters?
My intention is to eventually turn longer standoffs than the 40mm ones that came with the Shapeoko 4. This chuck adds coincidentally 40mm to the length, so I’ll probably make the new ones 80mm or longer if I determine a need for it.
No regrets…my Makita will be 5 years old on 7/28, and she is still tight…(isn’t that a Cheap Trick song…)…I normally use a vise OR my 4th axis to hold my work, so this isn’t something I use very often. Having said that it does flex …a lot… (fine for cutting wood…but NOT metal…and that’s something I can live with)
My cost: Holder $15 (for two of them)
Collets: 1/32 - 3/8 (by 32): $17
Pretty felt lined box to hold everything…Free
My intention is to have as little stick-out as possible. Can you do my a favor and measure the minimum shank length required for the Makita? I may upgrade to it someday and I’d like to know how long the shank needs to be to bottom out in the Makita.
I have cut the shank down to 30mm and the mass is now 142g with the included 1/4” ER20 collet. That’s a bit more than I predicted. Overall, it adds 41mm-ish to the stickout, which is not insignificant.
However, with access to an infinite range of diameters I am no longer limited to the handful of Makita collets available. Probably more importantly, I can set tool stickout off of the machine, like a real CNC mill. Having two of these makes a lot of sense.
