Router or Pillar Drill ?

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electrosys

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I want to open up the grooves on my washboard slides a little, to allow me to use a thick sheet of perspex I already have in stock - how best to proceed ?

Difficult to justify the cost of a router for just one small job (although it would be a nice toy to have) - is putting a router bit in a pillar drill an absolute no-no ?
 
Not a no-no, but pillar drills are too slow to use router bits to any effect (unless yours goes better than 10,000rpm) My router runs at 24,000 rpm plus. How about a circular
saw bolted upside down to the bench and some good guides/fences? Are the slots open ended?
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DownWest said:
Not a no-no, but pillar drills are too slow to use router bits to any effect (unless yours goes better than 10,000rpm) My router runs at 24,000 rpm plus. How about a circular
saw bolted upside down to the bench and some good guides/fences? Are the slots open ended?
A
Click to expand...
The pillar drill has speeds 550-2550 rpm, so is in a different league entirely. I would imagine that the vibration at such slow speeds would probably cause the chuck to fall out ...

Thanks for that info.

Yep - looks like some form of sawing (slots are open-ended) is indicated - either that or an el cheapo router.

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Just seen other posts - many thanks - yes, an angle grinder alongside a guide strip would do it. Trim with a chisel. Brilliant.
 
An angle grinder :D:D:D Just take your time with a very sharp chisel . If you cut along your line with the grain ( not too deep or the wood will split ) and then chop down like you are clearing waste for a hinge it wont take to long and be a nicer job .
 
Cuchilo said:
An angle grinder :D:D:D Just take your time with a very sharp chisel . If you cut along your line with the grain ( not too deep or the wood will split ) and then chop down like you are clearing waste for a hinge it wont take to long and be a nicer job .
Click to expand...
Yup - I know it sounds barbaric - it would have burned the wood, sure, but a lick with some glasspaper would have hidden those sins ....

I say "would have", because at Wisbech's Sunday market this morning - by complete coincidence there was an el cheapo router (complete) for a tenner - and well, I couldn't pass up a bargain !
 
I just kanckered a cheap router cutting a 12 foot long slot across a floor. The original baords were pretty thick. I didn't encounter any knots or nails and the router is now junk. The spindle clamp is defunct.

My £40 SDS drill spat it's innards out after 15 minutes of concrete drilling.

I won't buy cheap tools again.
 
I think perhaps you tried to cut too deep and forced the machine Phil? Better to progressively deepen the cut - no router likes being buried in timber.

My cheapo has been going for years, did all the moulding on my old boat, all in teak and mahogany, likewise on this one, and still going fine. What I do find is that the bits, even TCT ones, can blunt off quite quickly making the machine work too hard as well as overheating and burning the work.
 
Didn't have a choice on the depth of cut as the spindle clamp let the bit progressively work down. By the time you see the difference it's bitten too deep.
It was rubbish. It's gone.
 
You can use a router bit on a pillar drill.I've done it before and it works well providing the bit is sharp.The only problem might come across is the chuck coming out of it's taper.Just tap the chuck in to make sure it's tight and don't force the bit into the cut.
 
30boat said:
The only problem might come across is the chuck coming out of it's taper.Just tap the chuck in to make sure it's tight and don't force the bit into the cut.
Click to expand...

If you haven't got a drawbar on a chuck (hint : your pillar drill won't have) then subjecting the bit to a sideways force will cost you an eye one day.

Boo2
 
The spindle bearings on a standard pillar drill are not designed to take sideways loads, router bearings are. The bit needs to be held in a collet chuck, it could work loose in a drill chuck.
 
Lakesailor said:
I just kanckered a cheap router cutting a 12 foot long slot across a floor. The original baords were pretty thick. I didn't encounter any knots or nails and the router is now junk. The spindle clamp is defunct.

My £40 SDS drill spat it's innards out after 15 minutes of concrete drilling.

I won't buy cheap tools again.
Click to expand...

For things I use infrequently cheap does fine, just don't push it too hard, my SDS drill is nearly 15 years old and cost a lot less than £40 and makes hole in almost anything, and my house is made from no fines concrete. I have used it several times with 4 inch diamond drills making holes for extractor fans.

My cheap routers have been running almost as long and as long as you don't force things work fine. I have just used one to cut several matching pieces of plywood for a plinth for my new windlass, no problems, other than my lack of skill.
 
Boo2 said:
If you haven't got a drawbar on a chuck (hint : your pillar drill won't have) then subjecting the bit to a sideways force will cost you an eye one day.

Boo2
Click to expand...
My pillar drill/milling machine has a draw bar but not for the chuck.
I usually wear goggles.You have a point though,it's better to use a router.
 
If it flings the bit out, it might well do so at a goggle-penetrating speed. A collet once broke in one of my routers and the bit escaped and penetrated the harwood workpiece a good inch! Scared the bejasus out of me.
 
Amulet said:
If it flings the bit out, it might well do so at a goggle-penetrating speed. A collet once broke in one of my routers and the bit escaped and penetrated the harwood workpiece a good inch! Scared the bejasus out of me.
Click to expand...

Anyone interested in having their bejasus scared out of them, try using a spindle moulder.
 
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