what to use for router head?

[alchemistAZ]

hi,
All of the DIY router plans use a dremel motor as th router head. I assume this is fine for wood but won't hold up to aluminum. I read one website that tried a couple of homedepot routers but they still weren't very good with small bits. they wabbled too much. What and where would I get an appropriate router head for milling aluminum, of course on the low cost side of things.

Thanks,
Michael

[tsalaf]

I’ve been using a Makita RF1101 for cutting aluminum (actually, two Makitas). They don’t last and need constant repair. They have approximately .005” of radial runout and .003” axial runout. This makes for a poor finish and short tool life. You can forget about using small diameter cutters (under .125”) without breakage.

I suggest going with a milling head such as from a Taig or one of the Chinese machines.

[KTP]

yes, I am doing the same thing tsalaf suggested. I have a bosch wood router mounted to a dovetail slide on my router, and also a Taig 10k rpm ER-16 collet spindle that mounts to the same dovetail. I can swap them out in under 20 seconds. The Taig spindle is driven by a 500 watt brushless servo.

There is a pic of it in my thread, although I need to take some more pics of the Taig spindle now that it is done.

Fixed gantry router