Drill bits in a Porter Cable router?

[kgracey]

Hey all,

Is it possible to put drill bits in a router? How? Is there an adapter somewhere that I could buy, or a collet system?

Thanks so much.
- Ken

[ky_trikes]

Yes, but some collets you will find put a death grip on the bit and you will hurt yourself getting them out. The Spellman R400 bushings work great and let go when you want them to. They have fractional, number, letter and metric drill sizes:
http://www.rlspellmanmfg.com/bushings_sizes.html

[hh_woodworking]

These work great for collets for PC router.
http://www.precisebits.com/gateways/ColletsNutsHome.htm

[ken_rychlik]

Is it just mine that turns the opposite way from a drill bit?

Kenneth

[erik_f]

I thought drill bits in a router was a NO NO. I could be way off here, but I was told most drill bits are not designed to spin and 10-20k rpms. Just double check with the bit maker.

[kgracey]

The RPMs are quite high in a router, but if you're drilling in wood with the high feed rate you're probably not pushing your luck too much.

Maybe I should ask another question -- how are you guys with SB router systems drilling holes in your work for fixturing? Kinda difficult with a router bit.

THanks,

[curtiss]

Not sure how deep or how many holes you are drilling,
but if you had a concern, you could use the bot to accurately mark out small pilot holes and then drill them to depth with a regular drill.

[kgracey]

I think I found a solution. A straight-shank 1/2" drill keyless chuck would do the job like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/1-8-5-8-Keyless-...d=p3286.c0.m14

[stevem]

The drill chuck would be a dangerous solution, since it's unlikely to be balanced for high rotational speeds.

I use stubby drill bits on the lowest router speed setting. A peck drilling routine works well for holes that are deeper than the drill diameter.

[scott_smith]

Use at your own risk but... This works great for me. I removed the chuck from a dead cordless drill and hey, the bearing surface was 1/2". I've drilled lots of holes with this in the PC. Just be sure to crank the RPM's all the way down. And only use it for drilling.


46405.jpg