Roto Zip : Anyone using one in their ShopBot?

[mayo@difsupply.com]

My new shopbot is on order and I'm patiently awaiting it's arrival. In the meantime all sorts of ideas are swimming aorund my head - one of which is, can a RotoZip be mounted in the shopbot and used successfully? I just got the new RotoZip Revolution which has 15, 20, 25, and 30,000 RPM speed settings. It also has a removeable trigger/handle which, when removed, would make it more symmetrical for mounting onto the shopbot.

[hbruton]

I have tried the RotoZip on my SB. The bits doesn't last very long. But does work as good as a router.

[davdallen]

I had a RotoZip on my 2nd axis for a while. it worked, but not well. the kerf was smaller than a 1/4" bit in the router, but it wasn't consistent. the zip bit is too long to be real stable and it wobbles a lot. also, feed rate is hard to set. too slow, the bit burns and dulls. too fast, it flexes while cutting which causes metal fatigue and the bit breaks.

I use it now to remove tabs from parts instead of a knife or hand saw.

it uses the same size bits as the dremel, but has much more power. it might be useful for some engraving tasks, but I haven't had the chance to try it yet.

da

[EmpY]

I'm thinking that it might be OK for doing the HDU foam and possibly 1/4" tempered masonite and corrugated plastic. Some time in March I'll find out :-)

[davenadeau]

RotoZip bits do seem to break very easily under load, but Rotozip was shipping a note in the box with their recent tools that said something like "bits may break prematurely if colleted too deeply" and they recommended not inserting bit past flute fadeout. That may reduce the number of broken bits. Better yet, if I recall correctly, RotoZip has a 1/4" collet available (ships with the tool?) that will hold regular 1/4" shank router bits, so you could chuck a regular 1/8" router bit (or any small diameter router bit down to about 1/16" diameter) as long as the bit has a 1/4" shank.