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-drill-chuck-with-1-2-shank_W0QQitemZ330361564105QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_T ool_Work_Holding?hash=item4ceb156bc9&_trksid=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.


8811

[scott_smith]

P.S. I try to stick with 1/4" holes when I can. That way I can chuck the bit in the 1/4" collet.

[geometree]

Rotozip makes a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter, you can find them at Lowes for like $8. I've drilled lots of 1/8" holes with it. I turn my speed down and peck drill. I use it to locate holes before screwing down material.

[Andrew Ward]

I took a couple of 0.25" hex shank drills for quick change chucks. I filed each point down until I got to 0.25" across the points keeping each side even by counting the stokes of the file. Then put the drill end in my cordless and sanded the shank round. Works like a charm nice and snug in the 0.25" router collect. I did try the drill chuck but though even at 10,000 rpm it sounded on startup like it was going to explode.

[curtiss]

Would these adapters help?

As before, it might be best to just mark the hole locations with a router and drill them out later...

The router is made to cut sideways not up and down.

https://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bushing_ball_bearings.html?zoom_highlight=collet+a dapters

[Andrew Ward]

Here are some photos the drills are so small, I am drilling in plywood and 1/8" plastic so I doubt there is much axial load on the router. The nice thing is the drill is short so I don't run out of Z travel when trying to use a drill chuck.
I had these lying around in my great uncles tool box, so i though I would give it a try and it works like a charm. The photos are the largest drill I use, I go down to 0.032" diameter.
I like the look of those bushings though.

33862 3386333864

[mirion]

My experience with a drill in my router equipped Shopbot Buddy was not good, a small standard length drill at the lowest rpm gets to whipping and creating an oversize hole.