Thread: Domino style loose tenon mortiser (Work in progress)

so stuck the dial indicator on, and getting 0.4mm runout at the cutting tip distance. rotated the collet 180 degrees and the runout stayed in the same direction, so I guess it's the router shaft bore. let me go indicate that. bit harder as it doesn't have to length to magnify the issue.

Originally Posted by minidriver

should probably just go out and buy a makita!

Yep! Those cheap trimmer/routers are notorious for runout. These's a thread on here somewhere about members trials and tribulations with them. A few people seem to be lucky enough to get them going okay, but you can spend a lot of time and some money on collets and whether you have a win or not is in the lap of the gods.

Originally Posted by aldav

Yep! Those cheap trimmer/routers are notorious for runout. These's a thread on here somewhere about members trials and tribulations with them. A few people seem to be lucky enough to get them going okay, but you can spend a lot of time and some money on collets and whether you have a win or not is in the lap of the gods.

yep. I remember why I bought the ozito other than price - it came with an 8mm collet. I think the general quality is above the vevors and aliexpress makita knockoffs. There's a full tear down on youtube which shows it's a pretty well built machine.

I've ordered a makita 8mm collet from adams bits, will see if that makes an improvement. I checked the router bit vs the front of the jig and in one orientation it is perpendicular, the opposite orientation it's way out. I tried clamping a piece of timber to the front face, and it still cut too big a hole. Same when clamping timber to the fence. So I don't think it's a fence alignment/movement issue. If the collet doesn't fix it, I'll buy a 240v makita trim router. RT2070 or something like that.

Other than this issue, it works really well. I'm amazed by the dust collection. I used it without dust collection yesterday and it sends dust everywhere. starts clogging up the linear carriages and requires a good clean to run smoothly again. Interestingly, with the vacuum off, the dust port gets clogged up a fair way down, so there must be some air flow from the router bit forcing sawdust down there. With the vacuum on, you get a tiny bit down in the jig, but takes a second or two to vacuum it out.

I need to work out a perspex cover for it - it's a bit hairy having that 8mm bit spinning in the open. I'd love to work out a trigger switch for it so it turns off when you release the trigger. probably not viable as it has some electronics in it - lock button and then power button - like the makitas.

Also, it doesn't seem to need any alignment - i added a centre mark in the fence, and it's perfectly in line with the centre of the bit, and the bit sits central to the fence slot. I have mounts for a perspex alignment window if it needs it.

ok.

so the router is fine. the jig is fine. the collet is as good as I'm going to get I think

I ordered a makita 8mm cone collet from adam's bits, and well, it was worse than the ozito one. I figure this is because you only get the cone part, not the longer style, so it's easier to misalign the bit in the collet. I found that you can get different alignments depending on how the bit is aligned when the collet is tightened. You can hear the difference in the router between aligned and not aligned. I now do a quick check with a 4mm allen key against the shank of the bit - sit the router on it's battery so it's vertical, tighten the collet, start the router, touch an allen key as high up the shank you can/dare before hitting the cutting flutes. you can easily see, feel and hear the difference between good and bad alignment.

I think the _big_ issue is that I am exceeding the abilities of a little (what should arguably only be a 1/4" collet) router, especially considering the 100mm length of the bit. I have a 75mm bit arriving on monday. This will give 25mm depth of cut when the bit is fully inserted into the router. This will be fine for most uses. and is pretty much the max depth of cut of the DF500. I think it does 28mm to allow for offseting 50mm or 40mm long dominos. Basically if you have the DF500, the longest domino you can use is 50mm, which is what the 75mm bit in this jig will be capable of.

This is the 8mm collet I bought.

260_source_1540902056.jpg

The only other option is this:
8mm Collet for Makita Compact Routers (tsoproducts.com) from America but it's not particularly cheap, and shipping is more than the the bit. $25 for the bit, $50 for shipping. USD. That's $115 AUD. The router was only $119!!!



Also, all the diy jigs I've seen on youtube all seem to only use shorter 6mm bits.

The collet cones that Adam's Bits sells can be bought on Aliexpress for a fraction of the price and as you've found they're rubbish. There was an Australian manufacturer of collets for these router/trimmers that made good stuff. Do a Google search including the forum name in your search terms.

I bought a 6mm from Adam’s Bits and it’s fine.i have used it heaps with my CNC.
i have an 8mm from them but haven’t tried it yet.