Thanks Mike that was what I was looking for. I assumed the 80mm spindle would be more powerful but was not sure if the 65mm offered any more direct hp to the bits. I worked in a tool and equipment repair shop for a few years and I might see if I can upgrade the bearings in the Makita with some performance high precision bearings. It may not be worth the time and effort but I am all about squeezing every bit of performance out of my machine. I am still trying to justify the costs of upgrading to a spindle vs pushing what I have for much less.
I doubt youāll find any beater bearings for your Makita. I canāt see them using poor quality Chinese ones. Some spindles will double up on the bearings and to choose what country they are made in. If you do look for a better bearing make sure itās rated for router speeds. Most arenāt.
The advantages of a spindle start to really show up when you jump up to 80mm. Thereās a bigger HP difference that allows the use of 1/2" router bits. It would be nice to use the 1F for making raised panels. Often trying to do it in one or 2 passes will splinter the wood. That means making a pass, stopping to raise the router, then making another pass. With the 1F that would be automatic and you could set it to make very small increments to reduce the amount of material removed and lessen the chance of tearout.
The Makita bearings are poor quality that is why it vibrates at higher rpms. I can get them locally from an industrial bearing shop for around 12bucks a piece. Precision bearings have more ball bearings and higher grade steel. This gives less vibration and cooler temperatures at speed. I spent a few years doing this exact upgrade to tools for the oil field and off shore companies to give their electric tools more life.
A spindle and VFD arenāt that expensive - $250 - $300 or so, and you get much better bearings as part of the packageā¦
I agree with you guys on the spindle being a better product. What I was getting at is with upgraded bearings I believe I can make the Makita much quieter with less run-out and more stable at higher speeds, for about 30.00. If the upgrade does the trick then I have 130.00 in the setup vs 250-300 for the spindle. Then more of the speed control on the Makita will be usable in the higher speed ranges.
I can post back in a few days and let everyone know if it makes a difference or not.
It was the main reason I had asked about the power of the spindle. Wanted to know before I spent the money on the bearings and then spend the time it takes to pull the Makita apart and change those.
J, if you end up doing this, maybe you could document the process with photos so others could decide if it is something they think is possible for them to do.
I will try to document and post the full process and results.
the biggest problem you will have with the Makita is the brushes. They only last for about 150 hours. I run my 1F 6 hours a day 5 days a week this means brush changes about every 4 to 5 weeks. The 150 is not bad for a trim router but when you use it on carves that are 2 plus hours it adds up quick and at $20 for a set of good ones it does not take long to add up to the price of the spindle. Downside is 65mm spindles are hard to come by right now.
Your $30.00 will result in a quieter Makita trim router. But it will still be a trim router at heart, It was never engineered for the heavy duty usage that is typical of CNC carving. A trim router was engineered for intermittent usages, like flush trimming laminate or easing an edge with a round-over bit.
Letās look at the engineering that was applied to each product in order to meet itās targeted use. In the trim router the motor uses brushes, the spindle does not. The router uses a simple collet system designed to hold router bits. It can have a measured runout of as much as two or three thousandths of an inch. The spindle uses a more precise collect, shaft, and nut system yielding runout measurements of less than one thousand of an inch. The shaft and bearing systems are totally different. The router has a simple single bearing on each end. The design of the spindleās shaft is more complex in order to support groups of bearing. Even the builder user class spindles have 5 bearings.
All of these differences result in a quieter, smoother running machine. Capable of better supporting the cutting tool, and this results in higher speeds and feeds, less chatter, better finishes, and longer tool life.
After all what led us to purchase a ONEFinity. Itās a more ridged machine. To me a spindle is a natural evolution in the perfection of that rigidity.
With 1F finally coming out with a 80mm option I would be hard pressed to stick with a trim router. I donāt know about the 65mm spindles but the 80mm have the option of getting dual bearings (vs the smaller single one on the Makita).
The price of these precision bearings has gone up significantly. I was quoted 26.00 a bearing to order them as they did not have the size I needed. That pushes the cost to almost 65.00 with tax. At this point it no longer seems like a cheap upgrade to try. I totally agree with what John Waldron said above about the spindle being the natural progression. I bought the Onefinity for its rigidity and its power and just want to get the most out of this machine. I am already impressed by the performance it produces now but upgrading the router/spindle will elevate this machine to the next level. I will defiantly be in line for the 80mm option when that develops.