Any advise on how the Dewalt DW660 and Makita RT0701C compare for cutting aluminum.
Does the Makita have any advantages for aluminum? If not I’ll go with the DW660 as it’s cheaper.
I don’t think you would notice any difference.
It might be a bit larger so it would sit further from the corner meaning slightly less rigid.
But if it doesn’t it might be heavier so slower accelerations.
Having a speed control is nice, but if we ever get a inexpensive PID up and running, moot point.
Bottom line, Sorry I havn’t tried it. If the dewalt is cheaper, I see no reason to switch, it plows right through aluminum. Shouldn’t be a torque deficiency, we have pretty much maxed out our rails more than anything else. I have never looked for a strong spindle for any reason.
If you want to go faster build it smaller.
Man, taking a second look at that, it might just be smaller. Hmm. I wonder. Seems pretty nice actually. Easier to mount that’s for sure. All comes down to the bulge on top and how it sits.
If I remember to bring in the calipers to the hardware store I will take a look.
It only comes with a 1/4" collet that is a bummer.
I have the Makita RT0701C and I like it but I think the Dewalt DW660 might be a better choice. With the tool mount I have, the Makita hangs out 75mm (3") from the Z axis stepper. With a redesigned mount it may be possible to get it 10mm closer but I think the Dewalt mount might be closer than that, Ryan? I believe the Dewalt is slightly lighter as well.
I use this for the 1/8" collet and it works fine despite the warnings not to use it in a router. It stays in place nicely.
The big benefit of the Makita is the speed control (10,000 - 30,000 rpm) but I have not cut aluminum yet so I’m not sure how important that is. Maybe the aluminum cutters can chime in?
I have a clone of the Makita, the Katsu. It’s thought by some to be a re-badge because it’s pretty identical.
Anyway they both seem to share one thing vs the Dewalt, which is downward air flow onto the work piece. First noticed by me when trying to follow the cuts around with a vac, only to find dust was all over the workshop. Oh well, it forced me to get on with the dust shoe, so it’s not a problem.
Just this minute discovered there is an air diverter out there, but haven’t found the model files for it as yet.
As Ryan says, the Makita doesn’t have the 1/8" collet option, which may hamper you when choosing bits. The best option (Elaire recommended by Ryan) for this is found here:
http://www.elairecorp.com/makitaroutercollets.html
They don’t make a 240v Dewalt, so I chose the Katsu, but have recently obtained a 240-110v site transformer, so thinking again.
Regarding the Makita’s speed control, I understand the Dewalt is proven for alu cuts, but I can’t help think when drilling, RPMs are lower for metal. Does this have any bearing? Another question would be does the Makita carry the same torque at lower RPMs? I would guess no.
Here’s the dust shoe I use with the Makita:
It diverts the downward airflow.
Most of us have a speed controller on our 660’s, is it as strong at lower RPM, probably not. It does 100% still have more than enough power. That is sort of the reason for buying the 660. We didn’t start with it it was a process of trial and error for the first year. That first year people were strapping on giant routers, nema 23’s, double gantries, assuming we needed more power…they milled slower. 600W “spindle” seems to be a great range, even at less power it tends to have more than enough.
When the CAM is set right you really can rip though all sorts of material. This is 100% the most important step, slap on a dremel and you will be fine if your cam is set accordingly. I have been cutting some 3/8" HDPE recently and I now cut full depth, I used to cut 1/4" in two steps, HAHAHA fool. I had a single flute cutter on there at 6mm/s slotting with a 0.5mm finishing pass. That had my router on the slowest speed, meaning I need to move faster, but I cut the part I needed in 5 minutes and the dimensions were dead nuts. Sometimes you need to push the machine harder in this case I do. Turns out slow shallow cuts are just as bad as fast deep cuts sometimes. once you get in the correct range it really just slides through.
I bring it up a lot but you have to see Kevin rip through aluminum…ridiculous and the machine isn’t even that small.
I want to do Acrylic engraving and milling/cutting and was looking at getting the DW660. But then i realized it is a single speed (30k rpm) router and would like to know if anyone has used it for plastics such as Acrylic. I don’t have a speed control and wanted to know if this router would be suitable or not. I am concerned about the high speed will melt the soft plastic material?
Give it lots of airflow and it works okay.
Barry, thanks for your reply.
When you say airflow, do you mean blowing compressed air on the target area?
Do you have any working parameters such as the tool you are using and feed rates, doc, ramp etc that have worked for you and I can use for testing on 3mm cast acrylic. I am using a 1/8’ no-name single flute upcut endmill and my spindle is low end Dremel type router which is equipped with a speed controller dial 1-6 and its maximum speed of 35k rpm so I keep the setting at about 4 but not having much success.
Also wanted to know about what type of speed controllers are folks using with the DW660 router.
Any airflow really, just needs to cool the chips. I got all kinds of recutting chip welding until I got my dust shoe installed. Last acrylic I cut was with my lowrider. 1/8" single flute, somewhere around 15mm/s.
And when I did acrylic on the mpcnc, waaaaay long time ago.
Thanks for sharing the video’s. I am quite new and still learning - everyday is a school day 
I see you are cutting at full 30,000 rpm with your DW660. I will test it out using the Estlcam Trochoidal milling method and the CNC settings you have provided. I am still debating whether I should replace my cheap router with the DW660??
The endmill you were using is a 2 flute, mine is a single flute - would that make much of difference in terms of chip extraction?
WIll keep you posted.
I cut some acrylic a few months ago. I sprayed some water thinking it would keep the temperature down but I have no idea if it really made a difference. It worked out really nice but it’s the only acrylic I’ve done.
CAUTION: LOUD
This was the finished product
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Thanks! Yes no doubt, the result was very good and no signs of overheating. The edges are smooth too. Since this is a recent project, if you get time please share the settings and the type of toolpath and toolbit you used to arrive at such a nice finish. I will give the water spray method and see if it makes any difference.
Curious to find if you were running at max 30k rpm for this cut? I was looking to get the DW660 but I was doubtful if I can do Acrylic without needing to slow the speed with some sort of controller. But I see you and Barry have managed to get good results with this spindle at high speeds.
I was not using any speed control, just running DW660 at its normal max speed. This was a standard single-flute 1/8" upcut bit. Speed was 480 mm per min and full depth which was 3mm in this case. This was my first try and if I were doing it again I might go faster and I might try a vacuum instead of water spray, which would double as cleanup and air cooling.
If the acrylic is thick then you might have more trouble with evacuating the chips but it will probably be fine. Just dive in with trying stuff.
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I tried similar settings to the ones you had good results. Also tried spraying ice cold water on the bit, but I keep getting melting. I am using a no name brand Amazon single flute upcut endmill.
I am suspecting either my endmill is no good or the 3mm Acrylic I am using is Extruded, although the supplier has told me it is Cast.
Sorry to hear that. I am not at all an expert so I perhaps I got very lucky. Your guess is as good as mine and I’d be interested to hear if you identify the issue or a workaround.
No problem, as you had mentioned it is all about trial and error
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am going to try changing the bit and get another make of acrylic which is truly Cast and not mixed up to be Extruded which I suspect mine to be. I will keep working on it and report back in due course.